The Munn Avenue Muse Podcast copertina

The Munn Avenue Muse Podcast

The Munn Avenue Muse Podcast

Di: Charles Levin
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Tips, Tricks, and Inspiration for Both Aspiring and Accomplished Authors from Munn Avenue Press

www.munnavenuemuse.comCharles Levin Arte Economia Storia e critica della letteratura
Episodi
  • How a Real Family Argument Became a Technothriller

    How a Real Family Argument Became a Technothriller
    Jun 9 2026
    This week on the Munn Avenue Muse, Charlie Levin sat down with author John Kuendig to discuss his new technothriller, The Good Club, a novel built around a question that refuses to go away:What if some of the things dismissed as conspiracy theories turned out to be true?For John, that question wasn’t born in a writer’s room. It started during heated debates with his brother, who followed QAnon and other fringe theories. After one particularly spirited exchange, John found himself walking along the San Francisco shoreline wrestling with a thought he couldn’t shake.“What if he’s right?”That single question became the foundation for The Good Club, a story set thirty years in the future where power, technology, and control intersect in unsettling ways.Building Fiction on a Foundation of FactOne of the reasons the novel feels so believable is the amount of research behind it.John spent countless hours investigating emerging technologies, studying scientific papers, and testing whether some of the book’s more alarming concepts could actually work. He used Google Earth to map streets in Taiwan so that action scenes would unfold exactly as they would in real life.It’s the kind of attention to detail that separates a good thriller from one that keeps readers awake at night.The Unexpected Writing SecretLike most authors, John battled writer’s block.His solution wasn’t forcing words onto the page. Instead, he stepped away. A movie, a walk, another book, or simply giving his brain room to work often sparked the breakthroughs he needed.Ironically, his biggest burst of productivity came after hip replacement surgery. With four weeks of forced downtime, he finally pushed the manuscript across the finish line.Not a writing strategy most of us are eager to try, but effective nonetheless.Learning to Trust the ReaderOne of the biggest lessons John learned during the publishing process was a familiar one: show, don’t tell.Rather than telling readers a character is embarrassed, show the flushed face. Show the hesitation. Show the reaction.He also discovered the importance of raising questions immediately. Munn’s early editorial feedback led him to completely rethink his opening chapter, creating a stronger sense of mystery and urgency from the very first pages.More Than a ThrillerAt the heart of the novel, The Good Club explores a timeless danger: what happens when people become so convinced they’re right that they begin viewing anyone who disagrees as a problem to be eliminated.History offers plenty of examples of where that road can lead.What makes the novel resonate beyond the thriller genre is the question it leaves readers with:What happens when good intentions become justification for control?The answer may be fiction.For now…🎧 Listen to the full episode of The Munn Avenue Muse featuring John Kuendig wherever you get your podcasts.📘 The Good Club is available now at:AmazonBarnes & NobleBookshop.org✍️ ✍️ If you are working through your own story, whether it is personal, professional, or somewhere in between, Munn Avenue Press can help you shape it into something lasting. If you are ready to publish your book or audiobook, or are just beginning to explore the idea, visit MunnAvenuePress.com to learn more.👉 Subscribe below for more conversations with authors, publishing insights, and behind-the-scenes stories from The Munn Avenue Muse.🎙 Ask Siri or Alexa to “Play The Munn Avenue Muse podcast!”This post is public. Feel free to share.Happy Writing,Charlie LevinPublisher & Founder This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.munnavenuemuse.com
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    22 min
  • The Nuclear Reactor in Your Belly

    The Nuclear Reactor in Your Belly
    May 26 2026
    Most people grow up hearing the same thing about anger:Control it. Calm down. Let it go.But after listening to clinical psychologist Dr. Mitch Abrams talk about anger on the Munn Avenue Muse, I kept thinking about how backwards a lot of that advice feels in real life.Abrams has spent more than two decades as a psychologist working with athletes, high performers, and people in high-conflict environments (like prisons), and his perspective is surprisingly refreshing. He doesn’t treat anger like some emotional glitch that needs to be removed. He treats it like energy.His book, I’m Not F*cking Angry: Adjust the Flame to Get What You Want from Life, centers around one idea that instantly clicked for me:Anger isn’t the enemy. Lack of awareness is.Anger Is EnergyOne metaphor he uses really stayed with me. He describes anger as a “nuclear reactor in your belly.” That sounds dramatic at first, but the more you sit with it, the more accurate it feels.Anger creates momentum. It sharpens attention. It pushes people to act, compete, build, protect, and persist.The goal isn’t to shut that energy off. It’s learning how to direct it.That’s where the phrase “adjust the flame” comes in. Too much emotional heat, and people lose perspective. Too little and they lose drive. Somewhere in the middle is the sweet spot where emotion becomes fuel instead of friction.The Difference Between Aggression and DriveMost people hear the word “aggression” and immediately picture somebody out of control, but Abrams makes a distinction between reactive aggression and instrumental aggression. Reactive aggression is impulsive and emotional. Instrumental aggression is focused. It’s the determination that helps someone finish school, build a business, raise a family, or finish writing a book after wanting to quit ten different times.That distinction matters.Because ambition itself requires a certain level of aggression. Every meaningful accomplishment usually involves persistence, competitiveness, urgency, or intensity at some point.Why Awareness MattersAnother point that stood out was his emphasis on early awareness.Abrams said many people don’t realize they’re angry until they’re already fully activated. By then, the body has already taken over the conversation. The real skill is noticing the signs earlier: the tighter jaw, the faster speech, the tension in your chest, the shift in your breathing.That small moment of awareness changes everything. It creates enough space to respond intentionally instead of emotionally.What Writers Can Learn From ThisAs a writer, I also found his approach to communication incredibly valuable.He writes exactly the way he speaks. Direct. Conversational. Honest. No clinical performance. No overexplaining. And because of that, people trust him immediately.A lot of nonfiction writing loses readers because it sounds polished instead of real. Abrams avoids that completely. He understands that readers connect to specificity, personality, and lived experience more than perfectly structured advice.One thing he said really stuck with me: ideas are the skeleton, but stories are the flesh on the bone.That’s probably why his message resonates with people. You can feel the honesty in the way he writes.He also touched on something that feels especially relevant right now: how much modern communication strips away emotional nuance. Texts, DMs, emojis, and AI-generated responses all flatten tone and remove context. Human conversation has texture. Timing. Energy. Presence. You can feel sincerity in someone’s voice in a way you never can through a reaction emoji.That part honestly felt less like a criticism of technology and more like a reminder that real connection still matters.The biggest takeaway from the conversation was simple:Anger is part of being human.When people understand it, recognize it early, and channel it with intention, it becomes one of the most powerful sources of motivation we have.And sometimes the thought that gets people through the hardest moments is still the simplest one:“Watch me.”🎧 Listen to the full episode of The Munn Avenue Muse featuring Mitch Abrams on your favorite podcast platform.📘 I’m Not F*cking Angry! is available now at:AmazonBarnes & NobleBookshop.org🌐 Connect with Mitch through his official website✍️ If you are working through your own story, whether it is personal, professional, or somewhere in between, Munn Avenue Press can help you shape it into something lasting. If you are ready to publish your book or audiobook, or are just beginning to explore the idea, visit MunnAvenuePress.com to learn more.👉 Want more author insights, mindset strategies, and behind-the-scenes publishing wisdom? Subscribe below for weekly inspiration from The Munn Avenue Muse.🎙 Ask Siri or Alexa to “Play The Munn Avenue Muse podcast!”This post is public. Feel free to share.Happy Writing,Charlie LevinPublisher & Founder This is a public episode. If...
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    39 min
  • The Story You’re Not Telling Might Be the Most Important

    The Story You’re Not Telling Might Be the Most Important
    May 12 2026
    In 1950, a young boy stood at the Hungarian border as his life changed in an instant. Within minutes, everything familiar was gone, and a completely new chapter began.That boy was Tom Herskovits.Years later, his path would lead him to leadership roles at Procter & Gamble, General Foods, and Kraft. In a recent episode of The Munn Avenue Muse, he sat down with Charlie Levin to talk about the moments that shaped him and why telling your story matters more than most people realize.If you’ve ever thought your story was too ordinary to share, this conversation says otherwise.1. The habits you build early stay with youAfter leaving the orphanage, Tom was taken in by a Hungarian chess master named Bala. They played every single day for years.Those games became something bigger than chess. They sharpened his focus, strengthened his patience, and trained him to think a few moves ahead. That mindset carried into every room he later walked into, from meetings to major leadership decisions.Small, repeated habits have a way of shaping big outcomes.2. A story can open doors you didn’t even know existedTom wrote Budapest to Boca to honor his son, David, and to support the foundation created in his name.Then something remarkable happened.After years of trying to connect with the chairman of a major corporation, Tom finally heard from him. The reason was simple: the chairman’s wife had read the book and felt a connection to it.That’s the quiet power of sharing something real. A story moves, travels, and reaches people in ways no plan can fully predict.3. Momentum often comes down to a simple decisionOne of the defining voices in Tom’s life was his mother. She lived through war, imprisonment, and immense change, yet her outlook stayed focused on moving forward.At a pivotal moment, her words were clear: “We’re going again.”That mindset became a throughline in Tom’s life. It shows up in the risks he took, the roles he stepped into, and the way he approached each new chapter.Years later, when he returned to Hungary with his son to find his father’s grave, a sudden downpour met them as they arrived. It became one of the most meaningful moments he chose to include in his book.For anyone thinking about writing their own storyStart with an outline. Map the moments that shaped you. Let your personal and professional experiences sit together on the page.That’s where your story comes alive.Because what feels ordinary to you often carries immense meaning for someone else.🎧 Listen to the full episode of The Munn Avenue Muse featuring Tom Herskovits on your favorite podcast platform.📘 From Budapest to Boca is available now at:AmazonBarnes & NobleBookshop.org🌐 Connect with Tom through his official website✍️ If you are working through your own story, whether it is personal, professional, or somewhere in between, Munn Avenue Press can help you shape it into something lasting. If you are ready to publish your book or audiobook, or are just beginning to explore the idea, visit MunnAvenuePress.com to learn more.👉 Want more author insights, mindset strategies, and behind-the-scenes publishing wisdom? Subscribe below for weekly inspiration from The Munn Avenue Muse.🎙 Ask Siri or Alexa to “Play The Munn Avenue Muse podcast!”This post is public. Feel free to share.Happy Writing,Charlie LevinPublisher & Founder This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.munnavenuemuse.com
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    24 min
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