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This podcast updates bi-weekly.

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This podcast is available on 10 platforms including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more. You can also use the RSS feed directly.

Does this podcast accept guests?

No, this podcast does not typically feature guests.

Read Me A Nightmare

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by Angelique Fawns

72 episodes

Updated Bi-weekly

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Podcast Overview

Season 2 of "Read Me A Nightmare" shifts its focus to conversations with writers, editors, and creators working in and around dark fiction — about craft, career, and the realities of making stories in the world.Visit www.fawns.ca to learn more. Please --if you enjoy the episode, leave a review! <a href="https://angeliquemfawns.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast">angeliquemfawns.substack.com</a>

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Recent Episodes

June 7, 2026

Writing Your Own Story with J.D. Barker

Sometimes strange, auspicious coincidences happen, and you wonder if it’s fate nudging you in the right direction.Like, for example, when I was sitting down reading Confessions of the Dead, co-written by James Patterson and J.D. Barker, getting really into the dark and twisted tale… and an email popped up in my inbox the next day asking if I’d like to interview J.D. Barker.I was like, hell yes. But of course, it also felt a little suspicious.Hadn’t I just been telling my husband how much I loved this book? Was my phone spying on me, feeding information to some scammer? They’re so advanced these days, who knows?I didn’t fully believe it. But I double-checked with my friend <a target="_blank" href="https://substack.com/profile/34479433-mark-leslie-lefebvre">Mark Leslie Lefebvre</a> , who confirmed J.D.’s publicist was real and that he was doing podcasts to help promote a prequel in his 4MK series.And that, folks, is why we all get to enjoy this amazing interview with horror writer J.D. Barker. His career is enviable, I enjoyed every second of our chat, and I hope you will too.You can watch the interview on <a target="_blank" href="https://youtu.be/FHM0qTkhU-0?si=MuOBAXOBFVpH_5sN">YouTube here.</a>Or listen to the podcast up above.Here is a recapped version of the interview below:Enjoy!AF: I have to say, when your publicist reached out to me, I thought it was a scam. And what was so surreal — I was reading Confessions of the Dead when the email came in.JDB: She is fantastic. I’ve worked with a ton of publicists over the years, and my model has completely changed. Early on I hired a firm in New York — Dean Koontz recommended them — and I paid a $20,000 retainer. That first month, they got me two blog reviews, one website mention, and a blurb in a magazine. Nothing for $20,000, and there was no accountability.Now I’ve got everyone on an à la carte basis. I give them a list of what they can go get and a price point for each — a podcast gets this much, a magazine gets this much. They can work as hard or as little as they want. I pay for actual results. My current publicist is out of the Philippines and she is phenomenal. Every time I’ve got a new release, everybody seems to know about it.AF: I’m a huge fan. Your connection with Stephen King, your collaborations with James Patterson — you’ve somehow found the zeitgeist.JDB: I tend to get in front of a lot of people and bug the hell out of them until they either agree to work with me or they issue a restraining order. I heard a long time ago: if you don’t ask the question, you’re never going to know the answer. I’d rather hear someone say no than not ask at all.I used to teach at ThrillerFest quite a bit. If you go, you’re eventually going to end up in an elevator with a famous author. You’ve got 15 seconds to either make an introduction or stand there staring at the numbers and watch that person walk away. I am not the kind of guy who ever watched somebody just walk away. AF: I loved hearing about what you do at cons. You don’t sit behind the table selling books — you give them away for free.JDB: I’m in a unique situation. I’ve got my own imprint at Simon & Schuster, so my production costs are very low. I can produce a hardcover for a fraction of what I was paying through IngramSpark. And I’ve got books sitting in a warehouse because we tend to overprint — 50, 60, 70,000 copies. Eventually the dust settles, and I’ve got to find something to do with them.I looked at what indie authors do — they’ve always been ahead of the curve — and for years they’ve given away the first book in a series as an ebook. You’re basically a glorified drug dealer. You’re hooking them with a taste, hoping they come back for more. I just took it to the next level and started giving away hardcovers.Think about it from the reader’s perspective. They come to these events and it’s awkward. They’re walking past tables with authors staring at them with that please buy my book look. They’re afraid to approach because they don’t want to commit. So instead I put a book in everybody’s bag for free. They all come to the table, it keeps me busy, they walk away with that taste, and most of them end up buying another book after that.At Author Nation, I gave away 2,000 or 2,200 books. A good chunk of those people went home and started buying my other titles. That’s how you move the needle. You’ve got to approach everything as a business — how are you going to get people to come back and buy your next widget?AF: At what point do the cons stop being useful?JDB: My first big one was the Writer’s Digest conference — the last one I went to before I got a publishing deal. I learned a lot. But everything tends to be geared toward the early author trying to get that first book out there. When I was on the board with ITW, I noticed everything was built for two groups: debut authors and the big names. Everybody else is stuck in the middle. You can only hear how to write a compelling first sentence so many times.What actually attracted me to Author Nation is that it fills that void. It teaches authors: okay, your first book is out. This is how you get to book two, book three, book four, and steadily raise your profile over time. In the traditional world, they try to hit it out of the park with each book, and if you don’t, you’re kind of written off. The problem is that’s not sustainable. If you’re just slowly building, selling a few more copies with each book, you’re building a very solid base beneath you. That’s what sustains a career.(Authorial note: If you are interested in learning more about Author Nation, I’ve interviewed <a target="_blank" href="https://substack.com/profile/24570764-joe-solari">Joe Solari</a> . <a target="_blank" href="https://open.substack.com/pub/angeliquemfawns/p/why-serious-authors-cant-miss-author?r=20rm8b&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web">CLICK HERE</a>)AF: So I have to ask about the TV and film side, because that’s where my heart is. You’re there now with the 4MK series, aren’t you?JDB: I’ve got eight different projects in what I call various stages of Hollywood hell. Every time my film agent calls, it’s a roller coaster — either really good news or really bad news, no in between. With 4MK specifically, this is actually option number four. The book came out almost ten years ago. Sylvester Stallone’s company, Balboa Productions, just picked it up. And they brought in Channing Powell, who was showrunner for The Walking Dead, as lead writer.AF: What else do you have on the docket?JDB: I’ve also got a feature film in the works for Behind a Closed Door — they’re already on the third or fourth draft of the script and talking to directors. A Caller’s Game is at another studio. Dracul keeps getting picked up by different companies. I wrote that one as a prequel to Dracula for Bram Stoker’s family.AF: At least the option money keeps flowing while all that’s happening.JDB: Any veteran author will tell you that. The option money — it doesn’t matter if it gets made or not. Those checks are real and they keep coming. And here’s something I’ve noticed: when something gets optioned once, the second it’s available again, everybody jumps on it. Producers see it as a hot commodity because someone else just had it. So if you keep making a little noise, they keep coming back. Sooner or later something is going to make it to the screen. It’s a numbers game at this point. But as an author, all I do is put my head down and write the next book. That’s the only thing you can control. The written word, whatever ends up in that final book — that’s 100% you. Nobody can take that away from you.AF: How did you start your career? JDB: I was told at a very early age that you can’t make a living as a writer and I needed to get a real job. So I went off to college, got multiple degrees, and ended up working in finance. But when I was in school I worked for RCA Records and BMG Distribution. I chauffeured some very famous people around for a couple of days at a time.And I realized I could interview these people and sell those interviews to offset the cost of college. That’s how I broke into writing. When you work for magazines, everybody around you has a half-finished novel in a desk drawer somewhere. I became the person they’d show those to because I was strong with grammar, punctuation, and developmental editing. That turned into a side hustle as a book doctor and ghostwriter. While I was in finance, I was helping other people rewrite their books and get them published. Over 23 years, I had six different books hit the New York Times list — with other people’s names on the cover. That gets old after a while, and that’s when my wife and I decided to pull the trigger on becoming a full-time author. That was eleven years ago. AF: How does someone get to work with you?JDB: Honestly, all you have to do is ask. Most people are too hesitant. Nobody asks the question. Typically if someone reaches out, I look at a writing sample, see if there’s something I can work with, figure out where they are career-wise. It has to be someone I genuinely feel I can take to another level. And they’ve got to come to me with a decent foundation, something that may or may not be working but can be fixed — and an idea I haven’t heard before. That’s the hard part.AF: How does one break through in an increasingly fractured publishing industry? JDB: Making your own path is the key. When I was in the music business, I drove Madonna around for about a week during the Vogue tour. She told me that whenever she had a new album coming out, she would make a list of everything everybody else was doing to sell their albums — and then come up with something brand new that wasn’t on that list. That’s what she would do. I’ve kept that in my head ever since.My last book was Something I Keep Upstairs, a haunted house story. The house in the book is real — it’s right off the coast of the island where I live in New England. To promote it, I came up with a contest: I gave away an overnight stay in the haunted house to one reader, who could bring three friends. We put out a press release, and I got a ton of press — television, radio, podcasts, print. People were talking about it all over the internet. And all of that was essentially free buzz. It sold a ridiculous number of books.Here’s the thing — somebody else could come along and give away an overnight stay in a haunted house, but it’s not going to hit as hard because I’ve already done it. You’ve got to come up with something nobody has done before. A lot of authors chase what other authors are already doing, buy the same Facebook and Amazon ads, run the same promotions. And if you’re doing the same thing as someone else, you’re never going to excel beyond them. You need a catalyst that takes you off into the stratosphere.Learn more about J.D. Barker at jdbarker.com This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit <a href="https://angeliquemfawns.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2">angeliquemfawns.substack.com/subscribe</a>

May 12, 2026

How I Sold Over 100 Short Stories

How I Play Submission Jenga 🎲It all starts with my monthly list. <a target="_blank" href="https://open.substack.com/pub/angeliquemfawns/p/21-may-marvellous-paying-short-story?r=20rm8b&utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web">Click here for the big list for May:</a>I hunt down every call for submissions that catches my eye, sticking mostly to the speculative genres. I have two firm rules when I’m scouting markets:* They have to pay.* No submission fees. Ever.Then I look for the ones that genuinely intrigue me. The Apex Flash Fiction calls are a personal favorite — they’re always a little weird, a little off-kilter, exactly my flavor. When something hooks me, I sit down and bang out 1,000 words. Fun side story: that’s actually how Roxy Vega was born. She started life as a flash fiction response to a prompt from Apparition Lit (RIP). The image was a man smoking a cigarette in this dank, vaguely alien-looking bar. Cool vibe — but I didn’t want to write about a man. I wanted to write about a really rough woman. What if she was a space trucker on break? What if she had a terrible gambling addiction? And just like that, Roxy Vega walked into the world. She’s now a serial on Substack.<a target="_blank" href="https://angeliquemfawns.substack.com/s/the-chronicles-of-roxie-vega">https://angeliquemfawns.substack.com/s/the-chronicles-of-roxie-vega</a>My Submission ProcessHere’s how a story moves through the system:* Draft at 1,000 words and send it to a flash market.* If it doesn’t find a home, expand it — maybe to 2,000 or 3,000 words.* Send it to the next market on my chart.* Keep meticulous notes on where each story has been so I don’t accidentally send Neil Clarke the same story 25 times. (He would notice.)* Track rejection times so I know which markets are fast (looking at you, The Dark) and which ones will leave me waiting six months to a year.* Eventually, string related stories together into a novella — that’s exactly how Roxy Vega came to life, and I’ve got a couple more brewing.I do this old school with Excel charts. I know everyone loves Submission Grinder, but I remember the day it went down and the mass panic that swept through my writing group. Charts are pablum for my brain — I genuinely love filling them in, ticking the little boxes, watching the data build.The Rules I Live By (Mostly Heinlein’s)* You must write.* You must finish what you write.* You must put it on the market.* You must keep it on the market until it sells.* You only revise to the needs of an editor. (Okay, this one I break. My craft keeps improving, and sometimes I reread an old piece and think “what was I thinking with that opening?” So I’ll go back in, tighten the try-fail cycles, and send it out again.)The Real SecretI don’t take rejections to heart. I really think that’s what’s set me apart in the writing world — I just keep subbing. And subbing. And subbing. It’s a numbers game:* More stories out = more chances to sell.* More stories out = more editorial feedback.* More editorial feedback = a better writer.Look at this list of rejections…But honestly? We have to remember to have fun. We’re doing this because we love it. I’ve looked for the money in fiction writing, and it’s hard. There’s far more money in nonfiction, which is why my day job is journalism — though it does feed nicely into the market research I do for all of us.Anyway, I appreciate every one of you. Good luck with your own submission Jenga, and I hope to meet you at a con one day. Conferences are my new love — they’re so energizing, and every single time I go to one, my career and my dreams take a step forward.Okay — toodles! 👋All this stuff takes me time, and I will be bringing in some pay walls, please join the next tier! Selling short stories is what we do. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit <a href="https://angeliquemfawns.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2">angeliquemfawns.substack.com/subscribe</a>

April 26, 2026

Rage Bait, Freak Flags & Finding Your Readers

** Stay tuned for your May list of open calls on Tuesday!Most of my information is free, but some of the most exclusive info is paid. Join the next tier!I met Sylvie Soul at the Toronto Indie Author Conference and knew immediately I’d found a kindred spirit — someone who loves short fiction, wrestles with the same questions about craft and career, and isn’t afraid to go to dark places on the page. We sat down to talk about perfectionism, productivity, the courage it takes to write what you actually love, and why embracing your inner “disrupter” might be the best career move you ever make.The notes below are just a tiny taste of all the fun stuff we chat about in the actual podcast! Listen above, or if you like to watch (and who of us doesn’t?) <a target="_blank" href="https://youtu.be/Vd5T4BBCliw?si=H_aeEYpBNn6QAutM">Click here</a> for the <a target="_blank" href="https://youtu.be/Vd5T4BBCliw?si=H_aeEYpBNn6QAutM">YouTube link:</a>AF: Tell us a bit about yourself and your writing.SS: I’m a writer of short fiction — I’ve published several short stories over the years. The main goal, though, is the novel. The full manuscript I could either traditionally publish or, if not, I’m very much looking forward to self-publishing. I’ve been exploring my love of fiction, learning more about myself, discovering that speculative fiction is really my home. And I’m trying to get back to having an online presence. I had a site, it’s been dormant since the pandemic, but after meeting everyone at the Toronto Indie Author Conference, I feel motivated to bring up my brand and really express myself again.AF: There’s so much pressure these days for authors to be their own marketing machines — social media, TikTok, BookTok, all of it. Do you think every author has to be an influencer?SS: No, and I think there has to be a balance. I’m actually an introvert — I prefer being behind the scenes, and that’s even true in my day job, where I’m more in a support role. But when it comes to my writing, I’ve felt a shift lately. I do want my face out there. I want my personality attached to what I write. But the balance is the thing — you can build a presence, do the TikTok dances, do the BookTok thing, but if you’re devoting all your time to promoting that image, there’s little left over to actually focus on the craft. Especially if you have a day job on top of it. I don’t write full-time. Right now it’s a hobby. The dream is that eventually what I create overtakes what I do in my day job. But I think I’m a long ways out from that. So it’s about finding balance — fill my cup and also get paid.AF: I’ve come to believe that the one thing all successful full-time authors have in common is sheer output — the number of books they have out there. Zoe York has over a hundred, Mallory Cooper over four or five hundred. What do you think?SS: Consistency is the word that comes to mind for me. Don’t focus on motivation — you know what you have to do, so just get it done. But you’re right that it comes down to productivity. You have to add productivity to that triangle of talent, opportunity, and luck. That’s what lets them build. And honestly, what holds me back most is perfectionism. I always tell myself done is better than perfect, but I’m always so fearful that I’m going to be embarrassed in the future when people read something that isn’t exactly right — and that fear ends up freezing me completely.AF: You have a completed novel. Tell us about it.SS: I lovingly call it draft 1.5, because I’ve gone through moments where I’ve completed it, then gone, no, I don’t like this, I need to scrap it and start over. I finally had a version I was happy enough with to get from point A to point B. I gave it to my editor last year, and she gave me phenomenal notes. Now I have to go back and, as I say, take a sledgehammer to it and beat it into submission so it’s better. No one who cares about their audience ever puts out a first draft. Maybe it’ll be draft five. Maybe draft nine. I don’t know where it is yet, but it’s somewhere on the horizon. And word count wise — I’ll be honest — it’s still in novella territory. I haven’t cracked 50,000 words yet. But I think the market’s changing. People used to want a big fat tome. Now I think readers are more receptive to smaller, bite-sized stories they can actually consume. So if I just can’t embellish further, maybe it stays at 35,000 to 40,000 words. And that’s fine.AF: What’s your take on editors?SS: They are absolutely essential, and I don’t think we give them nearly enough praise. I was lucky enough to get a Toronto Arts Grant to help fund my editing, and it was the best money ever spent. I think when we reach the stage where we truly want to write the best thing possible, we’ve evolved past peer workshops — those can be overwhelming because you get six or seven different schools of thought and you don’t know which one to follow. You might have someone who has a completely different story in their head, and if you cater to them, you’re damaging your own story for someone who might not even read it anyway. When you actually invest in your writing by hiring a real editor, that’s when you take it to the next level. AF: Where can people find you and your work?SS: I’d recommend starting with <a target="_blank" href="https://www.midnightandindigo.com/waiting-room/">Midnight Indigo</a><a target="_blank" href="https://www.midnightandindigo.com/waiting-room/"> </a>— it’s one of the very first pieces I sold for money, and it’s called Waiting Room. I don’t want to spoil it, but it’s a bit dark and it’s short. It’s a good introduction to the kind of writing I do. My Substack is growing, so come find me there.Hey…Of course you know folks who want to hear about the effervescent Sylvie Soul. Share this interview!!I’m running a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/angeliquefawns/the-guide-of-all-guides-a-list-of-paying-no-fee-markets">Kickstarter</a>… and if you are a short story writer, you need this Guide with so many of the best paying markets and HINTs on how to send them your best stories.Plus, I share my insights right from the publishers and editors. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit <a href="https://angeliquemfawns.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2">angeliquemfawns.substack.com/subscribe</a>

72 total episodes available

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What is Read Me A Nightmare?: Season 2 of "Read Me A Nightmare" shifts its focus to conversations with writers, editors, and creators working in and around dark fiction — about craft, career, and the realities of making stories in the world.Visit www.fawns.ca to learn more. Please --if you enjoy the episode, leave a review! <a href="https://angeliquemfawns.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast">angeliquemfawns.substack.com</a>
How often does this podcast release new episodes?: This podcast updates bi-weekly.
Where can I listen to this podcast?: This podcast is available on 10 platforms including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more. You can also use the RSS feed directly.
Does this podcast accept guests?: No, this podcast does not typically feature guests.

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