The Writing Table with Kris Clink

Crystal King on her new novel and the one change she made that improved her writing exponentially. 

Crystal King is the author of IN THE GARDEN OF MONSTERS, THE CHEF'S SECRET, and FEAST OF SORROW, which was long-listed for the Center for Fiction’s First Novel Prize and was a Must Read for the MassBook Awards. She is an author, culinary enthusiast, and marketing expert. Her writing is fueled by a love of history and a passion for the food, language, and culture of Italy. She has taught classes in writing, creativity, and social media at several universities including Harvard Extension School and Boston University, as well as at GrubStreet, one of the leading creative writing centers in the US. A Pushcart Prize–nominated poet and former co-editor of the online literary arts journal Plum Ruby Review, Crystal received her MA in critical and creative thinking from UMass Boston, where she developed a series of exercises and writing prompts to help fiction writers in medias res. She resides in Boston. Her latest novel is In the Garden of Monsters.

Learn more at crystalking.com 

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Daniel Kraus is a New York Times bestselling writer of novels, TV, and film. He shares his process, the research required for Whalefall, and a preview of his latest novel, Pay the Piper. 

Whalefall received a front-cover review in the New York Times Book Review, won the Alex Award, was an L.A. Times Book Prize Finalist, and was a Best Book of 2023 from NPR, the New York Times, Amazon, Chicago Tribune, and more.

With Guillermo del Toro, he co-authored The Shape of Water, based on the same idea the two created for the Oscar-winning film. Also with del Toro, Kraus co-authored Trollhunters, which was adapted into the Emmy-winning Netflix series. His also cowrote The Living Dead and Pay the Piper with legendary filmmaker George A. Romero. Kraus’s The Death and Life of Zebulon Finch was named one of Entertainment Weekly‘s Top 10 Books of the Year. Kraus has won the Bram Stoker Award, Scribe Award, two Odyssey Awards (for both Rotters and Scowler), and has appeared multiple times as Library Guild selections, YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults, and more. Kraus’s work has been translated into over 20 languages. He lives with his wife in Chicago. 

Learn more at: danielkraus.com.

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What does it take to publish seventy-five books? RaeAnne Thayne breaks it down. From her days as a journalist to navigating writing around raising a family and caring for a child with special needs, RaeAnne shares her process and responds to one listener's question about locking down the right point-of-view. 

New York Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal and #1 Publishers Weekly bestselling author RaeAnne Thayne has written more than 70 books since selling her first book in 1995. She has received a career achievement award from Romantic Times for series romantic adventure, as well as a Pioneer of Romance award. She finds inspiration from the beautiful mountains of northern Utah, where she lives with her family.

Her books have been described as “poignant and sweet,” with “beautiful, honest storytelling (that) goes straight to the heart.”

Learn more at: raeannethayne.com

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Rose Carlyle is a lawyer and an adventurer with first class honours degrees in law and creative writing. Rose has crewed on scientific yachting expeditions to subantarctic islands and has sailed her own yacht from Thailand to South Africa. She currently lives in New Zealand with her three children. Her debut novel, The Girl in the Mirror, was an instant number-one bestseller in New Zealand, was translated into eight languages, and has been optioned for the screen. Her second novel is No One Will Know. 

Learn more at RoseCarlyle.com

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Appellate judge and Edgar-award-winning author of ten novels of crime fiction, David Ellis dishes on writing independently and coauthoring eight bestselling books with James Patterson. He discusses what he's learned about pacing and plotting from Patterson. 

David's novels have been translated into more than ten languages worldwide. In December 2014, Dave was sworn in as the youngest-serving Justice of the Illinois Appellate Court for the First District. He lives outside Chicago with his wife and three children. His latest novel is The Best Lies. 

Learn more at: davidellis.com
Jamespatterson.com

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Gill Paul has written thirteen historical novels, many of them re-evaluating extraordinary 20th-century women whom she thinks have been marginalized or misjudged by historians. Her books have reached the top of the US, Canadian, and UK charts, and have been translated into twenty-three languages. Gill was born and raised in Scotland, apart from an eventful year at school in the US when she was ten. She worked as an editor in nonfiction publishing, then as a ghostwriter, before giving up the “day job” to write fiction full-time. She is also an events organizer for the Historical Writers Association. Gill loves wild swimming year-round, arranging parties, and traveling whenever and wherever she can. Her latest novel is Scandalous Women.  

Learn more at Gill Paul.com 

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Hadley Leggett writes layered book club fiction exploring truth in shades of gray. Before becoming a novelist, her winding career path included degrees in medicine, biochemistry, Spanish, and science journalism, as well as a ten-year stint as a stay-at-home mom. She began writing fiction — her secret lifelong dream — when her youngest child started preschool and she finally got a moment to herself.

Hadley's short stories and essays have appeared in the Bellevue Literary Review, Literary Mama, and Halfway Down the Stairs, and her science writing can be found at Wired.com and Stanford News. She lives in Seattle with her husband and three children, as well as her parents, three cats, and an ever-rotating troop of foster kittens. When she’s not writing, you can find her swimming laps, poring over a jigsaw puzzle, or buying too many books.

Her debut is All They Ask is Everything. 

Learn more at: hadleyleggett.com

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Sara Goodman Confino dishes about her path to publishing, her mad love for everything Springsteen, researching her latest novel, and the story behind the cover of Behind Every Good Man. 

Confino teaches high school English and journalism in Montgomery County, Maryland, where she lives with her husband, two sons, and miniature schnauzer, Sandy. When she’s not writing or working out, she can be found on the beach or at a Springsteen show, sometimes even dancing on stage. 

Learn more at saraconfino.com  

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Jaclyn Goldis is a graduate of the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and NYU Law. She practiced trust and estate law at a large Chicago firm for seven years before leaving her job to travel the world and write novels. She is the author of When We Were Young, The Chateau, and her latest, The Main Character. 

For more information visit jaclyngoldis.com

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Moon Unit Zappa was born in 1967 to legendary musician Frank Vincent Zappa and his second wife, Gail Zappa. At the age of fourteen, Moon Zappa appeared in Frank Zappa’s career defining music video, “Valley Girl,” which later helped jump-start Moon’s own career. Since then, Moon has worked as an actress, writer, comedian, artist, businesswoman, and podcaster. Moon has written a memoir of growing up in her unconventional household in 1970s Los Angeles, coming of age in the Hollywood Hills in the 1980s as the “Valley Girl,” gaining momentum as an accidental VJ on a new network called MTV, and finding herself after losing her father, then her mother, and the testing of her most important relationships. 

Learn more at moonunit.com.

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