Welcome to the Episode 124 How Matthew Quick Writes  Matthew Quick is the New York Times bestselling author of The Silver Linings Playbook—which was made into an Oscar-winning film—and eight other novels. His work has been translated into more than thirty languages, received a PEN/Hemingway Award Honorable Mention, was an LA Times Book Prize finalist, a New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice, and many more awards & accolades.  Matthew lives with his wife, the novelist Alicia Bessette,...

Welcome to Episode 123 - How Deanna Raybourn Writes Deanna Raybourn is a 6th-generation native Texan.  Her novels have been nominated for numerous awards including two RT Reviewers’ Choice awards, the Agatha, and most recently the 2019 Edgar Award for Best Novel. She launched a new Victorian mystery series with the 2015 release of A CURIOUS BEGINNING, featuring intrepid butterfly-hunter and amateur sleuth, Veronica Speedwell. Veronica has returned in several more adventures, most recently AN...

Welcome to Episode 122 - How Mur Lafferty Writes Mur is a podcaster and writer from Durham, NC. She made her name with podcasting (I Should Be Writing, The Angry Robot Podcast, and Escape Pod, the premier SF podcast magazine) and has written for magazines, roleplaying games, and audio and video podcasts. In 2018 Mur was a Hugo, Nebula, Philip K. Dick, Manly Wade Wellman Best Novel nominee for Six Wakes. Her latest novel, Station Eternity (The Midsolar Murders Book 1), was published on...

Welcome to Episode 121 How Alexandra Rowland Writes Alexandra is the author of several fantasy books, including A Conspiracy Of Truths, A Choir Of Lies, and Some by Virtue Fall, as well as a cohost of the Hugo Award-nominated podcast, Be the Serpent. Alexandra holds a degree in world literature, mythology, and folklore from Truman State University.  Here is the episode with Alexandra Rowland Support the show

Welcome to Episode 120 - How Alexis Henderson Writes Alexis is a speculative fiction writer with a penchant for dark fantasy, witchcraft, and cosmic horror. She grew up in one of America’s most haunted cities, Savannah, Georgia, which instilled in her a life-long love of ghost stories.  And now here's episode 120 with Alexis Henderson Support the show

Welcome to Episode 119 - How Jamie Ford Writes In this episode, Jamie and I dive into my current favorite topic - writing and reading dystopia. Jamie and I ponder what pulls us into dystopia, and whether or not our generations are more drawn to the genre. We also chop up themes, and how a writer can get to know themselves. We cover a ton of ground in this one. I want to take a quick minute to say thank you to Jamie for the interview. I had a blast. And now, here is episode 119 with Jamie...

Welcome to the How Writers Write Podcast. I am your host, Brian, and today's guest is Belinda Huijuan Tang.  Belinda is a 2021 graduate of the Iowa Writers' Workshop, where she was a Truman Capote Fellow and recipient of the Michener-Copernicus Fellowship. She holds a BA from Stanford University and was a 2019 work-study fellow at the Middlebury Bread Loaf Writers' Conference. Her debut novel, "A Map for the Missing" was just published on August 9th, 2022.  Support the show

Welcome to Episode 117 - How Zoe Sivak Writes Welcome my friends to a fun, power-packed episode with Zoe Sivak.  Zoe Sivak aims to restore diversity to historical narratives. In her writing, she explores famous male figures through the lens of the women beside them–women who could have existed, even if history left them behind.  Zoe's debut novel, MADEMOISELLE REVOLUTION, was just published on August 2, 2022. When not engrossed in historical research, Zoe is pursuing both her Juris Doctorate...

Welcome to episode 116 - How Mark Tufo Writes Mark is an author, former Marine, and father. Mark is the author of multiple series, including the wildly popular Zombie Fallout novels. Mark's books are generally written in a first-person narrative style and crossover into several genres including horror, science fiction, and comedy.  Mark's upcoming release, "Zombie Fallout 18" will be released on August 16, 2022, in the United States. Support the show

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Welcome to episode 114 - How Jennifer Probst Writes Jennifer is the NYT, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of sexy and erotic contemporary romance. Her book, The Marriage Bargain, spent 26 weeks on the NY Times best sellers list. Her work has been translated in over a dozen countries, sold over a million copies, and was dubbed a "romance phenom" by Kirkus Reviews.  Jenn's newest novel, Meant to Be, which is the first novel in the "Twist of Fate" series, is out now, with a...

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We're back with Episode 112 - How Janet Burroway Writes  Janet Burroway is the author of eight novels as well as short fiction, plays, poetry, essays, texts for dance, and children's books.  She is also the author of "Writing Fiction: A Guide to Narrative Craft (tenth edition)," which is the one of the most widely used creative writing text in America, as well as her multi-genre Imaginative Writing is out in a fourth edition.  Support the show

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Welcome to Episode 111, How Deborah Halverson Writes After 110 episodes, I finally got to interview an author of one of the "For Dummies books." Mission. Accomplish. Among many other craft books and novels, Deborah wrote the "Writing Young Adult Fiction For Dummies" guide, and in this episode, you can guess the topic we dove into. This is a fun interview with an absolute expert of writing and teaching fiction.  Thank you again to Deborah for her time. I'm always floored at how many authors...

Welcome to Episode 110 - How Jordan Rosenfeld Writes  Welcome, my friends, to a wonderful episode with Jordan Rosenfeld. Jordan is a writer, teacher, and coach, as well as the author of many craft writing books. I'm on a deep dive with authors who have also written craft books, and this episode will not disappoint. I'm just so interested in the people who are writing craft, practicing craft... just putting it all together.  I want to say thank you to Jordan for her time.  And now, my friends...

Welcome to episode 109, how Carole Lawrence Writes  I am so incredibly excited to be back! I took a few months off to rest, get moved, and let my life calm down a bit. And, for the most part, we've settled down into our new town of Charleston. I've laughed to myself that over the course of this podcast, I've lived in Brooklyn, Denver, an RV, and now Charleston. Here's to hoping for a long season in our new home.  I also want to take a quick second to thank all ya'll for the insane number of...

Welcome to episode 108 - How J. A. Jance Writes. Today's returning guest from episode 63 is JA Jance. J.A. Jance is the New York Times bestselling author of more than 60 novels, including the Ali Reynolds series, the J.P. Beaumont series, and the Joanna Brady series, as well as five interrelated Southwestern thrillers featuring the Walker family.  I want to take a moment to thank Judith for her time and for sharing so much with me.  And now, my friends here is episode 108 with J. A....

Welcome to episode 107 - How Maurice Ruffin Writes Maurice is the author of The Ones Who Don’t Say They Love You, which was published in August 2021. His first book, We Cast a Shadow, was a finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award, the Dayton Literary Peace Prize, and the PEN America Open Book Prize.  Ruffin is the winner of several literary prizes, including the Iowa Review Award in fiction. A New Orleans native, Ruffin is a professor of Creative Writing at Louisiana State University, and the...

Welcome to Episode 106 - How Rebecca Ross Writes Welcome welcome to a special episode with fantasy author Rebecca Ross. Rebecca and I dive into the difference between writing for teens and adults and her journey to becoming a storyteller. I'm also so excited to release this episode right as her novel, A River Enchanted, published this week. Congrats to Rebecca for a big week. And now, my friends here is the interview with Rebecca Ross. Support the show (http://www.howwriterswrite.com)

Welcome to episode 105 - How Matt Bell Writes Matt Bell penned one of my favorite novels of the past year, Appleseed, and so it is kinda like a pinch-me moment to interview Matt for the show. In this podcast, we dive into how to write poetic prose, how so much of the writing life is rewriting, and the list goes on and on. Matt is a master storyteller and educator. Someone who I could have interviewed for 3 hours and just barely scratched the surface.  On that note, I know there are tons of...

Welcome to episode 104 - How Patti Callahan Writes  This is the first website intro that I am recording from the comfort of our new home in Charleston, SC. I'm so excited to settle in here and explore this amazing part of the country.  I'm also so excited to share this interview with Patti Callahan. Patti is a best-selling author and overall storytelling master. You can hear the excitement in her voice as we dive deep into the existential roots of the story. This is an interview I'll cherish....

Welcome to episode 103 - How Fiona Davis Writes  Welcome my friends to a wonderful episode with best-selling historical author Fiona Davis. Join Fiona and I as we jump into what makes New York City just so amazing for writers, how she researches her novels, and how she designs her work. This is such a fun episode. Another one of those interviews that felt as if it ended right as it was getting started because I was having such a good time.  I want to take a moment to thank Fiona for her time....

Welcome to Episode 102 - How Thrity Umrigar Writes. I'm so excited to bring this episode to you, episode 102  with Thrity it's something special; in this episode, Thrity and I discussed all the parts of the writing life and you'll tell from the very beginning that she is somebody that is both, a Master storyteller, but also somebody who just deeply understands and loves and communicate so well, all these little pieces about what it takes to be a storyteller. I found myself again just kind of...