The Alignment Show

15:35

Seeing Like a Writer

The Alignment Show ·

2026/10/10

What happens when we pay attention differently?Note: for folks who prefer to read instead of watch or listen, an article version is at the end of this. If you’re watching or listening on a podcatcher, you can find the original article at DonnKing.com/113.I went looking for a bench and came home with a question about how we experience the world.I hadn’t been to Ijams Nature Center in Knoxville for years. But I’m writing a novel that includes a scene along the Tennessee River, and I wanted to get the

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65:43

Kevin on Kraft: Writing Characters Who Aren’t You

The Alignment Show ·

2026/10/02

[Note: this post contains the podcast and its show notes along with the article version. Enjoy whichever one connects with you best. If you’re listening on a podcatcher and want the article version, head over to DonnKing.com/112.]One of the things I enjoy about talking with Kevin Tumlinson is that I can start with a question I think I understand and discover that I was actually asking something bigger.That happened again in this third installment of Kevin on Kraft.“Kevin on Kraft?” you ask. If you

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17:06

Discovering What Comes Next

The Alignment Show ·

2026/09/18

Lately, I’ve been looking forward to getting to my desk.That may sound like an ordinary thing for a writer to say. But after struggling with anhedonia, the absence of pleasure even in things I knew were worthwhile, that eagerness means something to me.Writing fiction has been bringing it back. I want to find out what my characters will do next, even though I’m supposedly the person in charge. Apparently, nobody has explained that arrangement to them.In this solo episode, I explore discovery writing,

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8:07

Connection Costs Energy. It’s Still Worth It.

The Alignment Show ·

2026/09/13

Note: I realized that since I’m making all material available to all subscribers, free and paid, it makes sense to just include the article version in the “show notes.” If you’d rather read than watch a video or listen to audio, the Article Version is below the Resources.This one is a little different.I recorded most of this episode in the car while Janet and I were on our way to The Morning Cup Toastmasters 10th Anniversary Summit. (Janet was driving. I promise.)It had been one of those weeks when

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59:27

Kevin on Kraft: When Your Characters Stop Following...

The Alignment Show ·

2026/09/04

I missed an episode last week.I could offer excuses, but the truth is more interesting: I’ve been writing. A lot.For the past couple of weeks, I’ve been almost embarrassingly absorbed in The Chemistry Between Us, the first romance novel I’ll publish as Devon Marin. Riley and Leo, the two people at the center of the story, have been carrying on conversations in my head while I’m trying to do other things. I’ve forgotten to eat. I’ve awakened early because I needed to capture something they were

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21:42

What Are We Amplifying?

The Alignment Show ·

2026/08/21

What Are We Amplifying?Note: read the article version of this podcast at DonnKing.com/108Art.I use tools to externalize parts of my brain.That sounds more dramatic than it is. A grocery list does it. So does an address book, a mind map, a voice memo, or a conversation with a friend. They let me move something outside my head so I can remember it, examine it, rearrange it, or think about it differently.Artificial intelligence can do that, too. These days, that raises all sorts of questions about

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48:42

You Don’t Have to Know Where You’re Going

The Alignment Show ·

2026/08/14

[Note: if you would rather read an article instead of watching or listening, you can read such here.]Sometimes the best conversations start because somebody says something almost in passing.I was listening to Kevin Tumlinson on The Word Slinger Podcast when he mentioned that, for all the talking he does about writing and publishing, he doesn’t get to talk about the actual craft of writing as often as you might expect. Maybe, he suggested, he just needed somebody to ask him questions.Well, I can ask

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1:23

The Alignment Show Is Back—and We’re Starting with a...

The Alignment Show ·

2026/08/10

Hi, friends.It’s been a while since we’ve had an episode of The Alignment Show, but we’re starting it back up again.We’ve been on hiatus for a few months as we experimented with different ways of connecting. While Substack Live is a perfectly viable channel, it just wasn’t working well for me.So we’re coming back to our usual format, and we’re starting off really well, I think.This coming Friday, what we intend to do is have a conversation between me and one of our “Stars in Alignment,” Kevin

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53:31

From Banjo to Memoir: Finding Meaning in the Messy...

The Alignment Show ·

2026/03/20

I wasn’t quite sure what to expect going into this conversation with Matthew Check, but I knew it would be interesting.What I didn’t expect was just how layered it would be.Matthew is a musician-turned-author whose memoir, What Would Philip Roth Do?, weaves together love, identity, creativity, and a fair amount of humor. But what stayed with me after our conversation wasn’t just the story itself. It was the process behind it—the discipline, the vulnerability, and the willingness to tell the truth

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51:47

They Tried to Bury Us: Finding Strength, Identity,...

The Alignment Show ·

2026/03/06

Some conversations stay with you long after the recording ends. This was one of them.In this episode of The Alignment Show, I talk with Mia Godfrey—life coach, speaker, and author of Buried, Not Broken: A Memoir of Survival, Sisterhood, and Starting Over. Mia grew up in Romania during the communist regime, immigrated to the United States, and later walked through the devastating loss of her sister.What began as a promise between two sisters eventually became a memoir about resilience, healing, and

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16:08

Are You Responding to Facts… or to Your Story About...

The Alignment Show ·

2026/02/21

Editor’s note: We’re grateful for all our listeners. We’ve been offering some added “perks” for paid subscribers, and we have realized that most if not all of those subscribers pay because they want to support our work, not because they get exclusive access to content. So we are experimenting with making all of our content here available to all subscribers. Thank you, thank you, thank you, and if you find value in what we do, please share us with others and upgrade your subscription as you see fit

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64:08

The Hidden Mechanics of Conflict (And How to Fix Them)

The Alignment Show ·

2026/02/13

We’ve all had that moment.You walk away from a conversation thinking, How did that blow up so fast? Or worse, That’s not what I meant at all.In this episode of The Alignment Show, I sit down with Dr. Patricia Timerman Barbosa da Silva (known simply as Dr. T) to talk about what really happens between intention and perception.We recorded this conversation some months ago, and while a few references are time-stamped, the insights are anything but. What she shares here is timeless and deeply

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59:43

Introversion, Identity, and the Courage to Be Real at...

The Alignment Show ·

2026/01/15

I’ve learned over the years that the most meaningful conversations often start with shared experience rather than shared credentials. This one did.In this episode of The Alignment Show, I sit down with Steve Friedman, an author, speaker, and longtime corporate leader who spent decades navigating professional life as an introvert before reinventing his work around writing, speaking, and supporting families affected by Down syndrome.Steve and I talk about masking, energy management, leadership,

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19:46

After the Dumpster Fire: Rebuilding Rhythm, Meaning,...

The Alignment Show ·

2026/01/06

This is the first episode of The Alignment Show for 2026, and it’s a solo one.I wanted to start the year by speaking honestly about why consistency broke down over the past year, what that cost, and what it’s taken to begin rebuilding. This isn’t an episode about productivity hacks or polished plans. It’s about grief, caregiving, creative identity, and what it means to keep choosing alignment when control turns out to be mostly an illusion.In this episode, I talk about why I shifted the show to an

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57:03

Writing in Alignment: Miracles, Missions, and Letting Go

The Alignment Show ·

2025/12/12

Rachael Herron returns to The Alignment Show, and as always, she brings a mix of honesty, wisdom, and grounded joy to the conversation. We talk about her new novel The Seven Miracles of Beatrix Holland and how writing it pulled her deeper into a long-running personal theme—letting go of control. We explore what happens when a story arrives before the plan does, why “mission” matters more than “goals,” and how creative work shifts when you stop writing to please the market and start writing from

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54:43

Becoming a Category of One: Visibility, Voice, and...

The Alignment Show ·

2025/11/19

What does it take to stand out in a noisy world without becoming a caricature of yourself? In this conversation, marketing expert and bestselling author David Newman, CSP, joins me to talk about the real work behind visibility, credibility, and building a business rooted in who you actually are. We dig into why personal brands now matter more than company brands, how to double down on your human strengths in the age of AI, and why the most successful people aren’t chasing every opportunity—they’re

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48:19

Learning by Doing in the Age of AI

The Alignment Show ·

2025/10/27

What happens when we stop trying to master technology and start learning with it?In this episode of The Alignment Show, I sit down with Joshua Hale — a self-taught “holistic tech wizard” who helps creators and entrepreneurs build businesses that serve life instead of consuming it. Joshua’s journey runs from the intensity of restaurant kitchens to the freedom of leading his own AI-driven strategy practice. Along the way, he’s learned that the most valuable skill in a changing world isn’t technical

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60:39

Money Myths, Hostage Situations, and the Power of Story

The Alignment Show ·

2025/09/30

Listen here or watch video on YouTube:In this episode of The Alignment Show, I sit down with returning guest Jeff West, one of our “stars in alignment,” to talk about his newest book, The Hidden Heist, co-authored with Bill Cates.Jeff has built a reputation for crafting business parables, stories that don’t just explain principles but draw you in through characters and plot. The Hidden Heist may be his boldest yet: a personal finance parable set entirely during a bank robbery. With humor, tension,

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15:46

When Frustration Hits Hard

The Alignment Show ·

2025/09/15

Ever had one of those moments where a “five-minute fix” with technology turns into two hours of hair-pulling? In this solo episode of The Alignment Show, I share a recent run-in with Photoshop that pushed me right to the edge of giving it all up—computers, creative work, even publishing.But behind the exasperation was something deeper:* What do you do when the tools you depend on start draining the joy out of the work?* How do you know if it’s just a temporary frustration—or a sign it’s time to lay

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50:41

The Courage to Realign: Jennifer Pierce’s Journey...

The Alignment Show ·

2025/09/05

Jennifer Pierce spent decades climbing the corporate ladder—investment banking, HR, and commodities trading—before realizing she wasn’t living true to her values. Burnout and loss pushed her to recalibrate her life and eventually find her calling as a leadership coach.In this conversation, Jennifer shares her honest reflections on imposter syndrome, the difference between therapy and coaching, and why true alignment comes when we stop just naming our values and actually live them. She also reveals

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