Episodes
Charlie talks with Sarah about her new novel A Better World. They discuss ideal neighborhoods, suburban dystopia, family dynamics, writing about the future, ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances, an amazing book cover, and much more.
Published 04/15/24
Published 04/15/24
Charlie talks with Stephen about his latest novel You Only Call When You're in Trouble. They discuss openings, language choice, character driven novels, humor, adaptations to the stage and screen, architecture, and much more.
Published 04/01/24
Charlie talks with debut novelist Nina Simon about her breakout novel Mother Daughter Murder Night. They discuss writing mysteries, the natural world, mother daughter relationships, strong women characters, and how Nina came to write this book in the first place.
Published 03/14/24
Charlie talks with Hunter Harrell, Charlie Putnam, and Tanner Whicker, stars of the world premiere stage adaptation of his 2020 novel Escaping Dreamland about the process of bringing the characters of Magda, Tom, and Gene to life in the production produced by the Little Theatre of Winston-Salem.
Published 03/02/24
Charlie talks with Curtis Chin, author of Everything I Learned I Learned in a Chinese Restaurant about the immigrant experience, coming of age in Detroit in the 1980s, coming out in the 1980s, and food glorious food, Chinese style!
Published 02/18/24
Charlie talks with British mystery writer Janice Hallett about her novel The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels. They discuss writing in the documentary form, cold cases, religion, cults, classic mysteries, journalistic ethics, and much more.
Published 02/01/24
Charlie talks with Sunday Times bestselling author Jane Corry about her novel Coming to Find You. They discuss Devon, old houses, Frederic Leighton, prison, tabloid journalism, and much more about the art and craft of writing a mystery.
Published 01/15/24
Charlie talks with Virginia Kantra, author of the forthcoming novel The Fairytale Life of Dorothy Gale. They discuss classic children's books (from Oz to Narnia), the importance of setting, absent parents, the art of elegant exposition, metafictional irony, and much more.
Published 12/01/23
Charlie talks live with legendary actor Henry Winkler at a Bookmarks event about his new best-selling memoir Being Henry: The Fonz . . . And Beyond. They talk about dyslexia, Yale Drama School, TV and stage acting, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, behind the scenes stories, life lessons, and, of course, Arthur Fonzarelli.
Published 11/17/23
Charlie talks to debut novelist Dominic Lim about his queer romance All the Right Notes. They discuss Dominic's background in music and how music is woven throughout the novel, the incorporation of Filipino culture and particularly food, the state of queer fiction, playing piano at Marie's Crisis and more.
Published 10/31/23
Charlie talks with Julie Soto, fresh off her appearance at the 2023 Bookmarks Festival, about her new novel Forget Me Not. They talk about theatre, romance novels, wedding planning, Jane Austen, humor, donuts, and more.
Published 10/01/23
Ahead of her appearance at the 2023 Bookmarks Festival in Winston-Salem on September 23, Charlie talks to Megan Miranda about her novel, The Only Survivors. They discuss structuring a thriller, setting, writing about a tight group of characters, the impact of trauma, the book industry, and more.
Published 09/15/23
John Connolly joins Charlie all the way from Ireland to talk about The Land of Lost Things, the long awaited follow-up to his The Book of Lost Things. John will be at the 2023 Bookmarks Festival of Books and Authors in Winston-Salem. He and Charlie discuss fairy tales and folklore, ritual, the importance of books, paradox, humor, and much more.
Published 09/01/23
Charlie talks to UK mystery writer Alice Bell about her new novel Grave Expectations. They discuss Dickens, Agatha Christie, humor in murder mysteries, ghosts, chapter structure, police procedurals, and much more.
Published 08/15/23
Charlie talks with Dwyer Murphy about his new noir thriller The Stolen Coast. They discuss small town New England, the use of dialogue, basketball, the noir aesthetic, and the imagination that goes into planning a heist.
Published 08/01/23
Charlie talks with novelist Elizabeth Silver about her new book The Majority—inspired by the life of Ruth Bader Ginsberg. They talk about the intersection of law and narrative, choosing the moments to dramatize in a historical novel, the Holocaust, women's rights, and much more.
Published 07/15/23
Charlie talks with bestselling author J. Ryan Stradal about his new novel Saturday Night at the Lakeside Supper Club. They discuss midwestern novels, how to begin a novel, the structure of chapters, creating characters, and of course the culture of the supper club.
Published 04/15/23
Something a little different this episode, Charlie shares his "Thoughts on Scholarship" in the annual Roger Lancelyn Green lecture delivered on the occasion of the publication of his new biography of the author of Alice in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll: Formed by Faith. Charlie's groundbreaking religious biography of Carroll provides examples for his advice to researchers, historians, and scholars.
Published 04/01/23
Charlie talks with Laurell K. Hamilton, author of the Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter series about the latest installment, Smolder. They discuss the challenges of sustaining a series, creating a long-range character arc, the combination of hard boiled detective with paranormal, the importance of therapy, and more.
Published 03/15/23
Charlie talks with internationally best-selling author Steve Berry about his latest Cotton Malone adventure The Lost Kingdom. Steve talks about using history in a contemporary thriller and gives great advice on everything from starting chapters to using setting, researching historical figures, pacing a thriller and more.
Published 02/15/23
Charlie talks with Alice Kate Marshall about her new adult thriller What Lies in the Woods. They discuss writing characters at different ages, setting as a reflection of theme, finding voice and crafting point of view, writing for different audiences, magic, and much more.
Published 02/01/23
Charlie talks with bestselling author of thrillers, tv writer, and historian Brad Meltzer about his new book The Nazi Conspiracy—about a plot to assassinate Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin at the height of WWII. They discuss research, structure, storytelling, and the relevance of books like The Nazi Conspiracy to the world we live in today.
Published 01/15/23
Charlie talks with debut novelist Lauren Nossett about her new work of dark academia, The Resemblance. They discuss the genre as well as life on campus, Greek life, investigative techniques, writing prologues, and much more.
Published 11/15/22
Charlie chats with Australian best selling novelist Kate Forsyth about her latest historical novel, The Crimson Thread, set on Crete during the Nazi occupation. They discuss writing historical novels, ancient mythology, finding hidden WW II stories, and mush more.
Published 11/01/22