What happens when you combine the high-stakes adventure of Dungeons & Dragons with the emotional power of Broadway? You get The Reality Shaper, a groundbreaking musical podcast. In this episode of In the Writer’s Chair, host Lana McAra sits down with New York City-based musical theater writer and performer Sair Kaufman to discuss the "different beast" of writing for the ear rather than the stage.

Sair reveals the six-year journey of transforming a novel into an 11-episode audio drama, featuring over 40 original songs. Whether you're a TTRPG fan, a theater nerd, or a writer looking to pivot between mediums, Sair’s insights on collaboration, "perfect rhymes," and creative marketing are pure gold.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• The Musical Pivot: How Sair transitioned from theater performance to writing music, lyrics, and "books" for musicals.
• Podcast vs. Stage: The unique challenges of creating an episodic arc where the protagonist must change every 30–50 minutes.
• The "Musical Truth" Rule: Why characters in musicals are trusted implicitly and why it’s harder to write a "lying" character in song than in a play.
• Comprehension & Rhyme: Why theater writers stick to "perfect rhymes" to ensure the audience understands the story on the first listen.
• Roll for Promo: Sair’s viral TikTok marketing strategy using D&D dice to decide daily tasks—including a high-stakes roll for a tattoo!

About Our Guest:

Sair Kaufman is an award-winning musical theater writer and the creator of The Reality Shaper. Based in New York City, Sair is an alum of the prestigious BMI Musical Theater Writers Workshop and the founder of Theater Writers Digest.

Connect with Sair Kaufman:

• Website: therealityshaper.com — Get tickets for live NYC/Manhattan concert events on June 8th and August 24th!
• Theater Writers Digest: theaterwritersdigest.com — A monthly resource for grants, residencies, and mentorship opportunities.
• Social Media: Follow @SairKaufman on Instagram and TikTok.

About the Show: In the Writer's Chair features candid conversations about the writing life, hosted by novelist Lana McAra and brought to you by Vandella Publishing.

✨ Don't forget to LIKE, COMMENT, and SUBSCRIBE for more deep dives into the writing craft! ✨

#InTheWritersChair #MusicalTheater #DND #Podcast #AudioDrama #WritingCommunity #IndieAuthor #Playwriting

How to Sell Your Book Before You Even Write a Single Word – With Rodney Washington

Are you locking yourself away for months to finish your book, only to realize no one knows it exists? In this episode of In the Writer’s Chair, host Lana McAra welcomes Rodney Washington, founder of Published and Thriving, to explain why waiting until your book is on Amazon to start marketing is a "Simba moment" that often leads to zero sales.

Rodney breaks down the essential shift from being "just an author" to becoming an authorpreneur—an identity that focuses on building relationships, community, and revenue streams long before the physical book is finished.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• The "Simba" Fallacy: Why simply being on Amazon isn't enough to drive sales.
• Building on Rented Land: The danger of relying solely on social media and how to move your audience to an email list you own.
• The Interest Post Strategy: How to test your book idea and find "early adopters" with a simple social media post.
• Monetizing the Journey: How one client made over $5,000 and established recurring income for a book that is still in development.
• The $15 to $15k Story: Why the book is often just the "tangible" piece of a much larger, more profitable "product suite".
• Identity vs. Mindset: Why you need an "identity shift" to see yourself as a business owner who happens to write books.

About Our Guest:

Rodney Washington is the creator of the Authorpreneur Decision workshop series and the Published and Thriving incubator. With over 30 years of experience, he helps entrepreneurial-minded creators transform their expertise into thriving brands and profitable books.

Connect with Rodney Washington:

• Download the Blueprint: Access a preview chapter of his upcoming book, The Authorpreneur Decision, featuring in-depth case studies.
• Join the Community: Connect with the Published Creator School Community for weekly monetization mapping sessions.
• Visit his Website: http://authordecision.com/

Sponsor: This episode is brought to you by Vandela Publishing, a traditional publisher with an untraditional model that lets you keep your rights and royalties while providing a full year of marketing support. Visit vendelapublishing.com.

Welcome to In the Writer's Chair with host Lana McAra! Today, we pull up a chair with veteran journalist and author Eliot Kleinberg. After a 33-and-a-half-year career at the Palm Beach Post where he wrote roughly 14,000 stories, Eliot transitioned into writing captivating historical fiction.

As the creator of the original Weird Florida books—first published in 1998 before the "Florida Man" craze took over—Eliot has always had a knack for finding the wildest true stories. Now, he is channeling that passion for his home state into vivid historical novels.

In This Episode, We Discuss:

• From Journalism to Fiction: Eliot shares why he waited until retirement to tackle fiction, and why the secret to good writing is simply to write, read, and write some more.
• The Dilemma of Historical Fiction: Discover why Eliot is likely the only novelist who includes bibliographies at the end of his books to prove his wild historical scenes actually happened.
• Florida's Forgotten Civil War History: We dive into the Battle of Olustee, the most important Civil War battle in Florida's history, which inspired Eliot's novel Peace River.
• A Wild Prohibition Era: Eliot explains why Florida's Prohibition era was even crazier than the 1970s drug wars, complete with rum runners and gangsters.
• The Adventures of Nate Moran: Get an inside look at Eliot's upcoming four-book series featuring a Miami police detective.
• Real-Life Inspiration: Learn the tragic and fascinating true story of a 1930 shooting that inspired the first Nate Moran book, Hypocrites Row, releasing in February 2026.
• Writing Process: Eliot reveals why he considers himself a "hybrid" writer who skips outlining but relies on a solid historical framework.

About Our Guest

• Eliot Kleinberg is a passionate advocate for Florida history who regularly lectures on the topic.
• He is on a mission to teach people that Florida's history didn't start with Walt Disney in 1970, noting that St. Augustine is actually 55 years older than Plymouth Rock.
• You can sign up for his newsletter, check out his speaking schedule, and read his blog "Something Went Horribly Wrong" at his website: ekfa.com.

Sponsor Spotlight

• This episode is brought to you by Vendela Publishing.
• Vendela Publishing is a traditional publisher with a unique model that provides marketing help without requiring authors to have large social media or email followings.
• Learn more at vendelapublishing.com.