From Oct 2024: J.D. Barker on How Autism Shapes Creativity, Imagination & Storytelling

Originally released in October 2024, this conversation is being re-released as part of a selection of guest interviews from the podcast archive.

For today’s episode, New York Times and international bestselling author J.D. Barker joins me to discuss autism, creativity, imagination, and the way he experiences the world. Barker is the author of The Fourth Monkey and Forsaken, has collaborated with James Patterson, and was approached by Bram Stoker’s family to coauthor Dracul using previously unpublished material from Stoker.

Barker shares how autism influences the way he recognizes patterns, constructs stories, visualizes characters, manages multiple projects, and navigates the social world. We discuss masking, intense interests, autistic burnout, and what can happen when autistic traits are understood and cultivated rather than simply treated as deficits. His story offers a fascinating look at the relationship between autism, creativity, structure, and a remarkably successful writing career.

J.D. Barker https://jdbarker.com/books/heavy-are-the-stones/

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0:00 JD Barker

2:49 Early Years of Creativity, Books, & Understanding Autism; Trying to Fit-In; Following Rules, Black and White thinking versus Gray

11:43 Superpowers of Writing as a Reflection, Creativity, & Intelligence of the Inner World

15:00 Superpowers of Autism by Creating Catalogs: Patterns, Visual & Thinking in Pictures, & Creating Characters

20:42 Balancing Life with Autism

23:51 The Writing Bout; the Importance of Managing Energy to avoid Burnout

35:42 Focusing on the Process, not the Outcome

39:35 Stephen King's Blessing & Approval of Forsaken; the journey to meet King

41:44 James Patterson Collaborations

43:25 Bram Stoker & the Prequel to Dracula, Dracul; Superpower of the Autistic Brain example

46:11 Recognizing Autism in Children

49:11 Future work