Jennifer Givhan, a National Endowment for the Arts and PEN/Rosenthal Emerging Voices Fellow, is a Mexican American writer, activist, and the author of four full-length poetry collections: Landscape with Headless Mama , Protection Spell , Girl with Death Mask , and Rosa’s Einstein . Her novels include Trinity Sight, Jubilee, and most recently, River Woman, River Demon . Among other things, Carter and Jennifer discuss adding educational value to fiction in a well-balanced way, how some writers gra...
Dec 29, 2022•55 min•Season 1Ep. 68
Carla Damron is a fiction writer and social worker. In addition to The Stone Necklace , she authored the Caleb Knowles mystery novels, in which she explores the social issues of addiction, homelessness, and mental illness. Her latest novel, The Orchid Tattoo , takes on the dark horrors of human trafficking. Among other things, Carter and Carla discuss using writing as a therapeutic outlet, how Carla getting her MFA changed how she approaches writing, and the importance of having a well-rounded v...
Dec 15, 2022•45 min•Season 1Ep. 67
Katie Sise is a bestselling author, TV host, and jewelry designer featured in major fashion magazines and television shows. Jewelry and television work inspired her first novel, Creative Girl , which was when she realized the thing she most wanted to do in the world was write books. After ghost writing bestselling NYT suspense books, she published three of her own novels with HarperCollins and has gone on to sell bestselling adult novels since, the most recent of which was released this November...
Dec 01, 2022•49 min•Season 1Ep. 68
Barbara Nickless is the #1 Amazon Charts and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of the Sydney Parnell police procedural series. She promised her mother she’d be a novelist when she grew up, because what could be safer than sitting at a desk all day? Now she is an award-winning author and creative-writing instructor, and she spends her free time snowshoeing, caving and hiking in the Colorado Rockies. Among other things, Carter and Barbara discuss writing crime fiction while being sensitive to...
Nov 18, 2022•54 min•Season 1Ep. 67
Jeffrey Wilson has at one time worked as an actor, a firefighter, a paramedic, a jet pilot, a diving instructor, a Naval Officer, and a Vascular and Trauma Surgeon. He is also the co-author, with Brian Andrews, of the Wall Street Journal and Amazon #1 Bestselling TIER ONE series of thrillers from Thomas & Mercer. He still works as a consultant for the Department of Defense when not hard at work on his next book. Among other things, Carter and Jeffrey discuss the challenges of short versus lo...
Nov 10, 2022•50 min•Season 1Ep. 66
Samuel Octavius spent 24 years in the Marine Corps, being rewarded with tons of stories to share. He has pursued his passions for writing, technology, and the intersection of futurism and society. He retired at the rank of Master Gunnery Sergeant, completed a B.S. and an M.S. and continues to pursue graduate studies while working on his first novel, The Echo Chamber . Among other things, Carter and Samuel discuss the impact that speech and debate in high school had on Sam’s life, his experience ...
Nov 03, 2022•47 min•Season 1Ep. 65
Jonathan Woods holds multiple degrees and for many years he practiced law for a multi-national high-tech company. But writing is his real passion. His stories have appeared in 3:AM Magazine , Dogmatika , Plots with Guns , Pulp Pusher , Thuglit and other web-based literary magazines. His latest novel, Wild Hogs , released late August this year. Among other things, Carter and Jonathan discuss childhood reading, Jonathan’s years in-between law and writing, and living the writer's dream. At the end ...
Oct 27, 2022•46 min•Season 1Ep. 64
Kelly J. Ford is the author of Real Bad Things , and Cottonmouths, named one of 2017’s best books of the year by the Los Angeles Review and featured in the “52 Books in 52 Weeks” from the Los Angeles Times. An Arkansas native, Kelly writes crime fiction set in the Ozarks and Arkansas River Valley. Kelly is also an occasional co-host with Daniel Ford on the Writer’s Bone podcast. She lives in Vermont with her wife, cat, and dog. Among other things, Carter and Kelly discuss the best locations for ...
Oct 20, 2022•52 min•Season 1Ep. 63
Sam McAlister was the first in her family to go to university, before training to be a criminal barrister. As a single mum, she decided her real passion was in news. Now BAFTA-nominated for her work with BBC Newsnight , Sam’s hard-won exclusives have shaped the public conversation. Most notably, she is the woman who clinched the 2019 interview with Prince Andrew, described as ‘a plane crashing into an oil tanker, causing a tsunami, triggering a nuclear explosion’. Sam’s new book, Scoops: Behind ...
Oct 13, 2022•1 hr 1 min•Season 1Ep. 62
Wendy Walker’s psychological suspense novels have been translated into 23 foreign languages, topped bestseller lists both nationally and abroad, and have been optioned for television and film. Prior to her writing career, Wendy practiced both corporate and family law and worked as a financial analyst at Goldman, Sachs & Co. Her latest novel, What Remains , will be released in June, 2023. Among other things, Carter and Wendy discuss the difference between writing and reading dark novels, how ...
Oct 07, 2022•56 min•Season 1Ep. 61
After a short career in law, Leanne Kale Sparks has returned to her first love—writing about murder, mayhem, and crime. Currently, she is an author with Crooked Lane Books and her current release is The Wrong Woman . Leanne is also working on a new series featuring an FBI agent hunting down her best friend’s murderer. She currently resides in Texas with her husband and German Shepherd, Zoe. Among other things, Carter and Leanne discuss discovering the genre that fits their voice, what Leanne lea...
Sep 29, 2022•51 min•Season 1Ep. 60
Laurie R. King is the New York Times bestselling author of 30 novels and other works, including the Mary Russell-Sherlock Holmes stories ( The Beekeeper’s Apprentice was chosen as one of the “20th Century’s Best Crime Novels” by the IMBA.) She has won the Agatha, Anthony, Creasey, Edgar, Lambda, Macavity, Wolfe, and Romantic Times Career Achievement awards, has an honorary doctorate in theology, and is a Baker Street Irregular. Her recent release is the cold-case novel Back to the Garden. Among ...
Sep 26, 2022•47 min•Season 1Ep. 59
David Ellis is a judge and an Edgar-award-winning author of ten novels of crime fiction, as well as eight bestselling books co-authored with James Patterson. His novels have been translated into more than ten languages worldwide. In December 2014, Dave was sworn in as the youngest-serving Justice of the Illinois Appellate Court for the First District. Among other things, Carter and David discuss figuring out how to actually write, David’s experience as a co-author with James Patterson, and the n...
Sep 08, 2022•56 min•Season 1Ep. 58
After flying helicopters with the U.S. Army and a career as a technical writer, Russell James now spins twisted tales best read in daylight. Russell has penned over twenty horror novels including Dark Inspiration, Q Island , and The Playing Card Killer . He also authored the Grant Coleman Adventures series starting with Cavern of the Damned and the Ranger Kathy West series starting with Claws . Among other things, Carter and Russell discuss life before writing, finding success without an agent, ...
Sep 01, 2022•50 min•Season 1Ep. 57
James Byrne is the author of the recent thriller The Gatekeeper. He writes under various names and has published nine other novels in the realm of thrillers and mysteries. He is also Editor-in-Chief of the Portland Tribune. Among other things, Carter and James discuss publishing highs and lows, how the gender of an action-adventure protagonist greatly impacts sales, and writing in longhand. At the end of their conversation, they use a sentence out of Stephen King’s Joyland to spin a short tale a...
Aug 25, 2022•44 min•Season 1Ep. 56
Pip Drysdale is a writer, musician, and actor who grew up in Africa and Australia. Her debut novel, The Sunday Girl , was a bestseller and has been published in the United States, Italy, Poland, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia. The Strangers We Know was also a bestseller and is being developed for television and her most recent novel, The Next Girl, was published this year. Among other things, Carter and Pip discuss her frequent moving as a child and adult, the things they will not write about,...
Aug 18, 2022•46 min•Season 1Ep. 55
Faye Snowden is the author of three standalone mysteries and a four-part series of which the first two, A Killing Fire and A Killing Rain, have been released. She also has published short stories and poems in various literary journals including The African American Review, Calliope, Red Ochre Lit, Bay Area Poets, and more. At eighteen, she left Louisiana to join the Navy and afterward worked as an information technology professional in various industries while on her way to a masters in English ...
Aug 11, 2022•46 min•Season 1Ep. 54
Clare Mackintosh has sold more than two million copies of her books worldwide and is the multi-award-winning author of the thriller I Let You Go , a Sunday Times and New York Times bestseller and the fastest-selling title by a new crime writer in 2015. Together, her books have spent more than sixty weeks in The Sunday Times bestseller lists and have been translated into at least forty languages. Her new book, The Last Party , launches in the U.K. today! Among other things, Carter and Clare discu...
Aug 04, 2022•57 min•Season 1Ep. 53
Joey Hartstone is a film and television writer who has written two feature films, LBJ and Shock and Awe , both directed by Rob Reiner. He wrote on the first two seasons of the legal drama The Good Fight and is currently a writer on the Showtime series Your Honor . His debut legal thriller, The Local , was released in June 2022. Among other things, Carter and Joey discuss the differences between the film and book industries, choosing what to include or not in a true story, and transitioning to no...
Jul 28, 2022•47 min•Season 1Ep. 52
Novelist Ashley Winstead holds a Ph.D. in contemporary American literature from Southern Methodist University and a B.A. in English and Art History from Vanderbilt University. Her 2021 thriller, In My Dreams I Hold a Knife , was a breakout hit, and is being followed up with her August 2022 release The Last Housewife . Among other things, Carter and Ashley discuss getting her Ph.D. and the path back to writing, writing to leave a legacy, and how difficult it can be to find an agent. At the end of...
Jul 21, 2022•49 min•Season 1Ep. 51
The 50th EPISODE (!) of Making It Up features Hannah Mary McKinnon, who led a successful career in recruitment before quitting the corporate world in favor of writing. Her debut, Time After Time , was a rom-com but she has since transitioned to suspense novels. Of five, four are bestsellers and her seventh book and sixth thriller is scheduled for spring next year. Hannah’s latest thriller, Never Coming Home , released in May 2022 and is a book that Carter dubs “masterful.” Among other things, Ca...
Jul 11, 2022•55 min•Season 1Ep. 50
Hilde Kate Lysiak founded the newspaper Orange Street News at the age of seven. Now, at fifteen, she’s written and published hundreds of stories, has been recognized for her work in the New York Times , The Today Show, GMA , and The Washington Post . Additionally, she has a book series with Schloastic and a TV mystery series inspired by her life, titled Home Before Dark , which premiered on Apple TV+ in April 2020. Among other things, Carter and Hilde discuss why she wanted to start reporting at...
Jun 27, 2022•37 min•Season 1Ep. 49
Novelist Elle Marr strives to tell powerful and compelling stories of women who demonstrate resilience in the face of great obstacles. She is the author of three thrillers, The Missing Sister (2020), Lies We Bury (2021), and Strangers We Know (May 2022). The Missing Sister was the #24 Best Selling eBook of 2020 on Amazon, #1 in the entire Kindle Store, featured in Woman's World , and named one of PopSugar's 31 Thrillers of 2020. Her latest thriller, Strangers We Know, was an Audible Most Anticip...
Jun 20, 2022•44 min•Season 1Ep. 48
Jess Montgomery is the author of the Kinship Historical Mysteries, set in 1920s Appalachian Ohio and inspired by Ohio’s true first female sheriff. Under her given name, she writes the “Level Up Your (Writing) Life” column for Writer’s Digest. She also hosts the “Tea with Jess: Chatting with Authors & Artists” in which creatives share their journeys and insights. Among other things, Carter and Jess discuss her path and reasons for going into technical writing, how the genre you can’t stop rea...
Jun 06, 2022•48 min•Season 1Ep. 47
D.P. Lyle is the award-winning author of 22 books, both non-fiction and fiction. He is the International Thriller Writer’s VP for Education and runs CraftFest, Master CraftFest, and ITW’s online Thriller School. D.P has also written for television shows such as Law & Order, CSI: Miami, Cold Case, House, Pretty Little Liars, and more. Among other things, Carter and D.P. discuss the importance of confidence, the research that goes into writing and having too many books to write at once. At the...
May 28, 2022•44 min•Season 1Ep. 46
Ananda Lima is a poet whose most recent collection, Mother/land, is the winner of the Hudson Prize. She is also the author of Chapbooks Translation (winner of the Vella Chapbook Prize), Amblyopia, and Tropicália (winner of the Newfound Prose Prize). Her work has appeared in the American Poetry Review, Poets.com, Kenyon Review Online, and many more. She has an MA in Linguistics and an MFA in Creative Writing. Among other things, Carter and Ananda talk about writing in various languages, construct...
May 23, 2022•46 min•Season 1Ep. 45
Katrina Monroe is a novelist whose debut title, They Drown Our Daughters releases in July 2022 from Sourcbooks. The book has been named one of CrimeReads' 16 Horror Novels To Look Out For In 2022 and Tor Nightfire's Horror Books We're Excited About In 2022. Katrina lives in Minnesota with her wife, two children, and Eddie, the ghost who haunts their bedroom closets. Among other things, Carter and Katrina talk about what constitutes horror, how the switch from small publishing to a larger release...
May 12, 2022•48 min•Season 1Ep. 44
Katie Lattari is the author of two novels, American Vaudeville , a small press work, and her recent thriller debut, Dark Things I Adore . Her short stories have appeared in such places as NOO Journal , The Bend , Cabildo Quarterly , and more. Among other things, Carter and Katie discuss creepy small towns, the tumultuous journey to writing novels, and how to handle the editor’s first letter without panicking. At the end of their conversation, they make up a little tale about a dark plan, startin...
May 04, 2022•43 min•Season 1Ep. 43
Novelist Erica Ferencik is a graduate of the MFA program in Creative Writing at Boston University. Her most recent release, Girl In Ice , was named a New York Times Editors’ Choice, a Los Angeles Times Best Crime Novel of Winter 2022, and a Reader’s Digest Best Fiction Book of 2022. Among other things, Carter and Erica discuss the benefit of travel for researching books, how writing comedy and thrillers are more similar than you might think, and what it looks like to define your own success. At ...
Apr 20, 2022•55 min•Season 1Ep. 42
J.T. Ellison is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of more than 25 novels, and the EMMY® award-winning co-host of the literary TV show A Word on Words . She also writes urban fantasy under the pen name Joss Walker. With millions of books in print, J.T. has won critical acclaim, prestigious awards, been optioned for television, and has been published in 28 countries. Among other things, Carter and J.T. discuss growing up surrounded by reading and writing, making every mistake in ...
Apr 06, 2022•54 min•Season 1Ep. 41
