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 the conversation, they make up a comical scene with a dark twist from the book, Lie In Wait by Eric Rickstad.