Meredith Lyons collected two degrees from Louisiana State University before running away to Chicago to be an actor. In between plays, she got her black belt and made martial arts and yoga her full-time day job. She fought in the Chicago Golden Gloves, ran the Chicago Marathon, and competed for team USA in the Savate World Championships in Paris. She's a member of International Thriller Writers and Sisters in Crime. A Dagger of Lightning is her second novel. Her debut, Ghost Tamer, a paranormal suspense, was published in 2023.

Among other things, Carter and Meredith discuss Meredith’s experience at her first writing conference, trusting your instincts when writing, and an author’s role in the marketing of their book. At the end of their conversation, they make up a gruesome story using a line from Stuart Turton’s The Last Murder at the End of the World.