Caroline Cleveland credits growing up in the rural South and its quieter way of life for her lifelong passion for books and storytelling. Her dedication to the written word led her to law school at the University of South Carolina, where she earned her degree in 1991. She is certified by the South Carolina Supreme Court as a specialist in labor and employment law and is the founding partner of Cleveland & Conley, LLC. Her debut novel, When Cicadas Cry, about a high-profile murder case in a small South Carolina town rife with racial tension, will be published by Union Square Publishing on May 7, 2024.

Among other things, Caroline and Carter discuss the Murdaugh family, writing unreliable narrators, and how legal experience and connections can influence writing novels. At the end of their conversation, they make up a suspenseful and captivating story using a line from Hot Springs by Stephen Hunter.

Diego Báez is a writer and educator. He is the author of Yaguareté White, a finalist for the Georgia Poetry Prize and a semifinalist for the Berkshire Prize for Poetry. A fellow at CantoMundo, the Surge Institute, and the Poetry Foundation’s Incubator for Community-Engaged Poets, Báez has served on the boards of the National Book Critics Circle, the International David Foster Wallace Society, and Families Together Co-operative Nursery School. His poems, book reviews, and essays have appeared online and in print.

Among other things, Diego and Carter discuss how music can inspire poetry, knowing who to listen to and trust when getting feedback, and compiling a collection of poetry in a methodical way. At the end of their conversation, they make up an intriguing science-fiction story using a line from Stardust by Neil Gaiman. 

Jeff Hoffmann quit his job at the age of 47 to return to college for his MFA, and his first novel, Other People’s Children, emerged from that decision. His second novel, Like It Never Happened, was just released in March 2024. In addition to his two novels, Jeff’s writing has been published in The Sun, Booth, Harpur Palate, and Publishers Weekly. He was the winner of the Madison Review’s Chris O’Malley Prize in Fiction and a finalist for the Missouri Review’s Jeffrey E. Smith Editor’s Prize.

Among other things, Jeff and Carter discuss shifting trends in the publishing industry, separating yourself from a business/academic mindset when writing, and the positive side of reading reviews. At the end of their conversation, they make up a chilling story using a line from The Fireballer by Mark Stevens.

Peg Tyre is director of strategy at the Edwin Gould Foundation in New York City. In addition to her two creative fiction novels that have recently been republished, Tyre has written about education for The New York Times, Politico, The Atlantic, and more. She has been a finalist for the National Magazine Award and is the author of two critically acclaimed books on education, one of which is a New York Times bestseller. She has a bachelor’s from Brown University and was a Spencer fellow at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

Among other things, Peg and Carter discuss working in the journalism industry before and after the rise of the Internet, writing flawed characters, and looking back on and reflecting on the process of republishing old novels. At the end of their conversation they make up a fast-paced and thrilling story using a sentence from The Wedding Party by L.R. Jones.

Araminta Hall began her career in journalism as a staff writer on teen magazine Bliss, becoming Health and Beauty editor of New Woman. She wrote regular features for the Mirror’s Saturday supplement and ghost wrote supermodel Caprice’s column. She has a MA in creative writing and authorship from the University of Sussex, and teaches creative writing at New Writing South in Brighton. She’s the author of Our Kind of Cruelty, which was named a best book of 2018 by CrimeReads and Real Simple, along with five other novels including her newest novel One of the Good Guys.

Among other things, Araminta and Carter discuss having social media as an author, the unpredictability of the writing world, and why so many people struggle trying to get into, and stay in, the writing industry. At the end of their conversation, they make up a suspenseful and funny story using a sentence from Araminta’s own One of the Good Guys.

Joe Lansdale has written novels in many genres, including Western, horror, science fiction, and mystery, and has written for comics such as “Batman: The Animated Series.” As of 2020, he had written 50 novels and published more than 30 short-story collections. He has won ten Bram Stoker Awards, a British Fantasy Award, an Edgar Award, and more, and has been inducted into The Texas Literary Hall of Fame.

Kasey Lansdale is a country blues singer and songwriter, an actress, and an author. Lansdale was first published at the age of eight by Random House, and is the author of several short stories and novellas. Recently she has been collaborating with her father on a collection of short stories.

Among other things, Joe, Kasey, and Carter discuss writing together as a father and daughter, how to collaborate as an author, and future independent projects. At the end of their conversation, they make up a comedic and short story using a sentence from True Evil by Greg Iles.

L.R. Jones, or Lisa Renee Jones, is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author. Her dark, edgy fiction includes the novels You Look Beautiful Tonight, The Poet, A Perfect Lie, and the Lilah Love series. Prior to publishing, Lisa owned a multistate staffing agency recognized by the Austin Business Journal and was #7 in Entrepreneur magazine’s list of growing women-owned businesses.

Among other things, Lisa and Carter discuss being parents to golden retrievers, the differences between writing romance and writing thrillers, and publishing and editing complications. At the end of their conversation, they make up a dark and suspenseful story using a sentence from You Always Come Back by Emily Smith.

Audrey Gale is the author of the new release, The Human Trial. After twenty-plus years in the banking industry, Audrey pursued her master’s in fiction writing at the University of Southern California. Her first novel, a legal thriller entitled The Sausage Maker’s Daughters, was published under the name A.G.S. Johnson. Her second, The Human Trial, is the first book in a medical-thriller trilogy inspired by Gale’s own experiences with the gap between traditional medicine and approaches based on the findings of the great physicists of the 20th Century. 

Among other things, Audrey and Carter discuss writing stories as a child, navigating imposter syndrome as a new author, and the necessity of doing research in different academic/career fields for a book, even when writing fiction. At the end of their conversation, they make up a hilarious and twisted story using a sentence from Darcy Coates’s From Below.