Shout Out On The Creative Penn Podcast

Category: Podcasts
November 25, 2025

Something amazing happened last week that just made my month! I was listening to my favorite writing podcast, The Creative Penn, with Joana Penn and she was discussing her takeaways from the Author Nation conference, which I also attended. In fact, I got home and felt compelled to write an entire blog post about my key takeaways too. Towards the end of the podcast she pivoted and wanted to share some things that the community was saying about the conference. She said, “some of you may be listening right now”. And then, my name came out of her mouth!!!

Author Nation Key Takeaways

If you’re a writer, you’ll likely really appreciate this episode of The Creative Penn. Joana talks about some of the key points from the conference, how to choose the right tools as an indie author, and then some other perspectives from the community. That’s where she mentions this blog post!

Amber Field Shout Out

If you listen at around 1:11:00 you’ll hear her intro for other perspectives and then she started with me! She really pulls out some of the key points from the article and gives it some great air time. I could not have been more shocked and thrilled to hear this! I’m also thrilled that she appreciated and agreed with some of the things I said.

Joana’s podcast is incredibly popular among authors and the reason is because she gives us great tips and interviews week after week for well over 900 episodes. I’m so glad she found something useful in the article. When I emailed her thanking her for the mention, she wrote back right away and said she thought about emailing me, but decided I’d really like the surprise. Did I ever!

You don’t always want to meet your heroes, but it turns out Joana Penn is an genuinely wonderful person and gives as good of a talk in-person as she does on her podcast.

AI for Writers

I did get to meet her at the conference briefly and I went to all three of her talks. She is one of the most forward-thinking authors out there and has a lot to say about AI. In fact, this is one of the reasons I listen each week. I only wish I was as good as her at incorporating some of this new technology into my daily life. Even though I run an AI start-up, I still feel like the rate at which AI is changing our lives is very hard to keep up with. If you feel the same way, you are definitely not alone!

So, if you’re an indie writer like me, I highly, highly (could not more highly, really) recommend Joana’s podcast, The Creative Penn. And if you’ve never listened to it before, I know exactly which one you should start with! 😉

Thanks, Joana! I hope our paths cross again in the near future.

Search the Blog

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog. We will never share your email.

About Amber Field

Amber has over 20 years of experience working in the software industry with agile software teams and specializes in creating efficient, happy teams & clients while helping them scale, execute, and work / live intentionally.
Get to know Amber →

Check Amber Out On:

Browse Posts by Category

Recent Posts

How to Find Friends As an Adult (And We Really Need Friends)

How to Find Friends As an Adult (And We Really Need Friends)

On the heels of an amazing girls’ trip last weekend, I’d like to share part of a chapter from my upcoming book (publish date still to be determined). This section is from Chapter 11: Go To That Event By Yourself and it’s all about making friends as adults and why those friendships are so valuable.

read more
Exit Interview: A Book Review

Exit Interview: A Book Review

I recently read Exit Interview: The Life and Death of My Ambitious Career by Kristi Coulter. I picked it up because the title resonated with me. I, too, have had an ambitious tech career and just recently semi-retired, pulling back to teach and run programs at my alma mater, the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Coulter’s book was funny, interesting, and, above all, kind of PTSD-inducing if you’re in tech and especially if you’re a woman in tech.

read more