As the world continues to change, and as his writing services continue to evolve into new directions, Jody brings Ghostwriter and Pup to an end with many thanks to his listeners and a little hint about what's coming next for Jody's podcasting.
Visit jodyaberdeen.com starting May 1st, 2021 for his next writing show!
In the first episode of 2021, Jody reflects on how personal traumas in your life cause creative blockage, even if they've got nothing related to writing itself. He also teases his upcoming Story Plumbing course.
Jody's latest novel, "Variations of Paris" is now available to read on Wattpad. In this episode, Jody reads from the very first scene.
"Variations" is a visionary sci-fi story that takes place on the other side of our current era of crisis. In 2053, a miraculous technology not only helps us restore the climate, create a free, abundant, and just global society, and end the threat of disease, but also allows us to travel again as we did before to faraway places.
Aliette Richard of Montreal, Canada is the protagonist, a 25 year old who has never known good or peaceful times, who finally gets the chance to see the city she'd only ever dreamed about during lockdown: Paris.
Boarding her flight at the dawn of this new optimistic era, Aliette will soon find herself on an unlikely adventure through the City of Lights that she never would have expected.
Each Wednesday, readers will get to enjoy a new scene, leading up to the book's completion and publication in late 2020.
Click here to read it today!
Worldbuilding can seem like a complicated process (and, depending on your story, it often is), but it can be very useful in giving your story the limitations that it needs for you to be able to write well. Even if you're not writing sci-fi/fantasy or horror, worldbuilding is useful for helping you get clarity on your novel.
In this episode, Jody talks about three key elements you can use for your worldbuilding.
There will never be a better time to write your novel than lockdown, not only to give you something to do, but to give hope to millions of others through your storytelling. What is on the other side of this pandemic?
Will getting what you say you want truly make you happy?
In Episode 2 of the limited series on "regular Joe spirituality", Jody delves a bit deeper into just what a "regular joe" spirituality looks like. He then reflects on the objects of desire that many personal growth teachings tell you you *have* to have in order to be happy, and compares that the actual experience of having them.
If you are a personal growth professional or a regular Joe seeker of any background, professional, or walk of life, and would like to have a conversation with Jody in a future episode, please email jody@jodyaberdeen.com.
The final episode of Ghostwriter and Pup's Journal series involves one sentence...and the start of the next special series next week.
As always, if you have a topic you'd like me to explore in an episode, please email jody@jodyaberdeen.com.
In the penultimate episode of Ghostwriter and Pup's Journal series, Jody delves into why you should hire a VA and a sales person to help sell your books.
If you have a topic that you want Jody to explore in a future episode, or would like to appear as a guest, email your idea to jody@jodyaberdeen.com.
In this 13th episode of the journal series, Jody reads three passages from J. Michael Straczynski, Stephen King, and Whitley Strieber to demonstrate how very simple, earnest, non-lit-snobby writing can move, inspire, and stay with your readers for years.
If you have a topic that you want Jody to explore in a future episode, or would like to appear as a guest, email your idea to jody@jodyaberdeen.com.
Jody hates snobs...but yet, he is also kind of a snob. And you shouldn't be a snob, not in your writing.
Episode #12 of the journal series looks into what Jody believes is the future of professional writing, including the abandonment of the "Lamborghini and books" pretension and posing; poets becoming the next great copywriters; and otherwise just keeping it real.
If you have a topic that you want Jody to explore in a future episode, or would like to appear as a guest, email your idea to jody@jodyaberdeen.com.
Stop saying that it's "just a story". Depending on what it is or what you're trying to do, it can get you the cat you want. Or, get you killed.
In the 11th episode of Ghostwriter and Pup's Journal Series, Jody delves a bit into the power of story to shape your actions.
Topics include:
- The difference between "what's so" and "story", and how "story" usually wins.
- How stories determine ranges of actions, e.g. what happens to Canadians who believe that winters are long and summers short.
- Implications for pandemic response and pet adoption, based on the story that you believe.
If you have a topic that you want Jody to explore in a future episode, or would like to appear as a guest, email your idea to jody@jodyaberdeen.com.
What's waiting for us on the other side of this pandemic? Episode 10 finds Jody a little tired and contemplative.
Topics in this episode:
- The "pipeline" in your brain, and why you need to clear it
- Sometimes the way to get your official work done is to work on your side projects.
- Mental loads are heavier now during the pandemic.
If you have a topic you want Jody to address in a journal episode, email your idea to jody@jodyaberdeen.com.
What would you be doing if you weren't doing what you're doing now? In Jody's case, more or less exactly what he's doing now, except with more residuals from book sales. That's what came up on this episode of the Journal Series.
Topics in this episode:
- Vanity metrics, like the #1 Amazon Bestseller
- Books as a source of entertainment for prolonged quarantine (as film and TV production slow down)
- Hire people to do the things you don't like doing (if you can)
If you have a journal prompt or an idea that you want Jody to explore on a future episode, send an email to jody@jodyaberdeen.com.
When we talk about "authentic self expression", how does anger fit into that? And what are the consequences? In this unfiltered episode following the flagrant destruction of some of his plants by local groundskeepers, Jody explores:
Episode #7 of the Journal series sees Jody splitting an infinitive in the title and beginning with a talk about "Star Trek" and ending with a note about freelance book marketers.
Topics also include:
If you have a journal prompt or an idea that you want Jody to explore on a future episode, send an email to jody@jodyaberdeen.com.
For Week 2 of the Journal Series, Jody delves into:
If you have a journal prompt or topic you would like Jody to explore in a future episode, please email jody@jodyaberdeen.com with your idea.
Day 5 of Jody's series of 1-page handwritten journaling yielded insights on the following:
- Tangents: when are they okay, when are they not?
- Unity, da Vinci, ancient Greeks, Motorcycle Maintenance, and BBQ assembly
- The value of solitude
- Holding many mutually-exclusive ideas in your head at once and how it helps your writing
If there is a topic prompt you would like Jody to write about on a future entry, send email with your idea to jody@jodyaberdeen.com.
Episode #4 of the Journal Series finds Jody tired after an early morning Zoom call and more brooding than usual (which is usually a lot of brooding for those who know him or have ever lived with him in the same house).
Topics include:
- Physical energy levels and how they affect what you write about
- How the Pandemic and its impact are never far from our minds today
- Positivity and authentic self-expression aren't always the same thing
- Why it's okay to care about what others think of you (and express yourself anyway).