I am so excited to share this week's episode as each of these conversations was so much fun to record. Edan has been on the show before, but I wanted to have her back to talk about her love of writing difficult characters within the framework of her latest novel, Woman No. 17. Edan delights in creating tension by revealing her character's flaws for the reader's view and puts these characters in situations sure to highlight these flaws and bring them to a head. So many books create tension through plot and action, but the suspense in Edan's books is just as much about pushing flawed characters to their edge, all the while leaving us asking "Oh my god, what will they do now??"
Jim Butcher has written so many novels that I wouldn't be shocked to learn that he doesn't sleep at all. He admitted that he has trouble keeping track of the exact details of former books after having revised them numerous times, so he relies on his fanbase Wiki to keep track, a detail I found both charming and extremely practical. In addition, we dove into the beauty of throwing your characters into sticky situations and the necessity to write scenes so things go from bad to worse. This chat helped me feel much braver about putting my character into tough spots to see how she will navigate rocky territory.
I hope both these conversations inspire you to investigate the less savory corners of your story and take your books into riskier places. May we all send our characters down a dark alley, metaphorically, after taking both of these writers' advice!
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Moving from a Big 5 Publisher to a Smaller Press with Judith Lindbergh
Profit Equals Permission with Carl Richards
Attracting Your Best Readers with Billy Broas
The Cauldron of Emotional Soup with Erika Rasure
Working Together in a New Way with Heidi Fiedler
The Thriving Writer with Kern Carter
The Art of Money with Bari Tessler
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Writing Dreams for the Screen | AL Berggren
Children’s Book Publishing Now | Jo Loring-Fisher
The Emotions of Publication | Huma Qureshi
For the Publishing Reluctant Out There | Craig Mod
Writing a Sure Thing | Jennifer Herrera
The Shadow Side of Writing and Publishing | Joanna Penn
Writing for Right Now | Kerri Maher
When Librarians Get Murderous! | Laura Sims
Humor and Bittersweetness in Fiction | Steven Rowley
The Gifts of Writing | Caroline Donahue
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