Carter Wilson's Making It Up

Erica Wright is the author of eight novels, including her newest novel Hollow Bones, a contemporary retelling of Shakespeare's Measure for Measure. Her essay collection Snake was released as part of Bloomsbury's Object Lessons series. Her mystery Famous in Cedarville received a starred review from Publishers Weekly. She is the author of five other books, including a couple poetry collections. Her poems have appeared in Blackbird, Denver Quarterly, New Orleans Review, and elsewhere. She was the senior poetry editor at Guernica Magazine for more than a decade and currently teaches at Bellevue University. 

Among other things, Erica and Carter discuss the appeal of a small-town setting for thriller novels, the selflessness of the writing community, and Erica’s background in writing poetry. At the end of their conversation, they make up a twisted story using a line from Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere. 

Jeffery Deaver is an international number-one bestselling author. He has served two terms as president of Mystery Writers of America, and was recently named a Grand Master of MWA. He is the author of more than forty novels, three collections of short stories and a nonfiction law book, and a lyricist of a country-western album.

Isabella Maldonado is a Wall Street Journal bestselling author, and a graduate of the FBI National Academy in Quantico, eventually retiring as the Commander of Special Investigations and Forensics. Her writing includes the bestselling FBI Special Agent Nina Guerrera series, the Detective Veranda Cruz series, and the FBI Agent Daniela Vega series. 

Among other things, Jeffery, Isabella, and Carter discuss co-authoring a novel for the first time, creating prose from an outline, and how ego plays a role in co-writing. At the end of their conversation, they make up a captivating story using a line from Liv Constantine’s The Last Mrs. Parrish. 

Marc Guggenheim is an Emmy-award winning screenwriter, television producer, comic book writer, and novelist. He is best known as the creator of the television series Eli Stone (2008–2009), Arrow (2012–2020), and Legends of Tomorrow (2016–2022), executive producer of the animated series Tales of Arcadia (2016–2021), as well as the writer of the films Green Lantern and Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters. His recent novel, In Any Lifetime, was just released in July. 

Among other things, Marc and Carter discuss how Marc got into the comic industry, the freedom in writing characters completely different from yourself and your experiences, and the intimacy of writing a novel compared to screenplays and comics. At the end of their conversation, they make up a chilling story using a line from Denver Moon by Josh Viola and Warren Hammond.

Mary Adkins is the author of the novels When You Read This (Indie Next Pick, “Best Book of 2019” by Good Housekeeping and Real Simple), Privilege (Today.com “Best Summer Read”), and Palm Beach (New York Post “Best Book of 2021”). Her books have been published in 13 countries, and her essays and reporting have appeared in the New York Times, The Atlantic, Slate, and more. A graduate of Yale Law School and Duke University, she teaches storytelling for The Moth worldwide and supports aspiring authors as an online writing coach through her program, The Book Incubator.

Among other things, Mary and Carter discuss Mary’s transition from corporate law to becoming an author, their experiences both being a student in and teaching writing classes, and about how time is not the problem when deciding to start writing. At the end of their conversation, they make up an engrossing story using a line from Emilly Littlejohn’s Lost Lake. 

Dean Monti has worked creatively in a variety of mediums including short stories, plays, novels, journalism, and screenwriting. His latest novel, The Monosexual, will be published July 2024. He is also the author of several one-act plays and has had his works premiered in Chicago, and was a finalist in a national playwriting competition. He taught creative writing and novel writing classes at Columbia College in Chicago and College of DuPage. He is currently working on new novels and recently adapted one of his works as a screenplay. Throughout it all, he has held a full-time job as an editor and journalist for more than 20 years. 

Among other things, Dean and Carter discuss balancing writing your story and market considerations, establishing conflict early on, and how publicity and online presence affects sales. At the end of their conversation, they make up a mysterious story using a line from Douglas Adams’ The Long Dark Tea-Time to the Soul. 

Victoria Helen Stone, author of the runaway best seller Jane Doe, writes critically acclaimed novels of dark intrigue and emotional suspense. Aside from Follow Her Down, At The Quiet Edge, The Last One Home, Problem Child, and other chart-topping novels, she also published twenty-nine books as USA Today bestselling author Victoria Dahl and won the prestigious American Library Association Reading List award for best genre fiction.

Among other things, Victoria and Carter discuss how family secrets influence writing, balancing a character’s struggles with positive outcomes, and removing extensive description from your novel. At the end of their conversation, they make up a witty and suspenseful story using a line from Araminta Hall’s One of the Good Guys. 

Aimie Runyan is a multi-published and bestselling author of historical and contemporary fiction. She has been nominated for a Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers Writer of the Year Award, a Historical Novel Society’s Editor’s Choice selection, and a four-time finalist for the Colorado Book Awards. She is an adjunct instructor for the Drexel University MFA in Creative Writing program.

Among other things, Aimie and Carter discuss using empathy to create compelling characters, what exactly defines genre, and maintaining a fanbase and readership. At the end of their conversation, they make up a mysterious story using a line from Donna Tartt’s The Little Friend. 

Kimberly Giarratano is an author of mysteries for teens and adults. Her debut novel, Grunge Gods and Graveyards, won the 2015 Silver Falchion Award for Best YA at Killer Nashville. In May 2024 she released the second novel in her Billie Levine series, Devil in Profile, which follows the novel Death of a Dancing Queen. A former librarian, she is currently an instructor at SUNY Orange County Community College and the chapter liaison for Sisters in Crime. 

Among other things, Kimberly and Carter discuss the challenges of being an extrovert in the writing field, inspiration drawn from Nazi art theft, and trying to figure out how to balance a realistic plot with an exciting and unpredictable story. At the end of their conversation, they make up a captivating story using a line from Audrey Lee’s The Mechanics of Memory. 

Matt Scott is the author of the Surviving the Lion’s Den thriller trilogy which debuted in 2021. Matt earned his bachelor’s degree in political science and history from Hampden-Sydney College. During his subsequent studies, Matt became fascinated by the CIA and read dozens of books related to Middle East politics, spy craft, the CIA’s war against terrorism, and double agents. Matt’s latest action-packed political thriller is The Ayatollah Takedown. His two previous novels in the series include Surviving the Lion’s Den and The Iranian Deception.

Among other things, Matt and Carter discuss the psychology of starting a writing journey later in life, committing to a consistent writing routine, and exploring the topic of Iran in literature. At the end of their conversation, they make up an eerie story using a line from William Kent Krueger’s Fox Creek.

Louise Doughty is the author of ten novels, most recently A Bird in Winter. Her previous books include Platform Seven, filmed for ITVX; Black Water, a New York Times Notable Book of the Year; the bestseller Apple Tree Yard, adapted for BBC One; and Whatever You Love, nominated for the Costa Novel Award and the Women’s Prize for fiction. She has been nominated for many other prizes and has helped with creating and writing the hit BBC drama Crossfire. Her work has been translated into thirty languages.

Among other things, Louise and Carter discuss the complexities of writing about sex, writing violence realistically and focusing on the consequences of violence, and how being a writer involves so much more than just writing a book. At the end of their conversation, they make up a suspenseful and descriptive story using a line from S.F. Kosa’s The Night We Burned.