HI! I’M PENN COLE I’M AN HYBRID FANTASY ROMANCE AUTHOR IN THE MIDST OF PUBLISHING MY DEBUT SERIES, THE KINDRED’S CURSE SAGA

While my life has taken me through a lot of ups and downs, my love for reading and writing has forever been my true north. I’ve been writing stories since my childhood, filling mountains of notebooks with wild worlds and angsty romances. I received my undergraduate degree in Creative Writing, hoping to write the Next Great American Novel, but... well… we plan, Fate laughs. After a detour as an attorney and small business owner, I am thrilled to finally be pursuing my lifelong dream of becoming an author.

I’m a regular participant in NaNoWriMo, and I love meeting and supporting other new authors, especially female authors and BIPOC/LGBTQ+ authors. When I’m not writing, I love reading fantasy, rom coms, and humorous non-fiction.

While I’m a Texas girl born and bred, I currently live in France with my husband, where I can usually be found drinking way too much wine and eating far too many pastries.

We're kicking off the 60-Day Novel Challenge by looking at the big picture of your novel! That means understanding your genre, nailing down the high-level plot points of your story, and getting started on worldbuilding (if you need to).

Each week we will be: Discussing our own work for week's activities and exercises Talking about the wins and struggles of the week - ours and yours! Sharing personal insights from our own author journeys Answering questions from viewers and participants

This week’s focus: Crafting a high-level outline of your story, identifying key plot beats, and getting clarity on your genre.

We’ll cover the exercises from the template, discuss common pitfalls, and share tips to help you start strong!

Make sure to subscribe and hit the notification bell so you don’t miss any of these streams. We’re all in this together—let’s get writing!

🔗 Template Download: https://bit.ly/3XBxdVh 🔗 Join the Challenge: https://www.storycraft.cafe/c/join-th...

Nick Cole is a former soldier and working actor living in Southern California. When he is not auditioning for commercials, going out for sitcoms or being shot, kicked, stabbed or beaten by the students of various film schools for their projects, he can be found writing books. Nick's Book The Old Man and the Wasteland was an Amazon Bestseller and #1 in Science Fiction. In 2016 Nick's book CTRL ALT Revolt won the Dragon Award for Best Apocalyptic novel. Currently he is writing the bestselling Science Fiction series Galaxy’s Edge with co-author Jason Anspach.

In a small-town Montana school at age 12, Brent Weeks met the two great loves of his life. Edgar Allan Poe introduced him to the power of literature to transcend time and death and loneliness. Fate introduced him to The Girl, Kristi Barnes. He began his pursuit of each immediately.

The novel was a failure. The Girl shot him down.

Since then–skipping the boring parts–Brent has written eight best-selling novels with the Night Angel Trilogy and the Lightbringer Series, won several industry awards, and sold a few million books.

Brent and his wife Kristi live in Oregon with their two daughters. (Yeah, he married The Girl.)

You can contact Brent at brent(at)brentweeks(dot)com or fill out the comment form under the contact tab.

He does read all of his emails (the good ones, he’ll read two or three times, the little narcissist), and he does reply… sometimes. (If you have questions other people MAY have asked, maybe even frequently, you can live dangerously and check out the FAQ.)

https://youtube.com/live/z_ICXu4g5Sc

 

On today's show we have a special treat for you, a double header of interviews with two of the most creative thriller writers in publishing, Don Winslow and Taylor Adams. Be sure to join us at storycraft.cafe to stay informed about all upcoming shows!

 

You've finished your manuscript and now what? In 2023 writers have more options than ever to get their stories out to the world. Trad pub, indie, hybrid... they're all legitimate ways to publish, and our panel is going to talk about those, and attempt to shed some light on the realities of publishing in 2023.

When editing your book, how do you know when It's "finished"? In the writer's eyes, is a story ever truly finished? How do you lovingly close this project and how do you start thinking about what you'll follow it up with? We'll talk about all of it this week.

 

DON WINSLOW is the author of twenty-three acclaimed, award-winning international bestsellers, including six New York Times bestsellers (Savages, The Kings of Cool, The Cartel, The Force, The Border and City on Fire). Savages was made into a feature film by three-time Oscar- winning writer-director Oliver Stone and a screenplay by Shane Salerno, Winslow and Stone. Winslow's epic Cartel trilogy has been adapted for TV and will appear as a weekly series on FX in 2023. The Force is soon to be a major motion picture from 20th Century Studios starring Matt Damon with James Mangold directing from a Scott Frank screenplay. Additional Winslow books are currently in development at Netflix, Warner Brothers, Sony and Working Title and he has recently written a series of acclaimed short stories for Audible narrated by four-time Oscar nominee Ed Harris.

Read any how-to book on writing and you'll get that author's ideas about what makes the perfect story. Pick up another guide and you might find information that contradicts what the first author told you. Who's right? Aren't the rules of storytelling set in stone? The answer is a firm "sometimes". On this week's episode we're going to talk about the rules of story telling and knowing when and how to break them if necessary.

Amazon All Star Author Tonya Kappes has written more than 175 southern cozy mysteries, all of which have graced numerous bestseller lists, including USA Today and Woman's World Book Club pick twice . Best known for stories charged with southern charm, emotion and humor and filled with flawed characters, her novels have garnered reader praise and glowing critical reviews. She lives with her husband in northern Kentucky. Now that her four boys have flown out of the nest, Tonya writes full-time in her camper!

You can find her all over social media and at Tonyakappes.com.

When reading back over that first draft what happens when you encounter that dreaded plot hole. Pin sized plot holes are one thing, and hopefully easily resolved, but what happens when you could fly a 747 through the center of your plot? 

Grant Faulkner is the Executive Director of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) and the co-founder of 100 Word Story. He has published two books on writing, Pep Talks for Writers: 52 Insights and Actions to Boost Your Creative Mojo, and Brave the Page, a teen writing guide. He’s also published All the Comfort Sin Can Provide, a collection of short stories, Fissures, a collection of 100-word stories, and Nothing Short of 100: Selected Tales from 100 Word Story. His stories have appeared in dozens of literary magazines, including Tin House, The Southwest Review, and The Gettysburg Review, and he has been anthologized in collections such as Norton’s New Micro: Exceptionally Short Fiction and Best Small Fictions. His essays on creativity have been published in The New York Times, Poets & Writers, Lit Hub, Writer’s Digest, and The Writer. He serves on the National Writing Project’s Writer’s Council, Lit Camp’s Advisory Council, and Aspen Words’ Creative Council. He’s also the co-host of the podcast Write-minded.

We've talked about characters, and we've plumbed the depths of plot, but what if the story you're telling is actually one piece of a bigger puzzle, a series? How does editing in light of a series differ from sanding off the rough edges of a standalone story? When is it appropriate to start building a series bible? How do you keep characters consistent, yet growing from one part of the series to the next? We'll debate the finer points this week with special guest Richard Fox.

Craft Q&A Office Hours are meant to answer your most pressing questions. During our live events, we always get a bunch of questions spanning the entire spectrum of writing and storytelling. So we decided to dedicate some time to answer them.

Craft Q&A Office Hours are one of our premium perks for Dabble Premium Subscribers. If you would like to participate live in an Office Hours session, consider becoming a premium Dabble Subscriber.

Dabblewriter.com

 

Mark Greaney has a degree in international relations and political science. In his research for the Gray Man novels, including Sierra Six, Relentless, One Minute Out, Mission Critical, Agent in Place, Gunmetal Gray, Back Blast, Dead Eye, Ballistic, On Target, and The Gray Man, he traveled to more than thirty-five countries and trained alongside military and law enforcement in the use of firearms, battlefield medicine, and close-range combative tactics. With Marine LtCol Rip Rawlings, he wrote the New York Times bestseller, Red Metal. He is also the author of the New York Times bestsellers Tom Clancy Support and Defend, Tom Clancy Full Force and Effect, Tom Clancy Commander in Chief, and Tom Clancy True Faith and Allegiance. With Tom Clancy, he coauthored Locked On, Threat Vector, and Command Authority.

In our second week of exploring plot, we look at how to ensure that the action rises and falls in a way that will keep your readers on the edge of their seats. Does your plot serve the story in a meaningful way? Let's talk about it.

We've talked characters for the last couple of weeks, but do you characters actually do anything? Plot is where we tell the story of what happened, and what that happening does to our characters. This week we talk about determining if your characters' journey is a good one.

The Levee

Raised in the Cascade Mountains of Oregon, William Kent Krueger briefly attended Stanford University—before being kicked out for radical activities. After that, he logged timber, worked construction, tried his hand at freelance journalism, and eventually ended up researching child development at the University of Minnesota. He’s been married for nearly fifty years to a marvelous woman who is a retired attorney. He makes his home in St. Paul, a city he dearly loves.

Krueger writes a mystery series set in the north woods of Minnesota. His protagonist is Cork O’Connor, the former sheriff of Tamarack County and a man of mixed heritage—part Irish and part Ojibwe. His work has received a number of awards, including the Minnesota Book Award, the Loft-McKnight Fiction Award, the Anthony Award, the Barry Award, the Dilys Award, and the Friends of American Writers Prize. His last nine novels were all New York Times bestsellers.

Ordinary Grace, his stand-alone novel published in 2013, received the Edgar Award, given by the Mystery Writers of America in recognition for the best novel published in that year. The companion novel, This Tender Land, was published in September 2019 and spent nearly six months on the New York Times bestseller list.

So your protagonist has you feeling good, and you feel like their journey is solid, but what about the rest of the cast? No journey is a solitary one, and your protagonist is no different. How can he or she reach their potential without the help (or antics) of the folks around them? Join us this week as we look at the characters we choose to surround our protagonist with.

In our second week of rewriting we are going to take a hard look at the characters that we've invited into our stories. Are these characters all we had hoped they could be? Do they move the plot forward and add emotional depth to our tale? Are we as writers giving our characters the best shot at success that we can? We're going to dig into it this week as we stand back and take an objective look at the characters we have created.

It's time to take that novel that you've first-drafted and whip it into shape! Our panel of writers will work through the process–along with you, the audience–and hear from special guests along the way.

Rhett is a USA Today bestselling and Nebula-nominated hybrid author who has been writing Sci-Fi & Fantasy since before he can remember. On the editing side, he has collected works for numerous anthologies through Sci-Fi & Fantasy Bridge, and served as the lead editor of the bestselling Bridge Across the Stars Anthology. He also served for a period as a consulting editor for ASIM magazine and as a 34freelance editor on Upwork, and has earned a Certificate in Screenwriting / Storytelling from the New School in NYC.

Rhett is passionate about science fiction and its role in our fast-moving society. He wants stories that focus on characters but also present the kind of concepts that keep readers up at night, dreaming of potential futures.

Deborah Crombie was born in Dallas and grew up in Richardson, Texas, a suburb north of Dallas, the second child of Charlie and Mary Darden. Her maternal grandmother, Lillian Dozier, a retired teacher, taught her to read at the tender age of four. After a rather checkered educational career, which included dropping out of high school at sixteen, she graduated from Austin College in Sherman, Texas, with a degree in biology.

She then worked in advertising and newspapers and attended the Rice University Publishing Program. A post-university trip to England, however, cemented a life-long passion for Britain, and she later immigrated to the UK with her first husband, Peter Crombie, a Scot, living first in Edinburgh, Scotland, and then in Chester, England.

After returning to live in Dallas, a trip to Yorkshire inspired her first Detective Superintendent Duncan Kincaid/Sergeant Gemma James novel. A Share in Death [Scribner, 1993], was subsequently given Agatha and Macavity nominations for Best First Novel of 1993. The fifth novel, Dreaming of the Bones (Scribner 1997), a New York Times Notable Book for 1997, was short-listed by Mystery Writers of America for the 1997 Edgar Award for Best Novel, won the Macavity Award for Best Novel, and was voted by the Independent Mystery Booksellers Association as one of the hundred best mysteries of the century. Her subsequent novels have been received with critical acclaim and are widely read internationally, particularly in Germany.

In 2009, Where Memories Lie won the Macavity Award for Best Novel.  In 2010, Necessary as Blood received a Macavity nomination for Best Novel.

Crombie's novels are published in North America, Japan, Germany, France, Czechoslovakia, Spain, Romania, Greece, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and numerous other countries. The latest novel in the series, A Killing of Innocents, is available in February 2023 from William Morrow.

Although she travels to England several times a year, Crombie lives in McKinney, Texas, a historic town north of Dallas, sharing a circa 1905 Texas Craftsman bungalow with her husband, Rick Wilson, two German shepherds (Dax and Jasmine), and two cats.  She is an aficionado of tea and cocktails, enjoys cooking and admiring her garden, reading, birdwatching, and playing with her dogs.

She is currently working on her twentieth Duncan Kincaid/Gemma James novel.

Audrey Burges writes novels, humor, short fiction, and essays in Richmond, Virginia. Her presence is tolerated by her two rambunctious children and very patient husband, all of whom have become practiced at making supportive faces when she shouts, “listen to this sentence!” She is a frequent contributor to numerous humor outlets, including McSweeney’s, and her stories and essays have appeared in Pithead Chapel, Cease, Cows, and lengthy diatribes in the Notes app on her phone. Audrey was born and raised in Arizona by her linguist parents, which is a lot like being raised by wolves, but with better grammar. She moved to Virginia as an adult but still carries mountains and canyons in her heart, and sometimes, when she closes her eyes, she can still smell ponderosa pines in the sun.

 

 

Authors have more options than ever when deciding how they want to achieve their writing goals. The two big options - self-publishing and traditional publishing - are still mysterious and, quite frankly, confusing, to some writers.

Join Hank and Doug in this Fireside Chat as we discuss what it means to publish on each path and what the pros and cons of each publishing style are.

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Try out Dabble free for 14 days and see why it’s the best writing tool on the planet—no credit card required! Visit our website at www.dabblewriter.com to get started.

Subscribe to our channel for more live events like author interviews, Writing Sprint Wednesdays, Feedback Fridays, and Fireside Chats.

We're all about helping authors hone their craft with engaging, fun, and educational content. On top of all that, Dabble Premium members get access to exclusive content like Craft Q&A Office Hours, Wordsmith Workshops, Deep Dive articles, bonus resources, and guest speaker workshops.

Happy writing!

Brad Taylor was born on Okinawa, Japan, but grew up on 40-acres in rural Texas.  Graduating from the University of Texas, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army Infantry.  Brad served for more than 21 years, retiring as a Special Forces Lieutenant Colonel.  During that time he held numerous Infantry and Special Forces positions, including eight years in 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment – Delta where he commanded multiple troops and a squadron.  He has conducted operations in support of US national interests in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other classified locations.

His final assignment was as the Assistant Professor of Military Science at The Citadel in Charleston, SC.  He holds a Master’s of Science in Defense Analysis from the Naval Postgraduate School, with a concentration in Irregular Warfare.  In 2011, Brad published his debut novel, One Rough Man, which was an immediate success and launched the Pike Logan series. Now with more than 15 installments and more than 3 million copies sold, the series has consistently hit the New York Times bestseller list. When not writing, he serves as a security consultant on asymmetric threats for various agencies.  He lives in Charleston, SC with his wife and two daughters.

AI is certainly one of the buzziest topics as we start off 2023, and lots of writers are exploring what these tools might be able to offer to their personal creative process. Today we hear from a writer and publisher about his thoughts on where we stand with this emerging technology.

There's a lot of talk in the writing community about AI and the tools that AI are now affording writers. Today we hear from an author who is using this new technology to further her craft and career.

Leanne Leeds is a humorously acerbic, good-natured, contemporary paranormal/fantasy cozy mystery author who writes fun, lighthearted, and optimistic adventures where characters and events intersect in magically unexpected ways. With a cast of quirky characters inhabiting her fictional world, Leanne provides a unique blend of comedy, clues, and twisty action—all with a touch of magic that keeps readers turning pages.

Leanne is a proud member of Novelists, Inc., The Alliance of Independent Authors, The Authors Guild, Mystery Writers of America, and Sisters in Crime.

For information on Leanne Leeds visit: https://leanneleeds.com

 

Wow, what a year! In this calendar year not only did we kick off the number one site for writers The Story Craft Cafe, but we also started this podcast as an offshoot of that very special place. We had some fantastic guests that stopped by to share their stories and to drop some hard earned wisdom on us as well. In this episode we look back at a few of those highlights as we get ready to spend some special moments with family and friends and reflect on all of the good that 2022 brought us. We hope you take this time to rest and recharge your creative batteries and come back ready to tackle your stories with renewed hope and vigor. From all of us at Dabble and the Story Craft Cafe, Happy Holidays!

In this episode we hear from:

Sally Britton

Richard Fox

Christopher Paolini

Liv Constantine

James Rollins

Sarah Pinborough

Beverly Jenkins

J. T. Ellison

Brian McClellan

Jenna Moreci

R. A. Salvatore

Jasinda and Jack Wilder

 

It's been a wild and memorable 60 days, and we have learned a lot about the art and science of writing, and a lot about ourselves. How did we do? Did we hit our wordcount target? Did we form new habits? Most importantly, do we feel like we are better writers now than when we started? We'll recap the challenge and look forward to the future.

Welcome to the Story Craft Café Podcast. If you're just joining us for the first time, we kicked off a challenge last month to Write A Novel With Dabble In 60 Days. This challenge encompasses the yearly NaNoWriMo Challenge, while also adding a planning month to the mix. Five writers are going through the process of developing an idea, making a fully formed plot and plan, then executing the writing of a first draft in 60 days. 

The middle of the writing is where the rubber meets the road. The planning is all done, the excitement of getting all those ideas out on the screen has now faded into hard work. What do you do when things are not working the way you had hoped, or maybe you've lost your momentum and just need to get back on track. Join us today as we talk through the muddy middle of the writing challenge.

Be sure to join us at storycraft.cafe to join in the writer community that is flourishing there and find your tribe that will help you stay motivated during this event and beyond. 

Welcome to the Story Craft Café Podcast. If you're just joining us for the first time, we kicked off a challenge last month to Write A Novel With Dabble In 60 Days. This challenge encompasses the yearly NaNoWriMo Challenge, while also adding a planning month to the mix. Five writers are going through the process of developing an idea, making a fully formed plot and plan, then executing the writing of a first draft in 60 days. 

As we kick off the second part of the challenge where we take all of the planning that we did last month, and charge toward our goal of 50,000 words written in the month of November, we talk about how the first couple of days have gone. Big plans are made, and with the benefit of a planning month, we see bright things ahead.

Be sure to join us at storycraft.cafe to join in the writer community that is flourishing there and find your tribe that will help you stay motivated during this event and beyond. 

Welcome to the Story Craft Café Podcast. If you're just joining us for the first time, we kicked off a challenge a couple of weeks ago to Write A Novel With Dabble In 60 Days. This challenge encompasses the yearly NaNoWriMo Challenge, while also adding a planning month to the mix. Five writers are going through the process of developing an idea, making a fully formed plot and plan, then executing the writing of a first draft in 60 days. 

As we prepare for NaNoWriMo, and the month where we finish planning our books and get to the drafting, we talked about the final piece of our planning character motivation. You can have a great setting, develop characters that are unique, but what drives them to do what they do? What do your characters really want in life, and how do you as the writer make their journey more difficult? Listen in today as we discuss this.

Be sure to join us at storycraft.cafe to join in the writer community that is flourishing there and find your tribe that will help you stay motivated during this event and beyond. 

Welcome to the Story Craft Café Podcast. If you're just joining us for the first time, we kicked off a challenge a couple of weeks ago to Write A Novel With Dabble In 60 Days. This challenge encompasses the yearly NaNoWriMo Challenge, while also adding a planning month to the mix. Five writers are going through the process of developing an idea, making a fully formed plot and plan, then executing the writing of a first draft in 60 days. 

Last week we talked about characters. We know that characters drive your story through their own accomplishments and the way they do, or do not, handle plot devices you throw their way, but what about /where/ your story is set? Have you ever heard the term "place as character"? Well, in today's show we talk about it. 

Join us as we look at what makes a great setting and how you can use that setting to set your story apart from the rest.

Go to storycraft.cafe to join in the challenge. We'd love to have you!

Welcome to the Story Craft Café Podcast. If you're just joining us for the first time, we kicked off a challenge a couple of weeks ago to Write A Novel With Dabble In 60 Days. This challenge encompasses the yearly NaNoWriMo Challenge, while also adding a planning month to the mix. Five writers are going through the process of developing an idea, making a fully formed plot and plan, then executing the writing of a first draft in 60 days. Last week we talked about characters. 

Today we have a special episode of the podcast for you with one of the most prolific authors that I've had the pleasure of befriending over the years. Rick Partlow has written and published dozens and dozens of science fiction novels. In the midst of our write a novel in 60 days challenge, hearing from a writer that is putting in the work everyday is greatly motivating, and I hope that you, like me, get excited by hearing Rick's story. Thanks for listening. 

Randy Ingermanson is the author of six novels and three bestselling books on how to write fiction. He is known around the world as “the Snowflake Guy” in honor of his wildly popular Snowflake method of designing a novel. Randy has a Ph.D. in theoretical physics from the University of California at Berkeley and still works half-time as a scientist for a biotechnology company in San Diego. He publishes the free monthly Advanced Fiction Writing E-zine, with zillions of subscribers. Randy lives in southern Washington state with his beautiful, smart, and longsuffering wife. Also three surly cats. Visit his web site at http://www.AdvancedFictionWriting.com

Welcome to the Story Craft Café Podcast. If you're just joining us for the first time, we kicked off a challenge a couple of weeks ago to Write A Novel With Dabble In 60 Days. This challenge encompasses the yearly NaNoWriMo Challenge, while also adding a planning month to the mix. Five writers are going through the process of developing an idea, making a fully formed plot and plan, then executing the writing of a first draft in 60 days. Last week we talked about characters. You can have a brilliant plot idea, a stellar setting, and amazingly grand ideas, but without characters that readers can relate to and ultimately root for, you don't have much that will keep readers engaged. Join us as we look at what makes characters who they are, and what character traits can add to your story.

Welcome to the Story Craft Café Podcast. If you're just joining us for the first time, we kicked off a challenge last week to Write A Novel With Dabble In 60 Days. This challenge encompasses the yearly NaNoWriMo Challenge, while also adding a planning month to the mix. Five writers are going through the process of developing an idea, making a fully formed plot and plan, then executing the writing of a first draft in 60 days. Last week Dabble CEO Jacob Wright joined our live weekly check-in to talk all about the plotting features in Dabble and to offer ideas to our group of intrepid writers. Listen in as we talk about the importance of a plan, and how you can use the power of Dabble to better plan out your project. Go to storycraft.cafe to signup for the challenge and join in the fun. 

It's October, and that means it's time to start working on that novel that you've been thinking about. Our friends at NaNoWriMo have famously dubbed November as National Novel Writing Month, and we look forward to that time each year. Dabble has some amazing built in features to help you prepare for writing that novel. So we decided to form a group of writers who could prepare together, and then write their novels together as a way to inspire and help each other through the process. Last Thursday we had our first meeting of the Dabblers and talked about what we planned to do and how we wanted to make it happen. Listen in and join us and the writing challenge. There's still time. Tuesday night we'll have another hang out, this time with Jacob Wright, Dabble CEO, and we'll talk all about how Dabble's tools can help you succeed at your own writing challenge.  Thanks for listening.

Adam Hamdy is a bestselling British author and screenwriter who works with studios and production companies on both sides of the Atlantic. Together with David Headley, Adam founded Capital Crime, one of the UK’s largest literary festivals. He teaches creative writing in the UK and US and is on the board of the International Thriller Writers Organization.   “I couldn’t stop thinking about the story’s incredible twist…like no crime novel I’ve ever read.” —James Patterson For fans of Matt Haig and Anthony Horowitz, an “intriguing and thought-provoking” (Liv Constantine, author of The Last Mrs. Parrish) novel in which the lives of a disgraced police officer, a prolific author, and an upstanding citizen are inextricably bound together by a series of mysterious deaths. The Other Side of Night begins with a man named David Asha writing about his biggest regret: his sudden separation from his son, Elliot. In his grief, David tells a story. Next, we step into the life of Harriet Kealty, a police officer trying to clear her name after a lapse of judgment. She discovers a curious inscription in a secondhand book—a plea: Help me, he’s trying to kill me. Who wrote this note? Who is “he”? This note leads Harri to David Asha, who was last seen stepping off a cliff. Police suspect he couldn’t cope after his wife’s sudden death. Still, why would this man jump and leave behind his young son? Quickly, Harri’s attention zeroes in on a person she knows all too well. Ben Elmys: once the love of her life. A surrogate father to Elliot Asha and trusted friend to the Ashas. Ben may also be a murderer.​ The Other Side of Night is a thought-provoking, moving “head-spinner of a novel” (John Connolly) with intriguing narratives and plot swerves that will leave you reeling. By the end, you’ll be shaken as each piece slots satisfyingly into place.

Welcome to the Story Craft Café podcast. Today we get to spend some time with Jean Kwok, author of the instant New York Times bestseller Searching For Sylvie Lee. Jean has a short story in the brand new collection of stories called Marple: Twelve New Miss Marple Mysteries, celebrating the life and work of Agatha Christy. In this episode we talk all about Jean's creative process, why planning and outlining are so important to her work, writing mysteries, channeling the voice of Agatha Christy and Miss Marple, and getting to contribute to a collection such as this. This show is chock full of advice from a writer that is in the thick of it right now, and at the top of her game. 

We talked with Jean about the upcoming Write A Novel In 60 Days With Dabble challenge, and Jean offered some sage advice for writers that are trying this daring challenge. If you would like to join in the challenge and write your dream with a community of like minded writers at your side, go over to storycraft.cafe and sign up. Thanks for listening. 

https://www.jeankwok.com/

Welcome to the story craft cafe podcast. We're continuing our monthlong celebration of romance that we're calling #KissTember. Today we have husband and wife duo Jasinda and Jack Wilder and we talk about the ups and downs of the writing life, understanding your audience and delivering what that audience has come to love from your writing, the changing market and how publishing has changed over the last decade and so much more.

Later this month we are kicking off something that I know you are going to love. We call it the writer a novel in 60 days with Dabble Challenge. A group of writers from all across the genre spectrum will join together to each write a novel in 60 days. It's going to be challenging, but it's going to be epic. We will have weekly check-ins where we report about our progress and share our frustrations and successes. We hope you'll join with us. We'll share more about this as we get closer. Now onto our interview with the Wilders. Thanks for listening. 

JasindaWilder.com

We're kicking off a month that we're calling #KissTember. Since we are roughly six months away from Valentine's Day, if you are a romance author, or just thinking about dipping your toe in the romance waters, now is a great time to start focusing on that February release. To kick off this special month we have a conversation with Romance superstar Sierra Simone. From finding her voice to staking out her own corner of this wildly popular genre, Sierra has something for all us writers to add to our writer's toolkits. 

Sierra is a voracious reader of all things including the smuttiest smut, young adult, piles of non-fiction for research, and everything Bill Bryson (especially on audio).

She loves writing the dirtiest things that she can think of, King Arthur, sparkling water, Tarot, coffee, leggings, and learning new words daily. 

Her previous jobs have included firing ceramics, teaching living history lessons in one-room school house in full, 1904-approved school marm attire, and working as a librarian for several years—not in that order

She lives in the Kansas City area with her husband, two children, and two giant dogs. (And two cats, but they're so naughty we don't talk about them.) 

Her novels have been published in Czech, French, German, Hebrew, Hungarian, Italian, Polish, and Romanian. She's been featured in Buzzfeed, Cosmopolitan, Entertainment Weekly, Marie Claire, and Library Journal with a starred review.

Sierra is an internet introvert, but you can follow her on Spotify and Instagram, and chat with other readers in her Facebook group!

You can also reach her at thesierrasimone@gmail.com. (Please note that due to a high volume of emails, responses may be significantly delayed.)

Karen M. McManus is a #1 New York Times and international bestselling author of young adult thrillers. Her books include the One of Us Is Lying series, which has been turned into a television show on Peacock, as well as the standalone novels Two Can Keep a Secret, The Cousins, You’ll Be the Death of Me, and Nothing More to Tell. Karen's critically acclaimed, award-winning work has been translated into more than 40 languages. To learn more about Karen and her books, visit karenmcmanus.com, or follow @writerkmc on Twitter and Instagram.   From #1 New York Times bestselling author of One of Us Is Lying comes a new page-turning mystery. Be sure to keep your friends close . . . and your secrets closer. Four years ago, Brynn left Saint Ambrose School following the shocking murder of her favorite teacher—a story that made headlines after the teacher’s body was found by three Saint Ambrose students in the woods behind their school. The case was never solved. Now that Brynn is moving home and starting her dream internship at a true-crime show, she’s determined to find out what really happened.  The kids who found Mr. Larkin are her way in, and her ex–best friend, Tripp Talbot, was one of them. Without his account of events, the other two kids might have gone down for Mr. Larkin’s murder—but instead, thanks to Tripp, they're now at the top of the Saint Ambrose social pyramid. Tripp’s friends have never forgotten what Tripp did for them that day, and neither has he. Just like he hasn’t forgotten that everything he told the police was a lie. Digging into the past is bound to shake up the present, and when Brynn begins to investigate what happened in the woods that day, she uncovers secrets that might change everything—about Saint Ambrose, about Mr. Larkin, and about her ex-best friend, Tripp Talbot. Four years ago someone got away with murder. More terrifying is that they might be closer than anyone thinks.  

Welcome to the story craft cafe podcast. Today we have a special show for you. We have been collecting conversations with authors all across the genre space, as well as authors that are traditionally published, as well as superstars in the indie publishing space. We don't always get the opportunity to record a full hour-long interview with everyone, even if we really enjoy the types of shows where we get to really dig into an author's journey as well as dig deeply into a certain aspect of craft. That's where this show comes in. Over the last couple of months I have had the opportunity to chat with some fantastic authors and today I am bringing you selected clips from each of them. If this is the Story Craft Cafe, then think of this as a sampler platter. Today we'll hear from Meg Gardiner, David Pepper, Faye Kellerman, William Kent Krueger, John Galligan, and the always entertaining Karin Slaughter. Be sure to join us next week as we resume our normal format. As always, thanks for listening.  

As we continue our #indiesummmer coverage, we shift gears a little bit to talk to Alex Newton from K-lytics. While writing is most definitely an art, publishing is a business. Did you know that there are ways for you to find out exactly who your competition is, and how saturated a particular genre or sub genre is? Alex Newton has done just that and today he shares some of his wisdom with us. Whether you are an indie author, or have your sights set on a traditional publishing career, Alex has information that can help us all. 

K-lytics

Steven James is a critically acclaimed author of eighteen novels and numerous nonfiction books that have sold more than 1 million copies. His books have won or been shortlisted for dozens of national and international awards. In addition, his stories and articles have appeared in more than eighty different publications, including the New York Times. He is also a popular keynote speaker and professional storyteller with a master’s degree in storytelling. 

James’ latest thriller, FATAL DOMAIN, is available. The new series follows Travis Brock, a redactor for the Department of Defense who must attempt to unearth the truth of a personal tragedy while trying to stop a terrorist group from stealing one of the military’s most highly guarded technological breakthroughs.

Since 1996, James has appeared more than two thousand times at events spanning the globe, presenting his stories and teaching the principles of storytelling to writers, speakers, teachers, and leaders. He also hosts the weekly podcast The Story Blender, on which he has interviewed more than 150 of the world’s leading writers and storytellers. In 2020, he was inducted into the Christy Award Hall of Fame for excellence in fiction writing. Publishers Weekly has called him “[a] master storyteller at the peak of his game.”

When he’s not writing or speaking, you may find him playing basketball or disc golf, or hiking near his home in the Appalachian Highlands of East Tennessee. He may or may not watch too many science fiction movies while eating bottomless bowls of chips and salsa. 

Welcome to the Story Craft Cafe podcast. As we continue our #indiesummmer coverage, we talk with an author today that has seen indie publishing go through ups and downs, from the wild wild west to a mature industry with opportunities and challenges for anyone wanting to get their stories out to the masses. Kevin Tumlinson writes science fiction as well as his current passion of Archaeological thrillers, (think Indiana Jones meets Dan Brown) and in this episode we talk about his thoughts abut what it takes to write in a particular genre and gather an audience, why he pivoted in his chosen genre, what he thinks is the number one thing authors can do to take their publishing to the next level, his work with indie publishing platform Draft2Digital, and so much more.

Kevin Tumlinson is the Novelist—an award-winning and bestselling author of hundreds of books crafted to thrill and inspire. He also serves as the Director of Marketing and PR for Draft2Digital, the leading distributor of books by independent authors and publishers, worldwide. Kevin is known as the Voice of Indie Publishing for his work in podcasts, conferences, public speaking, and consulting for authors. Every day he helps and encourages hundreds of thousands of will-be and established authors around the globe.

In Part 2  of this conversation with master of Epic Fantasy R. A. Salvatore we dig deep into his favorite topic, world building. From the terrain to the politics and religion of a place to how characters evolve based on their environment and how they have been nurtured, you don't want to miss this episode!

As one of the fantasy genre's most successful authors, R.A. Salvatore enjoys an ever-expanding and tremendously loyal following.

His books regularly appear on The New York Times best-seller lists and have sold more than 30,000,000 copies. Salvatore’s most recent original hardcover, The Two Swords, Book III of The Hunter’s Blade Trilogy (October 2004) debuted at # 1 on The Wall Street Journal best-seller list and at # 4 on The New York Times best-seller list. His books have been translated into numerous foreign languages including German, Italian, Finnish, Greek, Hungarian, Turkish, Croatian, Bulgarian, Yiddish, Spanish, Russian, Polish, Czech, and French.

Salvatore's first published novel, The Crystal Shard from TSR in 1988, became the first volume of the acclaimed Icewind Dale Trilogy and introduced an enormously popular character, the dark elf Drizzt Do'Urden. Since that time, Salvatore has published numerous novels for each of his signature multi-volume series including The Dark Elf Trilogy, Paths of Darkness, The Hunter's Blades Trilogy, and The Cleric Quintet.

His love affair with fantasy, and with literature in general, began during his sophomore year of college when he was given a copy of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings as a Christmas gift. He promptly changed his major from computer science to journalism. He received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Communications from Fitchburg State College in 1981, then returned for the degree he always cherished, the Bachelor of Arts in English. He began writing seriously in 1982, penning the manuscript that would become Echoes of the Fourth Magic. Salvatore held many jobs during those first years as a writer, finally settling in (much to our delight) to write full time in 1990.

The R.A. Salvatore Collection has been established at his alma mater, Fitchburg State College in Fitchburg, Massachusetts, containing the writer's letters, manuscripts, and other professional papers. He is in good company, as The Salvatore Collection is situated alongside The Robert Cormier Library, which celebrates the writing career of the co-alum and esteemed author of young adult books.

Salvatore is an active member of his community and is on the board of trustees at the local library in Leominster, Massachusetts. He has participated in several American Library Association regional conferences, giving talks on themes including "Adventure fantasy" and "Why young adults read fantasy." Salvatore himself enjoys a broad range of literary writers including James Joyce, Mark Twain, Geoffrey Chaucer, Shakespeare, Dante, and Sartre. He counts among his favorite genre literary influences Ian Fleming, Arthur Conan Doyle, Fritz Leiber, and of course, J.R.R. Tolkien.

Born in 1959, Salvatore is a native of Massachusetts and resides there with his wife Diane, and their three children, Bryan, Geno, and Caitlin. The family pets include three Japanese Chins, Oliver, Artemis and Ivan, and four cats including Guenhwyvar.

When he isn't writing, Salvatore chases after his three Japanese Chins, takes long walks, hits the gym, and coaches/plays on a fun-league softball team that includes most of his family. His gaming group still meets on Sundays to play.

In the first of this 2 part episode we talk with Master of Fantasy Fiction R. A. Salvatore. From the creation of his iconic character Drizzt Do'Urden, taking readers on a journey of character development, what it means to work in an existing shared fantasy universe, and so much more. Join us tomorrow as we do a deep dive on world building.

As one of the fantasy genre's most successful authors, R.A. Salvatore enjoys an ever-expanding and tremendously loyal following.

His books regularly appear on The New York Times best-seller lists and have sold more than 30,000,000 copies. Salvatore’s most recent original hardcover, The Two Swords, Book III of The Hunter’s Blade Trilogy (October 2004) debuted at # 1 on The Wall Street Journal best-seller list and at # 4 on The New York Times best-seller list. His books have been translated into numerous foreign languages including German, Italian, Finnish, Greek, Hungarian, Turkish, Croatian, Bulgarian, Yiddish, Spanish, Russian, Polish, Czech, and French.

Salvatore's first published novel, The Crystal Shard from TSR in 1988, became the first volume of the acclaimed Icewind Dale Trilogy and introduced an enormously popular character, the dark elf Drizzt Do'Urden. Since that time, Salvatore has published numerous novels for each of his signature multi-volume series including The Dark Elf Trilogy, Paths of Darkness, The Hunter's Blades Trilogy, and The Cleric Quintet.

His love affair with fantasy, and with literature in general, began during his sophomore year of college when he was given a copy of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings as a Christmas gift. He promptly changed his major from computer science to journalism. He received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Communications from Fitchburg State College in 1981, then returned for the degree he always cherished, the Bachelor of Arts in English. He began writing seriously in 1982, penning the manuscript that would become Echoes of the Fourth Magic. Salvatore held many jobs during those first years as a writer, finally settling in (much to our delight) to write full time in 1990.

The R.A. Salvatore Collection has been established at his alma mater, Fitchburg State College in Fitchburg, Massachusetts, containing the writer's letters, manuscripts, and other professional papers. He is in good company, as The Salvatore Collection is situated alongside The Robert Cormier Library, which celebrates the writing career of the co-alum and esteemed author of young adult books.

Salvatore is an active member of his community and is on the board of trustees at the local library in Leominster, Massachusetts. He has participated in several American Library Association regional conferences, giving talks on themes including "Adventure fantasy" and "Why young adults read fantasy." Salvatore himself enjoys a broad range of literary writers including James Joyce, Mark Twain, Geoffrey Chaucer, Shakespeare, Dante, and Sartre. He counts among his favorite genre literary influences Ian Fleming, Arthur Conan Doyle, Fritz Leiber, and of course, J.R.R. Tolkien.

Born in 1959, Salvatore is a native of Massachusetts and resides there with his wife Diane, and their three children, Bryan, Geno, and Caitlin. The family pets include three Japanese Chins, Oliver, Artemis and Ivan, and four cats including Guenhwyvar.

When he isn't writing, Salvatore chases after his three Japanese Chins, takes long walks, hits the gym, and coaches/plays on a fun-league softball team that includes most of his family. His gaming group still meets on Sundays to play.