Bleeding Ink

Wicked writers evolve like stubborn single-celled amoebas. They thrive in hostile environments, tweak a gene here or there, produce more cells, eventually grow a limb and go prehensile. They adapt. When I look for new interviewees, I search first for wicked writers—I hope this is obvious—and then I mine their successes and struggles for evidence of adaptation. By what twisted means did they achieve their success? Sometimes it’s plain fortune. Often it’s a veteran cleverness empowered from years of dusting phoenix ash off oneself. These writers stand against the impossible, persevere and revel in reward. And what greater reward can a writer possibly possess than over 100,000 consistent readers*? Aaron Mahnke is one such writer. His hit podcast Lore grew out of an obsession with supernatural fiction. You see, Aaron didn’t find success with his first four books. Instead of abandoning the effort (or continuing down the rut), he pivoted, sought advice, thought of a new medium for readers to consume his work