Thinkingdog Publishing

Let’s talk about the writing process. Ah yes, the process. That majestic, mythical, Instagrammable creature every indie author is apparently supposed to post about. You’ve seen the posts, right? The ones with a steaming mug of tea, a perfectly posed cat, a candle flickering beside a stack of color-coded index cards, and captions like: “Today I let my protagonist tell me where the story wanted to go…” Meanwhile, over here in the chaotic land of reality, my protagonist just refused to cooperate, the dog barked at a ghost (probably), and my coffee’s been microwaved three times. And I’ll be honest with you: if I waited around for my story to tell me where to go, I’d still be staring at Chapter One wondering why my main character is named Blergle. Here’s my writing process: Step One: Put butt in chair. Step Two: Put fingers on keyboard. Step Three: Make stuff up. That’s it. That’s the whole enchilada. No scented candles. No lunar rituals. No twenty-part TikTok series about ho...

  Let's be honest - while you're out there being all patriotic and eating your weight in BBQ, your furry family member is having a full-scale meltdown under the kitchen table. Today's reality check: that beautiful sweet dog who usually greets everyone like they're returning war heroes? Yeah, she's currently wedged behind the washing machine because apparently, freedom sounds terrifying when you have four legs and no understanding of American history. Here's the thing about being someone's safe person... Your pets don't care about independence or star-spangled banners. They just know that the sky is making angry noises and their favorite human seems oddly excited about it. This is where you become their superhero - not the cape-wearing kind, but the "I'll sit in the bathroom with you for three hours" kind. Create that cozy fort. Put on some calming music (classical works, but honestly, whatever keeps them from stress-shedding all eve...

If you're the kind of person who breaks into hives at the mention of AI, I have one gentle suggestion for you: maybe go pour yourself a cup of tea and skip this post. No hard feelings—I’ll see you next week when I’m talking about Papillon dogs or haunted attics or something wholesome like that. BUT… if you’re curious about what happens when an indie author who usually handcrafts her audiobooks like they’re artisanal sourdough decides to flirt with artificial intelligence… well, pull up a chair. It all started when KDP (that’s Kindle Direct Publishing for the uninitiated—Amazon’s indie author arm) invited me into a beta program to test their brand-new virtual audiobook creation tool. You read that right: AI voices reading your book aloud . It’s like giving your manuscript to a robot and asking it to sound dramatic, heartbroken, or mildly sarcastic. Now let me preface this by saying—I DO record my own audiobooks. I have a cozy little studio set up, microphones that cost more th...

Picture this: It's 3 AM, you're on your fourth cup of coffee, juggling a manuscript edit while scheduling social media posts and researching audiobook narrators. Sound familiar? As indie authors, we've all been there – caught in the whirlwind of trying to do it all. I recently hit a wall trying to be everywhere and do everything. That's when it hit me: the pressure to constantly do "more" wasn't making me a better author – it was draining the very creativity that made me want to write in the first place. Let's get real about why pumping the brakes might be the best decision you'll make for your author career: First, let's talk about your books – your actual babies. When was the last time you felt truly excited about a story you were writing? Not just meeting a deadline, but really feeling that magic? Quality isn't just about perfect grammar or plot structure – it's about pouring your heart into every page. One book that keeps read...