Ted is joined by Lauren Wilkinson, whose debut novel, American Spy, was a Washington Post bestseller, an NAACP Image Award nominee, an Anthony Award nominee, and an Edgar Award nominee. President Obama also included it on his 2019 Recommended Reading List, a fact that continues to fill Ted with no small amount of envy. Lauren’s work in progress is a classic whodunit murder mystery set in the present and featuring a Black woman who is a social media influencer as the detective. With this novel, Lauren aims to both follow the beats characteristic of the genre and subvert some of those expectations in the third act. Or at least that’s the plan at the moment. She just started writing this book in the last few months and is therefore still seeing how it takes shape. In addition to talking about her vision for the story, Lauren and Ted discussed the importance (and the challenge) of getting a novel’s first 50 pages right, those expected beats of murder mysteries, how her recent work as a TV writer is influencing her approach, and using your writing to shed light on issues beyond your pages. Find Lauren Online Website: lauren-wilkinson.comWorking Drafts episodes and info for requesting transcripts as well as more details about Ted and his books are available on his website, thetedfox.com.