This week on Was It Chance?, we sit down with author Kern Carter for a conversation that starts with collective grief, simulations, and angry Brooklyn cab drivers, then unfolds into one of the most honest discussions we’ve had about creativity, anxiety, ambition, and what it really takes to build a life as an artist.
Kern shares how writing became both an emotional outlet and a survival tool while growing up as a quiet, anxious kid who hid his love of books behind a basketball identity. From self-publishing his early work as practice, to getting rejected by dozens of literary agents, to eventually landing deals with Penguin Random House and Scholastic, Kern walks us through the years of strategy, persistence, and emotional resilience that shaped his career. Along the way, he opens up about imposter syndrome, fear of failure, hyping himself up before literary events, and why writers deserve to see themselves as superstars.
We also dive into the realities of the publishing industry, Canadian arts funding, learning in public, creative rejection, and the difference between loving writing and choosing the life of an author. Plus, Heather invites herself to guest lecture in Kern’s college writing class, Alan pitches yet another accidental business idea, and everyone agrees the world could use a little more kindness and a lot less judgment.
Connect with Kern:
Connect With Us:
- 📩 Email us at wasitchancepodcast@gmail.com
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- ✨ More about Heather at her website, subscribe to her Substack and on LinkedIn, YouTube, and more
- Visit Heather's Bookshop
- Visit The Reading Well
EPISODE TAKEAWAYS
- Writing can be both an artistic pursuit and an emotional survival tool.
- You do not have to love failure in order to learn from it.
- Confidence is often built through repetition, not natural fearlessness.
- There is a difference between loving writing and pursuing authorship as a career.
- Creative careers require strategy, promotion, and resilience alongside talent.
- Sometimes the bravest thing an artist can do is stop hiding who they are.
- The stories we tell ourselves about ourselves become self-fulfilling.
- Learning in public can be uncomfortable, but it accelerates growth.
- Being emotionally open in your art can feel terrifying and necessary at the same time.
- Artists deserve to see themselves as valuable, powerful, and worthy of recognition.