Rodney Carpentier is a New York sheriff's lieutenant, a former criminal investigator, and the crime fiction author R.L. Carpentier III, creator of The Overlook Trilogy and the small-town murder mystery Our Lady of the Overlook.

At 2 a.m. on a double shift, one question hit him: what if a DNA test revealed that the birth mother you never knew was the unidentified victim of a cold case homicide? That question launched a police procedural series set in the rural Catskill Mountains and a new life as a self-published novelist.

Rodney joins host Rich Wright for an in-depth author interview on writing a novel while working full time in law enforcement, turning real police experience into fiction, and building an author platform from scratch.

THE STORYTELLER BEFORE THE BADGE:
Raised in a mobile home park in Coeymans, New York, by a welder and pipefitter father and an early COBOL programmer mother, Rodney was the kid who invented stories alone in the woods and wore a suit on ordinary school days. At SUNY New Paltz he earned a BA in English and played guitar in the pop punk band Gone Ashley, named after a line in James Joyce's Finnegans Wake about the phoenix rising from the ashes.

FROM LA TO LAW ENFORCEMENT:
Three days after marrying Laura, his partner of more than 27 years, he drove cross-country to Los Angeles, where a "Join the LAPD" banner on Sunset Boulevard sparked a law enforcement career. Back in New York came the CSX rail yard, New York State corrections, and the county sheriff's office in 2008. As a criminal investigator he worked insurance, welfare, check, and wire fraud cases with state and federal agencies, then rose to sergeant and lieutenant. From a prison yard tower, he filled notebooks planning a novel he wasn't yet ready to write.

HOW REAL POLICE WORK BECOMES CRIME FICTION:
The English major who chased Hemingway, Faulkner, and Fitzgerald once looked down on genre fiction. Years of interviews, fraud cases, overnight shifts, and grief quietly built what he calls a garden of material. His protagonist, rookie officer Mike Ellis, is surrounded by composite characters drawn from the real cops who mentored him.

WHAT YOU'LL LEARN:

~How a DNA test premise became a cold case mystery trilogy

~Writing authentic small-town policing without CSI-style resources or backup

~Turning family history and father-son grief into character depth

~Self-publishing lessons from a rushed first launch and letting Patreon readers name book two~Book marketing for introverts: street fairs, book events, and one reader at a time

~How to present yourself as an author before you feel ready

Connect with Rodney:

Website: https://www.rlcarpentierwriter.com

Instagram: ‪https://www.instagram.com/rlcarpentier

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100088602104002

Connect with Rich:

Website: ⁠⁠https://www.theartistrecovery.com⁠⁠

Linkedin: @richwrightunltd

Facebook: @richwrightunltd

Instagram: @richwrightunltd

FB: @theartrec

Instagram: @theartrec

Artist Rich Wright’s WOW Essential Spirit Paintings: ⁠⁠https://www.theartistrecovery.com/whi...

Support and Shop Art Rec Merch: https://www.artrecshop.com

Join Podmatch: ⁠https://www.joinpodmatch.com/artistre...

Dyslexia Classes: ⁠https://www.skool.com/dyslexia-classes⁠

#RodneyCarpentier #RLCarpentierIII #TheOverlookTrilogy #OurLadyOfTheOverlook #ArtistRecoveryPodcast #RichWright #CrimeFictionAuthor #PoliceProcedural #ColdCaseMystery #SmallTownMurderMystery #LawEnforcementAuthor #CopTurnedWriter #SheriffLieutenant #WritingANovel #SelfPublishing #IndieAuthor #AuthorInterview #CreativeRecovery #PopPunkBand #GoneAshley #FinnegansWake #JamesJoyce #CatskillMountains #NewYorkAuthor #SUNYNewPaltz #WritingInspiration #AuthorPlatform #BookMarketing #IntrovertAuthor #DNATestMystery #TrueCrimeInspiration #WritersPodcast #CreativeCareerChange #SecondActCareer #GenreFiction #MysteryThrillerBooks #richwrightunlimited #richwrightunltd #richwrightartist #beaguest #podmatchguest ⁨@PodMatch_com⁩

What happens when a curious, bright-eyed kid hears the words "we need to watch him" and quietly decides to stop raising his hand? Dyslexia coach, author, and speaker Willie Blake traces the path from that moment to 500+ stages, 100+ podcast appearances, and a life built on one word: LIGHT.

Willie Blake is the author of Dyslexic Achiever's Blueprint, host of the Light Beyond Limits podcast, founder of the quarterly Own Your Dyslexia virtual panels, a Utah Valley University graduate, an Eagle Scout, and a three-year service award recipient as a volunteer counselor at HODIA's camp for teens with Type 1 diabetes.

He sits down with host Rich Wright for an honest conversation about dyslexia, neurodiversity, confidence, faith, creativity, and the difference between a diagnosis and a label.

Diagnosed in first grade after a school reading screening, Willie describes how being singled out shaped his voice in the classroom, why he always needs a clear view of the door, and how his dyslexic brain processes the world visually, solving problems in patterns rather than straight lines. He shares how hands-on learning in Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts, 14 years of soccer, and drawing classes built the self-esteem that school could not, and how confidence and sleep directly affect how strongly dyslexia shows up day to day.

The conversation moves through his two-year LDS mission in Nampa, Idaho, where he met his wife and found a faith of his own; switching from accounting to business management to discover the creative side of branding and marketing; and launching a coaching business that had zero clients in year one.

Willie explains how a 15-minute daily "Core Four" routine of meditation and breathwork changed his presence at home within two weeks, and why he dropped "William Blake" for "Coach Willie" to remove barriers for the adult dyslexics he serves.

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

~Diagnosis vs. labeling: a diagnosis points to solutions; a label becomes an excuse

~Confidence is built through reps, mentally and emotionally, just like physical strength

~"Adult recess": why creative play belongs in the workday~Hit record anyway: his first mastermind drew zero people, and he taught it to his phone

~Resources for dyslexic adults drop sharply after age 18, and Willie is working to change that

THE LIGHT PHILOSOPHY:


L: Love (others and yourself)


I: Inspiration


G: Gratitude ("If you wanna change your attitude, change your gratitude")


H: Hope


T: Time

THE DYSLEXIC ACHIEVER'S BLUEPRINT:

~Believe in the possibility

~Define what YOU want

~Reverse engineer the plan

~Take 2% action each day

~Adjust and adapt

Connect with Willie:

Website: https://coachwillieblake.com

Youtube: ⁨@WillieBlake_Light⁩

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/willieblake-light

Connect with Rich:

Website: ⁠⁠https://www.theartistrecovery.com⁠⁠

LinkedIn: @richwrightunltd

Instagram: @richwrightunltd

FB: @theartrec

Instagram: @theartrecArtist Rich

Wright’s WOW Essential Spirit Paintings: ⁠⁠https://www.theartistrecovery.com/whi...

Support and Shop Art Rec Merch: https://www.artrecshop.com

Join Podmatch: ⁠https://www.joinpodmatch.com/artistre...

⁠#Dyslexia #DyslexiaAwareness #DyslexicAdults #AdultDyslexia #DyslexiaCoach #DyslexicThinking #DyslexiaDiagnosis #DyslexiaInSchool #DyslexiaAndConfidence #DyslexicEntrepreneur #Neurodiversity #Neurodivergent #NeurodivergentCreatives #LearningDifferences #VisualThinking #DiagnosisVsLabeling #SelfEsteem #ConfidenceBuilding #MentalHealth #MentalHealthMatters #Meditation #Breathwork #Gratitude #Anxiety #Mindset #AnalysisParalysis #GoalSetting #PublicSpeaking #Coaching #Entrepreneurship #Creativity #Burnout #Reinvention #Faith #Type1Diabetes #WillieBlake #LightBeyondLimits #DyslexicAchieversBlueprint #LIGHTPhilosophy #OwnYourDyslexia #RichWright #ArtistRecoveryPodcast #richwrightartist #richwrightunlimited #richwrightunltd ⁨@PodMatch_com⁩