Dirk Hooper

With me gearing up to write more novels and non-fiction books, I've revitalized my writing site.

It's never looked like this before! It's right on target with my hopes and dreams for the next 20 years.

If you want to help me get out the word, please share this post!

The 3rd chapter for my book "The Rider Who Fell from Heaven" is now available to read, for free!

Click below in the first comment to read Chapter Three!

Chapter Three of "The Rider Who Fell from Heaven" https://kdhooper.substack.com/p/chapter-3-the-rider-who-fell-from?r=6b18cm

Begin Here "The Rider Who Fell from Heaven" Chapters and Information

In this episode of Book Crew, Beth A. Freely and Dirk Hooper tackle the rapidly changing world of indie publishing, from Draft2Digital’s new account and maintenance fees to Barnes & Noble Press limiting accounts to 100 titles.

Link to the episode in the comments, because that's what we have to do here now!

The second chapter for my book "The Rider Who Fell from Heaven" is now available to read, for free!

Click below to read Chapter Two!

Chapter Two of "The Rider Who Fell from Heaven" https://open.substack.com/pub/kdhooper/p/the-rider-who-fell-from-heaven-chapter

Begin Here "The Rider Who Fell from Heaven" Chapters and Information

It's my birthday! 🎂🎁🎉

So grateful for my family, and my extended family:

My Rain King brothers

The Friday Night Crew

The Taskforce Geek gang

And all the wonderful people out there I've only met online...

who are always so beautiful, and supportive, and wise!

I've written very spicy stuff, but it's integral to the story and the character arcs.

Hear more about spice levels in our work and catch up with Book Crew in our latest episode: https://bookcrewpodcast.com/podcast/writing-through-chaos-real-talk-from-book-crew/

Beth and I talk about "spicy pepper levels" in novels, and how you can figure out how spicy a novel is in our latest episode of the Book Crew Podcast.

https://bookcrewpodcast.com/podcast/writing-through-chaos-real-talk-from-book-crew/

NEW! After a long break, Book Crew is back, and this catch-up episode is packed with real-life challenges, creative momentum, and exciting plans for the future.

Dirk Hooper shares his journey through a health scare and a complete tech overhaul that derailed everything, while Beth A. Freely reveals just how prolific she’s been, dropping books, launching audiobooks, and expanding into new creative territory.

From writing under pressure to building a sustainable creative career, this episode is an honest, inspiring look at what it really takes to keep going as a writer and what’s coming next for Book Crew in 2026.

Writing Through Chaos – Real Talk from Book Crew - Book Crew https://bookcrewpodcast.com/podcast/writing-through-chaos-real-talk-from-book-crew/

I wrote an article about this quote from Stephen King and gave you a few tools to make use of your subconscious mind as a writer.

Get Your Best Novel Ideas from The Boys in the Basement - Book Crew https://bookcrewpodcast.com/get-your-best-novel-ideas-from-the-boys-in-the-basement/

Here's the sort of thing you can get into when you're writing a historical novel.

Beth talks about how a samurai puts on armor.

Hear the entire episode here: How to Turn Research Into Storytelling Gold – Historical Research with Beth A. Freely - Book Crew https://bookcrewpodcast.com/podcast/how-to-turn-research-into-storytelling-gold-historical-research-with-beth-a-freely/

NEW! This episode of Book Crew dives deep into the art of historical storytelling, as Beth A. Freely delivers a powerful breakdown of how to balance research, imagination, and emotional truth in fiction.

Dirk Hooper shares his milestone of completing a first draft in record time.

In this interview, by me for FETISHWEEK, Lady Grace Persephone pulls back the curtain on over 3 decades in the international kink community.

1st in my FETISHWEEK Dommes of Bluesky Series!

From our new Book Crew episode coming on Monday!

In this high-energy episode of Book Crew, hosts Dirk Hooper and Beth A. Freely sit down with powerhouse indie author Vic Leigh, who has written 22 books in just five years.

From building a publishing company to champion indie authors, Vic shares her fast-paced writing process, the secrets behind her productivity, and how she’s creating new opportunities through shared-world series, newsletters, and author collaboration.

If you want to write more, publish smarter, and grow your audience, this episode is packed with real-world strategies and inspiration.

“You can always edit a bad page. You can’t edit a blank page.” — Jodi Picoult

I recently read a book titled "Endless Ideas" by Sean M. Platt and Neeve Silver. It has a bunch of great ideas for authors, but one of the big "ah-ha" moments for me was their concept of the "vomit draft."

Yes, that's visceral, but that's the point.

What they advocate, and what helped me get through my most recent draft, is turning off the editor part of your brain, and just let everything flow out... good, bad, and ugly.

That concept freed me to just get the story out there and worry about refining it later. What I discovered is that once I put the editor in the basement, not only did it allow me to write much faster, but what I poured out was also much better.

For the first time ever, I found The Flow State, and it was wonderful.

This episode of Book Crew dives into the traditional publishing journey with author Veronica Leigh, who shares how writing nearly 50 short stories, and enduring countless rejections, helped her break into the industry. Hosts Dirk Hooper and Beth A. Freely explore the power of persistence, the craft of short fiction, and the realities of building a writing career the “old-school” way. From historical research rabbit holes to landing a three-book deal, this episode is packed with inspiration for writers navigating both traditional and modern publishing paths.

Read about the first draft of my debut novel and what's next!

Also, two new books by author friends!