Lara Elena Donnelly is the author of the Nebula, Lambda, and Locus-nominated trilogy The Amberlough Dossier , as well as short fiction and poetry. Lara has taught in the MFA program at Sarah Lawrence College as well as the Catapult Workshop in New York. She is a graduate of the Clarion and Alpha writers’ workshops and has served as on-site staff at the latter, mentoring amazing teens who will someday take over the world of Science Fiction & Fantasy. Among other things, Carter and Lara discus...
Mar 23, 2022•53 min•Season 1Ep. 40
Aaron Philip Clark is a novelist and screenwriter from Los Angeles, CA. In addition to his writing career, he has worked in the film industry and law enforcement. His most recent novel, Under Color of Law , which was inspired by his experience in the LAPD, was just named a 2022 Thriller Awards finalist (Best Paperback Original). Among other things, Carter and Aaron discuss the world of screenwriting, eBooks versus hard copies, and what you can and can’t teach about writing. At the end of their c...
Mar 07, 2022•58 min•Season 1Ep. 39
Alex Finlay is the pseudonym of Anthony Franze, who launched his debut thriller the same year as me back in 2012. His 2021 breakout thriller as Alex Finlay, Every Last Fear , was an Indie Next pick, a LibraryReads selection, an Amazon Editor’s Best Thriller, as well as a CNN , Newsweek , E! , BuzzFeed , Business Week , Goodreads , Parade , PopSugar , and Reader’s Digest best or most anticipated thriller of the year. His recent release is The Night Shift. Among other things, Carter and Alex discu...
Feb 21, 2022•46 min•Season 1Ep. 38
Daniel Jude Miller is the author and illustrator of the children’s picture book series Monsters in Manhattan , as well as Everybody Wake Up , Earclaw and Eddie , and Halloween Boy and the Christmas Kid . Growing up in Queens, NY and working in Manhattan inspired Daniel to write and draw all the creatures and goblins he came across on a daily basis. He now lives upstate, far from the clutches of those monsters. Among other things, Carter and Daniel talk about Daniel’s decision to start his own pu...
Feb 14, 2022•51 min•Season 1Ep. 37
Allen Eskens is the bestselling author of The Life We Bury , The Guise of Another , The Heavens May Fall , The Deep Dark Descending, The Shadows We Hide , Nothing More Dangerous , and The Stolen Hours . He is the recipient of the Barry Award, Minnesota Book Award, Rosebud Award (Left Coast Crime), and Silver Falchion Award and has been a finalist for the Edgar® Award, Thriller Award, and Anthony Award. His books have been translated into 26 languages. Among other things, Carter and Allen discuss...
Feb 07, 2022•50 min•Season 1Ep. 36
Lynne Reeves Griffin is an internationally recognized family counselor, public speaker, teacher, and writer of fiction and non-fiction. Her work has appeared in Parents, Psychology Today, Solstice Literary Magazine, Chautauqua Journal, Craft Literary, Fiction Writers Review, Brain, Child, and more. She writes novels of domestic suspense as Lynne Reeves, with The Dangers of an Ordinary Night published by Crooked Lane Books in November 2021. Among other things, Carter and Lynne discuss how she app...
Jan 31, 2022•44 min•Season 1Ep. 35
Amanda Kabak is the author of The Mathematics of Change and her latest novel, Upended . Her stories have been published in The Massachusetts Review, Tahoma Literary Review, Sequestrum, The Laurel Review, and more. She’s also the recipient of the Lascaux Review fiction award, the Arcturus Review’s Al-Simāk award for fiction, and the Betty Gabehart prize from the Kentucky Women Writers’ Conference. Among other things, Carter and Amanda discuss the messy nature of first drafts and how they lead to ...
Jan 24, 2022•46 min•Season 1Ep. 34
Gabrielle St George is a Canadian screenwriter and story editor with credits on over 100 produced television shows, both in the USA and Canada. Her feature film scripts have been optioned in Hollywood. She also writes humorous mysteries and domestic noir about subjects of which she is an expert– mostly failed relationships, hence her début soft-boiled series, The Ex-Whisperer Files , which recently launched with its first title How to Murder a Marriage . Among other things, Carter and Gabrielle ...
Dec 21, 2021•46 min•Season 1Ep. 33
Yasmin Angoe recently released her debut novel, Her Name Is Knight . She taught English in middle and high schools for years, served as an instructional coach for virtual teachers, and spent time as a freelance copy editor. Angoe recently received the Eleanor Taylor Bland Award for emerging writers of color from Sisters of Crime, of which she’s a proud member. Among other things, Carter and Yasmin discuss Yasmin’s “first” book that she wrote in middle school, why you should always check your jun...
Dec 13, 2021•47 min•Season 1Ep. 32
Dr. Ian Smith is the author of 15 books, both novels, and multiple #1 New York Times bestselling non-fiction health and diet books. He is currently the medical contributor and co-host of the nationally syndicated television show The Rachael Ray Show and a former co-host of the Emmy award-winning syndicated daytime talk show, The Doctors . Among many more noteworthy achievements (too many to list here) Dr. Ian was appointed by President Obama to a second term on the prestigious President’s Counci...
Dec 06, 2021•51 min•Season 1Ep. 31
Drew Magary is a co-founder of the employee-owned sports and culture website Defector , as well as a columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle online and the author of three novels. Drew’s life changed forever at a company holiday party in 2018 when he suffered a mysterious fall that caused him to smash his head so hard on a cement floor that he cracked his skull in three places and suffered a catastrophic brain hemorrhage. His latest work— The Night the Lights Went Out —chronicles his recovery ...
Nov 29, 2021•48 min•Season 1Ep. 30
Alverne Ball’s creativity is seemingly boundless. His writing has been featured in literary magazines, he’s crafted award-winning comic and graphic novel material for various production studios, and he’s written and produced a short film himself. Oh, yeah, he’s also a novelist. His latest book is Blue Religion , a sequel to his earlier work Only The Holy Remain . Among other things, Carter and Alverne discuss the moment of clarity when he knew he wanted to be a writer, how difficult it can be to...
Nov 22, 2021•55 min•Season 1Ep. 29
Farrah Rochon is a USA Today bestselling author who has garnered much acclaim for her popular Holmes Brothers and New York Sabers series. More recently, The Boyfriend Project and The Dating Playbook . When she’s not writing in her favorite coffee shop, Farrah enjoys reading, cooking, traveling the world, visiting Walt Disney World, and Broadway shows. Among other things, Carter and Farrah discuss her mom’s influence as an English teacher, pursuing psychology to end up writing Romance, and how se...
Nov 15, 2021•52 min•Season 1Ep. 28
Robert Dugoni is the critically acclaimed New York Times , Wall Street Journal , Washington Post , and #1 Amazon bestselling author of the Tracy Crosswhite series , which has sold over 8 million copies worldwide. In addition, he has two other series, several standalone novels, and numerous short stories. His latest book, The World Played Chess, is the emotionally arresting follow-up to The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell. Among other things, Carter and Robert discuss their love for storytelling a...
Nov 08, 2021•46 min•Season 1Ep. 27
Matthew Fitzsimmons nearly abandoned writing forever. Thankfully he persevered and is now the Wall Street Journal bestselling author of the Gibson Vaughn series. His most recent release is Constance, a mind-bending thriller about human cloning. Among other things, the two discuss Matthew’s long and sometimes painful path to success, which included being a playwright in New York, a long stint of teaching, becoming homeless, and finally taking salvation in novel writing. At the end of their conver...
Nov 03, 2021•54 min•Season 1Ep. 26
Sarah Fine, writing under the name SF Kosa, is a psychologist by training and a writer by passion. Though The Quiet Girl was her debut psychological suspense novel, she is the author of over two dozen fantasy, urban fantasy, sci-fi, and romance novels, some of which have been translated into other languages. Among other things, Carter and Sarah discuss how she went from wanting to be a surgeon, to writing novels, being internally focused while writing their first book, and writing to feel the em...
Oct 25, 2021•52 min•Season 1Ep. 25
Maureen Johnson is the #1 New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of several YA novels, including 13 Little Blue Envelopes , Suite Scarlett , The Name of the Star , and Truly Devious . She has also done collaborative works, such as Let It Snow with John Green and Lauren Myracle (now on Netflix), and several works in the Shadowhunter universe with Cassandra Clare. Among other things, Carter and Maureen discuss attending a Catholic high school as a non-Catholic, getting her MFA from Columb...
Oct 18, 2021•44 min•Season 1Ep. 24
Daniel Handler, better known as Lemony Snicket, became a cultural phenomenon with his 13-volume A Series of Unfortunate Events. His books have sold more than 70 million copies, won Peabody and Writers Guild of America awards, and have been made into box-office and streaming movies. His latest release, the standalone novel Poison for Breakfast, is self-described as a “book about bewilderment.” Among other things, Carter and Daniel discuss the education of writing, how to read like a writer, and t...
Oct 11, 2021•48 min•Season 1Ep. 23
S.A. Cosby, thriller-writer extraordinaire. Shawn (S.A.) struck oil with his breakout 2019 novel Blacktop Wasteland, a Los Angeles Times book winner and the ITW Thriller Award winner for best hardcover (a big goddamned deal). He followed that up with his 2021 book Razorblade Tears, which was an instant New York Times bestseller. Among other things, Carter and Shawn discuss writing for a purpose and expanding perspectives, the role luck and timing play in success after publishing, and accepting v...
Oct 04, 2021•50 min•Season 1Ep. 22
Stuart Turton lives in West London with his wife and daughter writing murder mysteries after years spent as a journalist. He is the author of the international bestsellers The 7½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle which got picked up to be a Netflix series, and The Devil and the Dark Water . Among other things, Carter and Stuart discuss finding work as a writer after traveling for five years straight out of college, remembering a childhood conversation that may have foretold a future career as an autho...
Sep 21, 2021•56 min•Season 1Ep. 21
Adrian Goldsworthy is a historian and novelist who specializes in ancient Roman history. After teaching Greek and Roman history for six years before pursuing writing full-time, Adrian has since published a vast collection of both fiction and non-fiction works, most centered on Ancient Rome. His latest novel, The Fort , was released in August 2021. Among other things, Carter and Adrian discuss the creative challenge of putting 1,000 years of history into 450 pages, the publishing industry in Brit...
Sep 14, 2021•53 min•Season 1Ep. 20
Barb Webb is a sustainable living expert living in Appalachian Kentucky and the author of Getting Laid and Getting Baked . Barb's writing isn't just limited to books on sustainable living; she's also a prolific blogger with her self-founded company Rural Moms, which has a social media audience of over 200,000 followers. Among other things, Carter and Barb discuss growing up in a traditional family and being encouraged to fight against her artistic side, how her creativity found a home in tech-wr...
Sep 06, 2021•50 min•Season 1Ep. 19
Brad Parks is an international bestselling author and the only writer to have won the Shamus, Nero, and Lefty Awards, three of American crime fiction’s most prestigious prizes. A graduate of Dartmouth College, a former journalist with The Washington Post and The (Newark, N.J.) Star-Ledger, he now lives in Virginia with his wife and kids as a full-time novelist, his most recent being Unthinkable. Among other things, Carter and Brad discuss how writing is both an art and a craft, the allure of wri...
Aug 27, 2021•48 min•Season 1Ep. 18
Xio Axelrod is a USA Today bestselling author who writes different flavors of contemporary romance and what she likes to call, “strange, twisted tales.” Her love for writing started with writing fanfiction due to a passionate response to how an episode of Buffy ended. Now, her most recently published novel is titled, The Girl With Stars In Her Eyes . Among other things, Carter and Xio discuss growing up under the influence of a songwriter and producer dad who wanted her to do anything but go int...
Aug 19, 2021•51 min•Season 1Ep. 17
After nearly four years of newsletters I decided to do something a little different this month. The audiobook newsletter! Same great content, but now I get to ramble on with a microphone instead of a keyboard. Enjoy!
Aug 12, 2021•21 min
Clare Whitfield was born the fourth child to ex-Armed Forces parents and grew up on St Helier Estate in Morden before moving to Sutton. After studying contemporary dance at Middlesex University, she worked as an editorial assistant for a publishing company, tried her hand at freelance writing, and eventually worked in marketing where she spent her free time writing. In her 30s she took an MA in creative writing at the University of Winchester and has now published her first novel, People of Aban...
Aug 12, 2021•50 min•Season 1Ep. 16
Sabrina Jeffries is the New York Times bestselling author of more than 50 novels and works of short fiction (some written under the pseudonyms Deborah Martin and Deborah Nicholas). She is a sought-after speaker, as evidenced by her 2010 gig as emcee for the National Romance Writers of America’s 30th Anniversary Awards Ceremony. She continues writing romance and even plays with adding in a little Mystery, with her most recent novel, Undercover Duke . Among other things, Carter and Sabrina discuss...
Aug 05, 2021•43 min•Season 1Ep. 15
Mark Sullivan is the acclaimed author of eighteen novels, including the #1 New York Times bestselling Private series, which he writes with James Patterson. He’s received numerous awards for his writing, including the WHSmith Fresh Talent Award, and his works have been named a New York Times Notable Book and a Los Angeles Times Best Book of the Year. After Beneath A Scarlet Sky far surpassed what he could have hoped, he recently published another Historical Fiction Novel about a story of incredib...
Jul 29, 2021•46 min•Season 1Ep. 14
Erika Englehaupt has spent more than a decade writing and editing for top science publications, including National Geographic, Science News, Scientific American, the Philadelphia Inquirer and NPR. Her niche is exploring the gross and horrifying realities of nature. She decided to take it a step further, diving even deeper than her beloved blog, and write a book called Gory Details . Among other things, Carter and Erika discuss growing up with an engineer and inventor dad who always had a lab nea...
Jul 23, 2021•51 min•Season 1Ep. 13
Emily Bleeker is a busy woman. She's a mother of four, an improv actor, an aspiring guitarist and, oh yeah, the Wall Street Journal and Amazon Charts bestselling author of six novels. Combined, her books have reached over a million readers. She is a two-time Whitney Award finalist and was recently listed as one of the top 100 Kindle authors “of all time.” Her latest novel, What's Left Unsaid , releases July 2021. Among other things, Carter and Emily discuss writing from wildly different points o...
Jul 13, 2021•48 min•Season 1Ep. 12
