Chip McCabe on Self-Publishing His Horror Novel Kindred

<p>Episode 021 – Chip McCabe | MAKE // BREAK</p><p>Chip McCabe (aka Creed Woodhouse, his fiction pen name) has spent decades covering extreme music and horror for outlets like Metal Insider and the Chicago Tribune, while running The Metal Dad and hosting The Fiendish Five podcast. After the gloriously unhinged 666 Days of Metal, he&#39;s just released his debut horror novel, Kindred. In this episode of MAKE // BREAK with host Lance Marwood, Chip opens up about the gatekeeping of traditional publishing, why he quietly self-released under a pen name to chase honest feedback, and the disciplined five-week writing regimen that finally beat his self-doubt and got the book done. It&#39;s a candid, funny conversation about the loneliness of the craft, discovery writing, and refusing to run real art through an AI machine.</p><p>🎯 ONE MORE THING // free, weekly, zero fillerV13 runs three newsletters: one for artists building a career on their own terms (Industry Insider), one for writers who refuse to be ignored (Verse &amp; Vision), and one weekly roundup of music, entertainment, culture &amp; literature (V1LLAG3 Voice). Pick your lane, or take all three.→ <a href="https://v13.net/newsletter">https://v13.net/newsletter</a></p><p>👀 What you&#39;ll hear</p><p>Why traditional publishing is gatekept to the core, and what that means for a first-time novelist trying to break in</p><p>How a five-week nightly writing regimen turned a decade of false starts into a finished 98,000-word novel</p><p>The case for a pen name, and using it to chase genuinely honest feedback from people who already know you</p><p>Why discovery writing beats over-outlining, and how the best plot turns surprise even the writer who made them</p><p>A candid take on refusing generative AI in creative work, and how both hosts can spot it a mile away</p><p>🕰️ Chapters</p><p>00:00 Meet Chip McCabe aka Creed Woodhouse</p><p>01:43 Writing Kindred during the pandemic and cold feet</p><p>05:16 Self-publishing versus indie and major publishers</p><p>10:50 The lonely road and creative self-doubt</p><p>13:50 Using a pen name for honest feedback</p><p>16:02 Being your own worst critic</p><p>21:50 The five-week writing regimen</p><p>26:49 Outliner versus discovery writing</p><p>30:04 Writing by hand in the age of AI</p><p>31:42 The ChatGPT cover letter and refusing AI in fiction</p><p>🔗 Guest Links</p><p><a href="https://themetaldad.com/" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">https://themetaldad.com/</a></p><p><a href="https://www.instagram.com/creedwoodhouse/" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">https://www.instagram.com/creedwoodhouse/</a></p><p><a href="https://www.facebook.com/creedwoodhouse/" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">https://www.facebook.com/creedwoodhouse/</a></p><p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/list/57677927.Creed_Woodhouse" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">https://www.goodreads.com/author/list/57677927.Creed_Woodhouse</a></p><p>🔗 MAKE // BREAK &amp; Host Links</p><p><a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/5GDOUd909p7ir2W74M9teg?si=cbc7e01e13ba4a20" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">https://open.spotify.com/show/5GDOUd909p7ir2W74M9teg?si=cbc7e01e13ba4a20</a></p><p><a href="https://instagram.com/lowkeyhellish" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">https://instagram.com/lowkeyhellish</a></p><p><a href="https://tiktok.com/@lowkeyhellish" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">https://tiktok.com/@lowkeyhellish</a></p><p>[Note: contains explicit language]</p><p>#MakeBreak #ChipMcCabe #HorrorWriting</p>