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CTP (S4EAugSpecial1) The Writer’s Long Game
Joseph M. Leonard talks with author Kern Carter about what it takes to stick with writing for decades, from early creative sparks to the hard realities of publishing. We swap jokes, dig into craft choices like run-on sentences, and land on a simple idea: learn the rules, then use them on purpose.
• Kern Carter’s origins in Trinidad and life in Toronto
• The “creative gene” and how early dreams turn into real work
• Why supportive friends matter in a rejection-heavy career
• Publishing reality checks including competition, timing, and marketing
• Kern’s latest books and writing for a wider age range
• First-book lessons and why writing a novel is technical
• Word-count breakdowns for short story, novelette, novella, and novel
• “Novel X” and the push for shorter reads and better value
• Breaking grammar rules intentionally to serve character and story
• Why reviews should focus on story impact over comma counting
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Transcript
00:00hello welcome to another episode of first institutionalist podcast i am your host
00:07joseph m leonard that's l-e-n-a-r-d at the french it's not it's leonard without an o
00:16thank you for tuning in as graham norton used to stay on his show let's get on with the show
00:25joining me today is kern carter and in his pod match bio i make no bones about i use pod
00:36match
00:37as a service where guests find hosts and hosts find guests you can check it out at tinyurl.com
00:47join pod match don't have to sign up you can just check it out if you like where he said
00:56he's dreamed of wordsmithing since age eight to which i responded i too was transfixed and fascinated
01:07with engaging and writing at an early age but it didn't happen till 2022 an old dude that i
01:17finally became internationally published so he accomplished it a lot quicker and sooner than i
01:25did welcome to the show kern how are you i'm doing well thank you for having me how i'm happy
01:33that you're
01:34here uh the it's a christian so so i like to joke the obvious proverbial right proverbs christian
01:46on the proverbial first question and what is the genesis of your story
01:54where were you born where were you raised where you know significant places you've been into in
02:02between where are you now that sort of thing let's start with that yeah i was actually born in
02:08trinidad um and then i came over to toronto when i was six years old so i was raised in
02:15toronto i pretty
02:15much spent the rest of my life there i did though go to university in upstate new york so i
02:21went to
02:21university at a school called st bonaventure so i was there for a few years as well so i've been
02:27around a little bit but toronto yeah i was definitely home oh well oh boy yeah ontario and new york
02:37i don't know i i would think you'd just want to go back to trinidad after that
02:43these are jokes people these are jokes lighten up these are jokes
02:52uh-oh kern appears oh all right you were froze there for a second but i think we're good
02:58so indeed uh since you were eight early age you like me yeah i was my dad was a musician
03:09so i
03:10dabbled in writing and recording music as well as writing stories so i come from a creative family
03:19what do you attribute your desire to want to write to luck honestly i don't know i didn't because i
03:28didn't come from a creative family my mom played uh a sport called netball growing up and so did my
03:32aunt so i i watched them play those sports um but no she she played nutball and you're just a
03:40nut job
03:42these are jokes people you got it you got it for the benefit of the transcript he's laughing these
03:50are jokes let's let's lighten up anyway go on my audience knows i cannot pass on the lame pun
04:00teasing jokes interjections but yeah so this is golden this is golden um but yeah no i don't know i'm
04:09not
04:09sure i think it's just you know you're born with with whatever that thing is and i was born with
04:13whatever that thing was and it turned out to be right they make drugs for that now you can get
04:19i know they should have had it back in back in the 80s but again jokes people jokes
04:28so yeah thankfully uh god gave you a creative gene yeah that's exactly it that's exactly it you know
04:38and i've been thankful ever since and where i'll give myself credit is that i i just stuck to it
04:42i
04:42just pursued it you know i didn't give up on on that actual dream and you know i i feel
04:48i tell people
04:49all the time i feel very fortunate that like whatever god put in me that that i was able to
04:55just like
04:57nurture that gift for my entire life and and get to where i'm get to where i'm at right now
05:01so
05:02you know not everyone knows what they want to do when they're young and actually pursues that dream
05:08throughout their entire adulthood and i've been fortunate enough to be able to do that
05:12yes and as you said it's like anything you can be born with a talent uh but everything
05:26takes encouragement and practice to nurture the skills yes yes absolutely absolutely and that and
05:35i had a lot of encouragement my mom was very supportive um the people around me just like
05:41they they they recognized my talent as well and were like super supportive like i have incredible friends
05:47who just like you know gas me up a little bit and and really encouraged me to make sure that
05:52i kept
05:52going and yeah i mean that that support is is especially when you're a writer and it probably
05:58any creative and any creative endeavor but as a writer especially you need a lot of support because
06:03there's a lot of rejection there's a lot of emotional kind of strain uh there's just a lot there's a
06:10lot
06:10of there are a lot of obstacles a lot of adversity you have to go through so it's one of
06:15those careers
06:16where like if you want it you really have to want it you you you can't want anything else you
06:21know
06:21what i mean so because if you want something else you're better off just doing that other thing
06:24because this is this is extremely hard yeah there's a lot of competition uh i've written
06:32how to write a book and get it published nurturing and mentoring and encouraging others that feel they
06:41have a story in them to be able to pull it from them and help them get it out but
06:46thousands of new
06:49books every week it is fierce competition out there so you have to and i go into in that book
06:58understand not just writing but marketing and promotion like you're doing here you're appearing
07:05on a podcast to talk about it and promote it and help sell books uh otherwise as you said move
07:13on
07:14uh if you're expecting to just oh i'll throw something out there and i'm gonna be the next
07:20jk rowling or stephen king and a millionaire uh you've got the wrong motivation i hope you can be the
07:28next millionaire writer but chances are you know if you can make a living at it eke out a good
07:38leave living at it then you're ahead of a whole lot of other you're still you're still a whole a
07:43whole lot ahead of most like 95.7 percent of everybody you know like that to even be able to
07:50make some to get a royalty check in in publishing is is a wild wild accomplishment so if you're able
07:56to get a few royalty checks you should feel proud but yeah again it's it's being a novelist
08:01being an author is just like it's one of those things like timing matters um the the publisher
08:09you're with matters what what where where culture is at the moment matters there are so many things
08:15that are out of your control that it makes it really difficult for you to predict anything with
08:19a career with any kind of accuracy you know so persistence patience timing making sure you have
08:27other hobbies that are keeping you occupied so like everything is not riding on on being an author
08:33we are you it will induce writer's block yes if if you're sitting down and expecting to be able to
08:41hammer something out between nine to five every day you're gonna go insane you're gonna have a lot
08:47of writer's block uh but i want to go back again the audience knows i can't help but joke you
08:55had
08:55mentioned your friends oh how great and wonderful they are well that's nice of you to say that about
09:01them but i'm sure you have a few friends that are assholes let's talk about them
09:08i you know what i i i i got lucky i don't like they're none of my friends have ever
09:15doubted me if anything it's the opposite they've been like they're probably shocked it's taken me this
09:21long before like my my career has taken off you know what i mean like they they they have been
09:26ultimately the most supportive and and like yeah they they buy all my books they they come to my book
09:33launches they they share my stories they read my newsletters like i don't i don't really have
09:38that situation with my friends they're good yeah i got lucky that's good well you are up in
09:42canuckistanian land so i mean right sorry also polite and friendly up there i i'm in detroit
09:52right across the river from windsor i used to vacation over in canada a lot so yeah i i've got
09:59a lot of canadian friends and know the people and indeed they are bend over backwards polite up there
10:07to the degree of it being a fault and irritating at times
10:15your your reaction to that we i mean we are we are nice to a fault at times we do
10:25have that
10:25reputation for sure um but i think also too like we've we've shown when when we need to be
10:32prideful and when we need to step up we can also kind of step up and and you know get
10:36get
10:37to get get to get what we want and and so like i feel like i have a little bit
10:41of that in me as
10:42well just like i do for me like yes it's been it's been and unless you're a canadian olympic hockey
10:51team in your face yeah all in good fun people all in good fun you couldn't help that way you
11:02yeah just good natured ribbing in fact um suno ai music systems uh max scherzer a former detroit
11:15tigers pitcher who went to washington for a while re-signed with toronto blue jays so i created
11:23a maxine scherzer diss track and i'm trying to get a fun back and forth going right just in fun
11:33it's a
11:34mock diss track calling them maxine scherzer you know it's tongue-in-cheek just meant to be some fun
11:42right so i'm waiting for a canuckistanian lander to respond with a tiger's diss track and
11:52no you you got it in fact at the end of this episode i'm gonna write my note uh max
12:01diss track so i i'm gonna tack that on the end of this episode
12:13listen people things are so serious we have to lighten up and have a sense of humor yes
12:19absolutely lightness is needed right now yeah there's so much darkness so much
12:26anger and hate and resentment and all those negative emotions we we need more positivity
12:37my entire life and living series of books in fact i'll include that too life song uh
12:45uh books is about that right we need to be the light right we need to sow good we need
12:55to
12:55share goodness acts of random kindness towards others fun and light and good because there's so much
13:05darkness in the this fallen world yes absolutely absolutely and i and i and i think um you know you
13:13making jokes us us writing books us having this conversation like this is this is all part of it
13:19yeah yeah it's like you're up in canada so let me i i quote often rush not limbo the talk
13:30show guy
13:31the canadian rock trio free will we are all given free will if you choose not to decide you still
13:40have made a choice not from the bible but very biblical shall be known by your fruits if you don't
13:48sow good you allow others make choices for you you are complicit in the evil you allow you are complicit
13:58and at fault at least in part for the rotten fruit we're all trying to choke down because you didn't
14:06sow good fruit yes yeah absolutely absolutely it's accountability you know and we're living in this
14:14we're living in this world you know we're living in a world that we shape we're living with the people
14:18who we decide to live with we're living with the leaders who we voted for um so there's well
14:24uh unfortunately we get stuck with something we don't vote for too though at times but yeah
14:30whole other thing i'm not talking about any no we're not getting into that administration or
14:37we're not talking uh politics today i just just a general broad statement apply it as you like
14:49uh anyway let's talk what is uh it's like being a parent you don't ask a parent oh which is
14:58your
14:58favorite child no i'm not gonna do that to you what like what's your favorite book you've written no
15:04what is the latest book you have published out there um in 2024 i had two books published and then
15:14there was us and then a middle grade book i published with scholastic called is there a boy
15:18like me those are my two latest but i have a couple i think i have two coming out this
15:22year as well
15:23so we'll see would those be children or young adults no back um reg like regular adult book and then
15:32one is a follow-up to that to the scholastic book so that one will be a middle grade book
15:37as well
15:39okay so it could be considered young adult genre uh that's the scholastic one is like there are young
15:46adults who read it like i've met some high school students who enjoyed the book as well so yeah i
15:51would
15:51say yeah i i think we're kind of similar in that i i too try to write in a way
15:58that it's a more
16:01broader age range so young adults can read it and enjoy aspects and older people can you know but
16:12get off my lawn all these young kids don't know nothing you know can also get something off of it
16:18right try to bring the generations together i'm with you i'm with you all we all need to be reading
16:26this reading stuff so hey and uh what was your first book the first book i ever published was a
16:35book i self-published uh an auto fiction novel or novella titled um thoughts of a fractured soul
16:44yeah that was back in 2014 so that was the first book i wrote took me about six years to
16:48write that
16:49book just wrapping my head how around how to actually be an author about like how to actually
16:55craft the book the way i wanted to craft the book and just learning like it took me a long
16:59time just
16:59to learn even though like i said i've been i knew i want to be an author for a long
17:03time i went to
17:03school studying english literature i took all the right courses it's just writing a novel is extremely
17:09technical and i i didn't feel technically equipped when i was writing my first novel my first book so it
17:16took me a while to kind of wrap my head around that and then also like life stuff as well
17:20you know
17:21but once that one was out it was just like everything from then on has been like let's go
17:25like a book every two years after that yeah but that life stuff of course is fodder for the books
17:31so oh yeah absolutely i'm glad you mentioned novella for those viewing on the behind the scenes
17:38five video platforms sneak peek video as opposed to the 25 plus audio only channels or might be reading
17:47in the transcript you saw me reaching for a note since you mentioned novella i want to make the official
17:56uh outline of what a short story typically under 7500 words 36 500 characters which translates roughly to
18:10about 30 pages or less a novelette which i have a few of those ranges from 7500 to 17 000
18:19words uh 30 to 68
18:22pages a novella that you mentioned generally 17 500 to 40 000 words or about 70 to 160 pages these
18:33are
18:33general accepted norms in the industry but your mileage may vary as they say right uh a novel did i
18:42say
18:43considered to be 40 000 words or more and i dare say i created a term i like making up
18:51my own words and
18:52terms i invented the novel ext now novel ext ext to me a novel should have a more defined
19:03page range page range there's a big difference between a 300 page novel and war and peace to me
19:12war and peace should be a novel ext category and it's extended novel anything over 450 pages to me
19:23should be a novel ext to me should be a novel ext ext extended novel right that's because
19:31today's 300 pages is different from 600 pages yes you're right that's fair it's a full other it's a full
19:37other book exactly so to me i'm trying to get accepted as a new norm that new category because indeed
19:47today's twitter attention span especially everybody wants short that's where a novella or novelette why
19:55i'm writing novelettes as opposed to novels now people want shorter plus the expense books cost money
20:04people need food they don't need a book so we need to work to keep the cost down yes i'm
20:14going to start
20:15using the world word novel x i'm going to try to i'm going to try to get it get it
20:20going for you
20:20i'm going to try to get it going for you i'll make sure to give you the credit joseph but
20:23i'm gonna try
20:24to get it going for you just remember where you heard it first yeah proper accreditation and attribution
20:31please thank you but yeah i welcome the help in trying to get the publishing world to recognize that
20:39exactly uh because traditional publishers are usually set in their ways well this is i've had
20:51had the argument with my publisher with my terror strikes coming soon to city near you novel that
20:59came out through illumify media slash mchenry press you know i wanted a different cover we settled on this
21:08one i wanted a few things you gotta pick your medals right yeah take your medals publishers are
21:15this is the way we've always done it yeah this is the internet age though
21:23this isn't shakespearean times this isn't hemingway's times these are different times in fact i've got a
21:32constitutionalist video exclusive where i joke i'm not shakespeare that's not a diss to shakespeare
21:42i love shakespeare i quote shakespeare and longfellow and others in my books but these are internet times in
21:51my books i put bonus material online links to the internet so it's like a dvd director's cut you get
22:00bone right
22:01you've got to offer and you can borrow that too start doing that right we have to offer more for
22:11people's
22:12money nowadays yeah yeah so that has to be insane because they're paying ten dollars for infinite
22:19amounts of music or infinite amounts of music of of uh film or infinite amount of tv so we got
22:26to give
22:26them something for the 30 40 dollars we're charging right absolutely yeah and you're in kanakistan land so
22:32yeah the costs are oh even worse than here in the us but yeah so my novelettes i wrote so
22:41i could get
22:42them out around 12 us as opposed to my novel which is 20 us and i'm also writing some short
22:53story kindle
22:54exclusives that i could put up for 99 cents trying to be kinder to people's budgets
23:02with bonus material go online and get more for your money so they please by all means borrow that and
23:13help spread that right publishers wake up they said new times
23:19yeah i mean publishing is is a typically kind of slow industry anyway so i think it'll be a while
23:25before anything shifts over there plus i mean it's still it's still a healthy industry overall so i i feel
23:30like they feel hey if it ain't broke right yeah that's the problem yeah there's no real incentive to change
23:39things because they're making money doing it the way they've always done it so yeah that could change
23:46very quickly though like you can look at music music was great until it wasn't right it happened real
23:53fast like in a couple of years past yeah and it's changed again overnight as i said uh my max
24:00maxine
24:01scherzer diss track and my life and living series of books theme song which i will tack on both at
24:09the
24:09end of this episode suny ai music system you know i describe what i want it spits out some lyrics
24:18i refine
24:19the lyrics it makes the song i used to write and record music it used to take 10 hours to
24:26write a song
24:27and 10 days to record it now you do it all in 10 minutes online right so yeah it's all
24:34self-publishing has changed the publishing but i want to talk to you now specifically about writing
24:43because i had one person in a review talk about run-on sentences well like beauty that's in the eye
24:52of the
24:53beholder the ap the chicago the oxford writing style guides do not define a run-on sentence
25:03as 12 words or more or whatever it's in the eye of the beholder and sometimes i don't know if
25:13you
25:13believe this or not i'll get your reaction sometimes it calls for a long sentence with
25:21a bunch of commas and some semicolons because it fits the character and the situation what are your
25:30thoughts on that i totally agree i i i think it's important to learn all the rules but then like
25:36figure
25:36out how to bend and twist them and break them at your at your leisure you know and at the
25:40at the as
25:41long as it's for the betterment of the actual story and the actual plot or the actual character arc or
25:47whatever as long as it's like for you're doing it with with intention and not just doing it to
25:51to show off that you can write then it's it's totally i do the most run-on sentences and so
25:58i
25:58start sentences with and and i start like it's all these things that are supposed to be you know
26:03publishing like no i just do it because again it makes sense for the story it makes sense for the
26:09character and english is not what it was during shakespeare i i write in american english not oxford english
26:22not not not the king's speech that's these are different times so oh yeah so indeed uh
26:36different things for different times but yeah that's oh i remember now where i was going to go
26:42reviews at times drive me crazy too if you're going to get hung up on the grammar oh well there
26:51should
26:51have those that's a run-on sentence it should be broken into i don't care sorry not sorry i don't
27:01care about your technical grammar review did you get the point of the damn story or not that's what
27:13matters yes yeah yeah tell me if you like the story if you understood the story if there was something
27:18about the story that was interesting something about the characters you didn't like or like yeah if i
27:23i would rather you not write a 250 word review about me doing not including a comma it's in starting
27:32a
27:32sentence with and yeah yeah yeah yeah i don't care you know shut up i'm sorry for those that left
27:40reviews like that but then shut up i don't care you don't like my writing read somebody else
27:57oh anyway time has flown uh thank you i didn't say your name enough kern carter for coming on do
28:07you
28:07have a website for people to find you uh yeah just go to kerncarter.com if you go to kerncarter
28:14.com
28:14you'll find everything you need to know about me all right that sounds good thank you so much
28:20kern carter for coming out it was great uh you're a good fun loving guy like me that's great we
28:28had
28:28some fun uh stuff is too serious i don't want to see my saturday monologues are often very serious stuff
28:40so guest appearances i like to be more lighthearted and thank you for being part of this episode i
28:47appreciate it this was a good time
28:53announcing christitutionalist podcast gear ctp gear or ctp wear if you prefer head gear like hats
29:07torso gear torso gear apparel drink gear mugs and glasses and the sort so subscribe to ctp at tinyurl.com
29:24slash subscribe to ctp get your ctp gear via tinyurl.com
29:35slash ctp gear and of course get your joseph m leonard media
29:44manuscripts the joseph m leonard dot us slash shop and again that's leonard without an o
29:54joseph m l-e-n-a-r-d dot us slash shop
30:09life can be like an amusement ride but not always amusing roller coasters the life kind now available
30:16on amazon
30:17so
30:25so
30:35so
30:36so
30:54look i know this is difficult but you have to listen to me
30:57how can you ask me to be calm right now this is too much
31:02life is complicated living is hard at times we are complex creatures and let's face it human
31:09nature isn't always nice
31:13complicated life sure is
31:16it's the reality of humanity of life and of living sometimes we are up
31:23sometimes we are down join franklin as he navigates the chaos and tries to stay positive
31:30complicated
31:35get your copy now on amazon available in ebook hardcover and paperback
31:47life isn't a straight line
31:50it twists
31:52it soars
31:53it drops
31:55without warning
31:57but it's in those heart-pounding moments
32:00the climbs and the falls
32:03that we discover
32:05who we truly are
32:07roller coasters
32:09the life kind
32:11a book by joseph m leonard
32:14available now on amazon
32:27in the book of kennedy project carpe diem
32:31a young woman stands alone at sunrise by the ocean
32:35her hair moves with the wind
32:38faint superimposed text
32:40was life just a collection of mediocre days with a few random happy times
32:46flashbacks
32:48a girl laughing as a child then crying as a teenager pondering about her future
32:55lighting shifts from golden to shadowed
32:59slow motion she walks through crowds offering a soft smile to a stranger
33:05in the book of kennedy project carpe diem available now on amazon in ebook paperback
33:12and hardcover editions
33:42Transcription by CastingWords
33:49Welcome to Christitutionalist Politics 4, the latest chapter in the CTP journey.
33:55Yes, it's come fast on the heels of CTP3, but this time there's a reason.
34:01The world hasn't slowed down, and neither have I.
34:04So much has happened since CTP3, I couldn't wait until 2026.
34:09The conversations, the challenges, the turning points, they demanded a response now.
34:17Drawn from countless posts, articles, podcast episodes, and exclusive videos, CTP4 brings
34:24it all together.
34:25Compact, sharp, and powerful.
34:28Ten chapters of insight you can dive into today.
34:32Shorter by design, packed with meaning, and offered at a special low cost.
34:37Because truth and perspective shouldn't wait.
34:41Christitutionalist Politics 4, available now on Amazon Kindle eBook.
34:46Exclusive.
35:16Transcription by CastingWords
35:16Transcription by CastingWords
35:45Transcription by CastingWords
36:16Life can be heavy like this metal anthem. Give it what you've got, then give it even more, son. Life
36:23and living, complicated and complex. No such thing as perfect, just give your best.
36:36You don't need a script, you don't need a crown. Just wake up, get dressed, step out in your town.
36:44Hold the door, share a smile.
36:47Listen more than you speak, tiny seeds of kindness. Change your life this week.
36:56Just show up. Just show up. Just try. Be a little bit better than you were last time. Be good.
37:07So good. Let your heart write the story in your own neighborhood.
37:11Just show up. Just try. Be a force for good. In somebody's life.
37:25You don't need a stage. Stand for what's right. Read it on the road with a kid each night. Speak
37:33strong.
37:33When the talk turns mean. Choose the bravest silence. Let the grace be seen.
37:45Just show up. Just show up. Just try. Be a little bit better than you were last time. Be good.
37:55So good. Let your heart write the story in your own neighborhood.
38:00Just show up. Just show up. Just show up. Just try. Be a force for good. In somebody's life. We
38:14can lift each other higher. Page by page. Day by day.
38:43Just show up.
38:47Just show up. Just show up. Be a little bit better than you were last time. Be good. So good.
38:56Let your heart write the story in your own neighborhood.
39:00Just show up. Just try. Be a force for good.
39:11Be a little bit better than you were last time. Be kind. Be respectful. Don't fall into the regret pitfall.
39:27Come back in from here to the end. Life can be heavy like this metal anthem. Can't save them all.
39:39But sure can some. Be best. Be good. Not cause you have to.
39:45Be good. Not cause you should.
39:49Be good. Not cause you should.
39:50Be good. Not cause you should.
39:50Choose a memory. Stand up for water's light.
39:56God. Be good. Not cause you should.
39:57Cause God shares His message.
40:00Every day and the night.
40:03Believes you to freedom in making His voice heard.
40:07Shed His message over all the earth.
40:10God loves the doors over all the doors.
40:14Best and strong and God...
40:17Bless you.
40:23Like and subscribe to Christitutionalist Politics Podcast and share episodes.
40:31We need your help.
40:33Thank you for having tuned into another Christitutionalist Podcast show.
40:40I really appreciate that you stopped by.
40:43Again, please like, share, subscribe.
40:47We need you to help spread the Christitutionalist movement.
40:53Thank you again.
40:54Take care.
40:55God bless.
40:57Love you all.

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