Carter Wilson's Making It Up

An intimate, 2.5-day coaching program and retreat in Boulder, Colorado. Find community, inspiration, motivation, and confidence. Led by USA Today bestselling and award-winning novelist Carter Wilson. August 9-11, 2023. Limited to 10 participants; registration now open!

www.carterwilson.com/gentle-novelist

Flash-fiction writer Nancy Stohlman is the author of six books including After the Rapture (2023), Madam Velvet’s Cabaret of Oddities (2018), and Going Short: An Invitation to Flash Fiction (2020). Her work has been anthologized widely, appearing in the Norton anthology New Micro: Exceptionally Short Fiction and The Best Small Fictions 2019, as well as adapted for both stage and screen. She teaches at the University of Colorado Boulder and holds workshops and retreats around the world.   

Among other things. Carter and Nancy discuss how writers sometimes act as conduits, how to trust that the story is smarter than you, and she talks all about flash fiction. At the end of their conversation, they tell an invocative tale starting with a sentence from Mongrels by Stephen Graham Jones.  

Connect with Carter at www.carterwilson.com 

Connect with Nancy at www.nancystohlman.com 

Hank Phillippi Ryan is USA Today bestselling and five-time Agatha Award-winning author of 14 thrillers, winning 37 EMMYs for television investigative reporting. Her newest novel is The House Guest—it’s Gaslight meets Thelma & Louise. The Publishers Weekly says, “Ryan is a master of suspense!” The Library Journal starred review calls it “Binge-worthy.” 

Among other things, Carter and Hank discuss riding ponies to the library growing up, Hank’s dual-career between writing and politics, and how they approach the editing process of their novels. At the end of their conversation, they make up a story with an ending that may surprise you, using a sentence from The Good Guy by Dean Koontz 

Connect with Carter at www.carterwilson.com 

Connect with Hank at www.hankphillippiryan.com 

Samantha M. Bailey is the author of Woman on the Edge, a USA Today and #1 national bestseller; her second novel, Watch Out for Her, was an instant #1 national bestseller. As a journalist and freelance editor, her writing has appeared in Now Magazine, The Village Post, The Thrill Begins, and The Crime Hub, among other publications.  

Among other things, Carter and Samantha discuss how she has been writing full novels since the age of ten, risk taking and the fear of failure among aspiring writers, and the experience of having a book published after years of hard work. At the end of their conversation, they tell a character driven story starting from a sentence from The Rainmaker by John Grisham. 

Connect with Carter at www.carterwilson.com 

Connect with Samantha at SamanthaMBailey.com

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. A former librarian, she is currently an instructor at a SUNY Orange County Community College and a reviewer for BookPage.  

Among other things, Carter and Kimberly discuss the intricacies of describing characters, how they both find more inspiration from TV shows than reading at times, and how both like experimenting with their writing. At the end of their conversation, they conjure up a story full of mysteries starting with a sentence from Caroline B. Cooney’s novel, Before She Was Helen. 

Connect with Carter at www.carterwilson.com

Connect with Kimberly at www.kimberlyggiarratano.com

Veronica G. Henry is the author of Bacchanal, The Quarter Storm, and The Foreign Exchange in the Mambo Reina series. Her work has debuted at #1 on multiple Amazon bestseller charts, was chosen as an editors’ pick for Best African American Fantasy and shortlisted for the Manly Wade Wellman Award.  

Among other things, Carter and Veronica discuss how being a writer changes your reading habits, how Veronica’s career began after reading a “how-to-write" book, and how many people it takes to get a book published. At the end of their conversation, they devise a story about two people in a bad situation, starting with a sentence out of The Little Friend by Donna Tartt. 

Connect with Carter at www.carterwilson.com

Connect with Veronica at  www.veronicahenry.net

Tracy Clark, a native Chicagoan, is the author of the Cass Raines Chicago Mystery series, featuring ex-cop turned PaI Cassandra Raines. Her debut, BROKEN PLACES, made Library Journal’s list of the Best Crime Fiction of 2018 and CrimeReads named Cass Raines Best New PI of 2018. The novel was nominated for a Lefty Award for Best Debut Novel, an Anthony Award for Best Debut Novel and a Shamus Award for Best First PI Novel.  

Among other things, Carter and Tracy discuss how Tracy’s motivation to write began with a character, how rejection letters can sometimes be totally unhelpful, and what Tracy does when she gets stuck. At the end of their conversation, they work together to create a crime scene from a sentence out of Never Coming Home by Hannah Mary McKinnon. 

Connect with Carter at www.carterwilson.com

Connect with Tracy at www.tracyclarkbooks.com

Kimberly Belle is the USA Today and internationally bestselling author of eight novels, including The Personal Assistant, The Marriage Lie, a Goodreads Choice Awards semifinalist for Best Mystery & Thriller, and the co-authored #1 Audible Original, Young Rich Widows. Her books have been published in dozens of languages and optioned for film and television. 

Among other things, Carter and Kimberly discuss how they both prefer to write in first-person, the benefits of treating writing like a job, and the dream of writing full time. At the end of their conversation, they make up a story about the moment fear slows time, starting with a sentence from Where She Went by Kelly Simmons 

Connect with Carter at www.carterwilson.com 

Connect with Kimberly at www.kimberlybellebooks.com 

Rebecca Kelley is a fiction writer from Portland, Oregon; her first novel, Broken Homes & Gardens, was published in 2015. She also co-authored The Eco-nomical Baby Guide with Joy Hatch and her most recent novel, No One Knows Us Here, launched in early 2023.  

Among other things, Carter and Rebecca discuss how a teacher provided early courage in Rebecca’s writing abilities, how she used a blog to get an agent, and how much of a book needs to be completed before you can get a book deal. At the end of their conversation, their impromptu story perfectly depicts a tense and suspenseful relationship starting with a sentence from Atomic Family, by Ciera Horton McElroy. 

Connect with Carter at www.carterwilson.com

Connect with Rebecca at www.rebeccakelleywrites.com

David Heska Wanbli Weiden, an enrolled citizen of the Sicangu Lakota Nation, is the author of Winter Counts, which has won multiple awards and was nominated for an Edgar Award for Best First Novel. Weiden received his MFA from the Institute of American Indian Arts, his law degree from the University of Denver Sturm College of Law, and his Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin.  

Among other things, Carter and David discuss David’s childhood spent between the Sicangu Lakota Nation and the rougher parts of Denver, if technology is replacing reading in younger generations, and forgetting details from their own novels. At the end of the conversation, they craft a scene from a sentence from Greg Iles’s Spandau Phoenix. 

Connect with Carter at www.carterwilson.com

Connect with David at www.davidweiden.com