The Bestseller's Beginning

21. Bonus - Sharing our Writing Vulnerabilities

This bonus is going to start off a little bit less light-hearted than our normal content because Dakota is working through some big, messy feelings about her work. This is a pretty vulnerable episode for both of us, so please be gentle kind listeners (and bear with some sniffles over mic)! We delve into mental health and writing with anxiety, OCD, and perfectionism, fears of perception and misinterpretation, the struggles of writing in genres that carry baggage, and how to critically tackle complex topics with real world implications while capturing nuance. To lighten it up, Lianna brings in some reality TV analogies, we return to the old adage that you've just gotta keep chugging, we take solace in THE POWER OF FRIENDSHIP, and we also talk about new WIPs! Lianna's working on a who done it trying to get to the root of a disappearance of a Chinese American gamer girl with the superb working title This is How We Die and Dakota is working on a weird, zany urban fantasy set in Barcelona that tackles incels and religious fundamentalism. Follow the podcast on Instagram @thebestsellers_beginning or tag along for the ride with Lianna and Dakota on Instagram and Threads @lifeng.stories and @locodakoko.writes. Patreon in progress! Maybe? Someday? Co-hosted, edited, and produced by: Lianna Feng and Dakota S. Artwork by: Rachel Mehus Music by: Dakota via the magic of GarageBand Disclaimer: Concepts and writing shared on this podcast are our own. While we hope to inspire our fellow writers, please don’t be a dick and plagiarize lol!

20. The Gift of Space - Ch 7 DS

Now that Dakota's made the decision to cut this book into two, we have the gift of space! And that means we're looking at re-ramping up emotion on the page that was removed in earlier cuts and sitting with our characters, especially in a deep conversational scene like this between Qays and Nasir. We talk about showing their reactions and interpretations of their reactions and really making their overall relationship dynamic clear. We also talk about payoff and consequences and the general highs and lows of the writing process. Plus, we compare our motivation styles! Where Lianna needs flashing lights, arcade tickets shooting out at her, and numbers climbing to get that sweet, sweet, dopamine, Dakota...needs to run away to the woods away from her word count? To gaslight herself into thinking she's not writing a book? She's still figuring it out. Follow the podcast on Instagram @thebestsellers_beginning or tag along for the ride with Lianna and Dakota on Instagram and Threads @lifeng.stories and @locodakoko.writes. Patreon in progress! Maybe? Someday? Co-hosted, edited, and produced by: Lianna Feng and Dakota S. Artwork by: Rachel Mehus Music by: Dakota via the magic of GarageBand Disclaimer: Concepts and writing shared on this podcast are our own. While we hope to inspire our fellow writers, please don’t be a dick and plagiarize lol!

19. Payoff Good! Confusion Bad! Writing...Hard! - Ch 7 LF

In this episode we tackle Chapter 7 of Lianna's WIP: She Lies Along the Pearling Path and talk about what makes a slow or reflective chapter versus a chapter that is building up tension to big conflict. We revisit the recurring frustration of: "Well, it can't all go in Chapter 1!" We dig into continuity issues (why must our edits create additional needs for changes!!!), and get deep into character. We talk everything from character continuity, motivation, and relationships, to showing thought progression on the page. And we also determine that polo shirts and Hawaiian shirts fit in the same genre of clothing! Follow the podcast on Instagram @thebestsellers_beginning or tag along for the ride with Lianna and Dakota on Instagram and Threads @lifeng.stories and @locodakoko.writes. Patreon in progress! Maybe? Someday? Co-hosted, edited, and produced by: Lianna Feng and Dakota S. Artwork by: Rachel Mehus Music by: Dakota via the magic of GarageBand Disclaimer: Concepts and writing shared on this podcast are our own. While we hope to inspire our fellow writers, please don’t be a dick and plagiarize lol!

18. Bonus - The Writing Thunderbuddies Review 2025

In this special bonus episode Lianna shares some incredible news about her WIP - She Lies Along the Pearling Path, and we reflect on a year of supporting each other through the rollercoaster of novel writing! We look at how far we've diverged from recommended advice as well as strategies that we might actually want to adopt. We reflect on the highs and lows of the drafting, feedback, and editing processes. We talk about the book ideas that have distracted us along the way. And as always we reflect on THE POWER OF FRIENDSHIP! Follow the podcast on Instagram @thebestsellers_beginning or tag along for the ride with Lianna and Dakota on Instagram and Threads @lifeng.stories and @locodakoko.writes. Patreon in progress! Maybe? Someday? Co-hosted, edited, and produced by: Lianna Feng and Dakota S. Artwork by: Rachel Mehus Music by: Dakota via the magic of GarageBand Disclaimer: Concepts and writing shared on this podcast are our own. While we hope to inspire our fellow writers, please don’t be a dick and plagiarize lol!

17. Taking the Metaphorical Axe to My Book - Ch 6 DS

It's Christmas in May! Our backlog is crazy to give us flexibility when life goes off the rails, so today's episode was recorded back during the holidays when Lianna was very sleepy and surrounded by jingle-bell cats and Dakota was laughing madly holding an axe, but instead of chopping down Christmas trees she was chopping her WIP into two books. That's the kind of BTS content we know you come for! This episode is great though. Lianna gives some super salient advice on specificity (peep that unintentional alliteration, folks, that's how you know we're the real deal...or just snakes in disguise...sssss). We talk about when to beef up description/reactions vs when to summarize to move forward plot. We cover writing flawed and layered characters. And we get a little loopy toward the end! Follow the podcast on Instagram @thebestsellers_beginning or tag along for the ride with Lianna and Dakota on Instagram and Threads @lifeng.stories and @locodakoko.writes. Patreon in progress! Maybe? Someday? Co-hosted, edited, and produced by: Lianna Feng and Dakota S. Artwork by: Rachel Mehus Music by: Dakota via the magic of GarageBand Disclaimer: Concepts and writing shared on this podcast are our own. While we hope to inspire our fellow writers, please don’t be a dick and plagiarize lol!