Carter Wilson's Making It Up

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 conversation, they create a thrilling tale about the consequences of decisions made long ago, using a sentence from The Raw Shark Texts by Steven Hall.
Connect with Carter at www.carterwilson.com

Connect with www.matthewfitzsimmons.com

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 emotions of characters. At the end of their conversation, a sentence from David Wroblewski’s The Story of Edgar Sawtelle spurs a story about the psyche after something very traumatic.

Connect with Carter at www.carterwilson.com

Connect with Sarah at www.sarahfinebooks.com

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 Columbia, and how she writes mysteries by outlining and stress-testing her crime scene. At the end of their conversation, a sentence from A Column of Fire by Ken Follet sparks an in-depth conversation about old court schemes.

Connect with Carter at www.carterwilson.com

Connect with Maureen at www.maureenjohnsonbooks.com

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 the benefits of putting your work away for a whole year. At the end of their conversation, they spin a tale of mystery beginning with a random sentence from Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire.

Connect with Carter at www.carterwilson.com

Connect with Daniel at www.danielhandler.com

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 valuable help from industry experts and editors. At the end of their conversation, they tell a story, beginning from a sentence out of Nightmares and Dreamscapes by Stephen King, about being driven into a snap decision to find a long-lost love. 

Connect with Carter at www.carterwilson.com

Connect with SA Cosby at fb.com/@blacklionking73

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 author, and plotting vs pantsing. At the end of their conversation, they pull a random sentence from The War of the Rats by David L. Robbins and make up a story about shady experiments.

Connect with Carter at www.carterwilson.com 

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 Britain versus the States, and the inevitability of falling in love with your story and then writing until you hate it. At the end of their conversation, they pull a random sentence from Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman and tell a story of a 13-year-old girl in a dire situation.

Connect with Carter at www.carterwilson.com

Connect with Adrian at www.adriangoldsworthy.com

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-writing and the importance of being ahead of the trend. At the end of their conversation, they tell a story about a student caught in a scary web of lies, an unsure academic future, and a morally questionable professor. 

Connect with Carter at www.carterwilson.com

Connect with Barb at www.ruralmom.com

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 writing for the reader and keeping the audience in mind, and letting characters tell their own stories. At the end of their conversation, they improvise a story about undercover agents skirting the line between right and wrong with a body in their trunk beginning with a random sentence from the book Red Dragon by Thomas Harris.

Connect with Carter at www.carterwilson.com

Connect with Brad at www.bradparksbooks.com/

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 into the music industry, how fan fiction developed into publishing novels, and the world of self-publishing. At the end of their conversation, from a random sentence in America America by Ethan Canin, they tell a story of discovery and uncover the confession of a crime that happened too close to home for comfort.

Connect with Carter at www.carterwilson.com

Connect with Xio at www.xioaxelrod.com