In this episode, John and Laura dive into the challenges and rewards of writing sequels and building book series. They discuss how to keep momentum after the first book, balancing character growth with expanding the world, and sequel fatigue. Drawing from personal experiences and favorite examples from literature, the duo explores strategies for planning long arcs, keeping continuity fresh, and knowing when a series should end. Whether you're plotting a trilogy or expanding a standalone into som...
Jun 17, 2025•44 min
John talks with Laura about her newly released debut novel, The Coat Check Girl.
Nov 13, 2024•35 min
Laura and John discuss Laura's upcoming debut novel, The Coat Check Girl , John's new middle grade novel Ace Adler and the Pendulum of Doom, and get inspiration from a quote by John Steinbeck.
May 13, 2024•49 min
Laura and John talk about their two paths to publishing: Laura with her traditional contract, and John with his self publishing. Also, tips and tools for getting reviews for your book, whichever way it is published, from Kirkus Reviews to Net Galley.
Jan 10, 2024•1 hr 6 min
Laura and John welcome Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist Richard Drew to the podcast. Richard has been an Associated Press photographer for more than fifty years and has been front row to many historic events, from the assassination of Robert Kennedy at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, to the fall of the towers on 9/11. He is known for his image Falling Man from 9/11.
Dec 08, 2023•47 min
Laura and John catch up after a busy summer and talk about progress and next steps as they are both preparing books for publishing. Laura is in revisions for her publisher, and John is about to release his eighth book independently. They also discuss their next projects and what their plans are for those.
Oct 04, 2023•46 min
John welcomes special guest, PWDT's own Laura Buchwald to talk with her about some big announcements in her world. They also discuss progress in their WIPS (works in progress), and more!
Aug 10, 2023•39 min
Laura and John contemplate self doubt in writing, how it ties to ego and confidence. They also go through a few 'best first lines' of book, according to The Guardian.
Apr 15, 2023•50 min
Laura and John welcome author Barbara Josselsohn into the PWDT virtual studio to talk about her book The Lilac House , being a prolific author, managing multiple points-of-view in a book, and her recipe for a great first chapter.
Mar 12, 2023•52 min
Laura and John talk about their WIPs (work in progress) and their processes for revising and editing. As usual, they get sidetracked talking about other things, such as Yellowstone, Marc Maron, and more.
Mar 05, 2023•45 min
Laura and John distract themselves from writing by talking about what it takes them to get motivated to write.
Feb 12, 2023•36 min
Laura and John discuss the importance of creating three-dimensional protagonists and antagonists, and how much detail to give supporting characters.
Dec 11, 2022•31 min
Laura and John welcome Claudia Zuluaga back to the podcast. We talk about writing tips and advice for new writers, when you are no longer an aspiring writer, and finding time and 'your place' to write.
Nov 08, 2022•59 min
Laura and John talk about what comes first: plot or character.
Oct 09, 2022•35 min
In what we'll call our Season Two premiere after a summer break, Laura and John catch up on what projects they are working on, the benefits of taking breaks, the excitement of new projects, and prove neither of them know how to pronounce Taiki Waititi's name.
Sep 30, 2022•26 min
We talk to Brian Niemietz about writing for New York City tabloids The Daily News and the New York Post, covering nightlife in the city, and hanging out with James Brown.
May 23, 2022•46 min
We talk to Deborah Way, founder of The Keepthings , an Instagram submission based memoir project. A hat your dad wore. Your grandmother's diamond ring. An artificial hip. People post a photo and a short description of the item and what it means to them.
Apr 19, 2022•37 min
Laura and John talk about the Association for Writing Professionals conference they attended last week in Philadelphia, sessions they attended, the book fair, and share comments from others at the conference.
Apr 03, 2022•32 min
Laura and John talk with Elena Perez, poet, YA author, and current staff writer on the NBC series Chicago PD .
Mar 20, 2022•47 min
Laura and John discuss the do's and don'ts of dialogue in writing, from proper punctuation to sounding natural. They also talk about tense and point-of-view, head-hopping, and the upcoming AWP22 writer's conference in Philadelphia.
Mar 13, 2022•29 min
Laura talks to her good friend Elizabeth Prinvault about her work as a journalist in Paris and as an author/adaptor translating American TV and movies into French.
Mar 07, 2022•28 min
With Laura on travel in Paris, we talk about creativity derived by where you are (like Paris), writing during global events, how to process new ideas that come at unexpected times, how we handle, and how different people have different versions of their home cities.
Feb 27, 2022•31 min
Today we talk to Kitty Zeldis, author of Not Our Kind , a look at 1940's New York City and the unexpected friendship between two women, one Jewish and one gentile. We discuss researching the era, everything from fashion to anti-semitism. Kitty is also author of several of the children's Who Was picture book series as Yona Zeldis McDonough.
Feb 20, 2022•48 min
We speak with USA Today bestselling romance author Alexx Andria about getting her first manuscript bought by Harlequin, writing with pseudonyms, how romance novels have changed over the years, and her new suspense thriller trilogy under the name JH Leigh.
Feb 13, 2022•51 min
We have a great chat with Brian Hutchison about the podcast he wrote and stars in, I Still Think About You , a psychological suspense based on real events from his life. Also on being in a Tony award winning play with Zachary Quinto, Jim Parsons, and Matt Bomer.
Feb 06, 2022•48 min
Laura and John talk about the different ways of getting words out of your head and onto the page, from longhand on paper, Microsoft Word, Pages, and the software platform Scrivener.
Jan 30, 2022•33 min
We talk with writer, playwright, actor Ronnie Marmo about his one-man show I'm Not a Comedian...I'm Lenny Bruce , about what it's like working with director Joe Mantegna (Criminal Minds, Simpsons, Spenser), getting the approval of Bruce's daughter Kitty Bruce about his portrayal of her father, being naked on stage, and the impact Lenny Bruce had on comedy and language.
Jan 24, 2022•40 min
Laura and John talk to screenwriter Hannah Bos about her new HBO series Somebody Somewhere , starring Bridget Everett, about the challenges of shooting during a pandemic, writing with a partner, her film Driveways, working with Brian Dennehy, and the allure of old shopping malls.
Jan 16, 2022•30 min
This week Laura and John talk with songwriter, musician, and new father Jack Grace about creating after having a baby (during a pandemic, no less), how the music industry has changed, the changing genres of music, the Beatles and Spinal Tap, and getting an unexpected wad of cash from Neil Young.
Jan 09, 2022•43 min
On the first episode of 2022, Laura and John talk about the old writing idea of "write what you know" and what that really means, using editors and writing groups, and more.
Jan 02, 2022•20 min
