The Story Craft Cafe Podcast

Taking Storytelling Into The Future With John Romero | SCC 100

Doom Guy: Life in First Person
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The inspiring autobiography of video game designer and DOOM cocreator John Romero
Doom Guy: Life in First Person is the long-awaited autobiography of gaming’s original rock star and the cocreator of DOOM, Quake, and Wolfenstein—some of the most recognizable and important titles in video game history. Credited with the invention of the first-person shooter, a genre that continues to dominate the market today, he is gaming royalty.
Told in remarkable detail, a byproduct of his hyperthymesia, Romero recounts his storied career—from his early days submitting Apple II code to computer magazines and sneaking computers out of the back door of his day job to do programming projects at night in his garage to a high-profile falling out with his id Software cofounder John Carmack, as well as his continued role in the gaming industry today as the managing director of Romero Games Ltd.
His story is truly one of a self-made man, founding multiple companies after a childhood filled with violence and abuse drove him to video game design where he could create new worlds and places to escape to. An alcoholic father, a racist grandfather who did not approve of Romero’s parents’ mixed-race coupling, and a grandmother who once ran a brothel in Mexico combine for an illuminating story of his youth—a story that has never before been revealed.
After years in the gaming spotlight, Romero is now telling his story—the whole story—in his own words.
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Horror and Suspense Mashups with Josh Winning | SCC 99

Burn the Negative
Josh Winning is a nostalgia nut, book/film lover and author of The Shadow Glass, The Times’s Book of the Month, which is perfect for fans of Henson Company puppet classics Labyrinth and The Dark Crystal, and The NeverEnding Story.
He is senior film writer at Radio Times, has written for Total Film magazine for over a decade, and is the co-host of movie podcast Torn Stubs. He has been on set with Kermit the Frog (and Miss Piggy), devoured breakfast with zombies on The Walking Dead, and sat on the Iron Throne on the Dublin set of Game of Thrones.
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Writing Fast Paced Slow Burns With Dwyer Murphy | SCC 98

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The Stolen Coast: A Novel
Dwyer Murphy is the author of An Honest Living, a New York Times Editors’ Choice selection, and the editor-in-chief of CrimeReads, Literary Hub’s crime fiction vertical and the world’s most popular destination for thriller readers. He practiced law at Debevoise & Plimpton in New York City, where he was a litigator, and served as editor of the Columbia Law Review. He was previously an Emerging Writer Fellow at the Center for Fiction.
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Mysteries With Humor With Elle Cosimano | SCC 97

Finlay Donovan Jumps the Gun: A Novel (The Finlay Donovan Series, 3)
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Elle Cosimano is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author, an International Thriller Award winner, a Bram Stoker Award finalist, and an Edgar® Award nominee. Her acclaimed young adult novels include Nearly Gone, Holding Smoke, The Suffering Tree, and Seasons of the Storm. Elle’s debut novel for adults, Finlay Donovan Is Killing It, kicked off a witty, fast-paced contemporary mystery series, which was a PEOPLE Magazine Pick and was named one of New York Public Library's Best Books of 2021. In addition to writing novels for teens and adults, her essays have appeared in The Huffington Post and Time. Elle lives with her husband and two sons in Virginia.
https://www.ellecosimano.com/
https://www.facebook.com/ellecosimano/
https://www.instagram.com/ellecosimano/
https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B00E6M2074/allbooks?ingress=0&visitId=af52645a-8f97-4777-a5d9-526f9b3f82b5
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Tightly Plotted Suspense With David Bell | SCC 96

Try Not to Breathe
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David Bell burst onto the scene in 2011 with his first (now beloved) novel Cemetery Girl, which won the Prix Polar International de Cognac, a prestigious award for crime writing and has continued to publish some of the most well-received thrillers in the genre. His 2021 novel Kill Your Darlings was nominated for the illustrious Edgar Award. Praised by fellow thriller authors such as May Cobb, Liv Constantine, and Samantha Downing, David Bell is the go-to thriller writer for gripping domestic suspense.
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Darkly Comedic Family Fiction With Beth Raymer | SCC 95

Fireworks Every Night: A Novel
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A young woman trapped in a deeply dysfunctional family in the seedy wilds of 1990s South Florida has to make a choice—save her family, or save herself—in this larger-than-life debut novel from the acclaimed author of Lay the Favorite (a memoir about Raymer’s years in Las Vegas and her work in the sports betting industry, which was made into a feature film directed by Stephen Frears and starring Rebecca Hall and Bruce Willis).
In Beth Raymer’s FIREWORKS EVERY NIGHT (Random House, on-sale 6/27) we meet twelve-year-old CC (named after her father’s beloved Canadian Club whiskey), an unforgettable protagonist who narrates her life story with dark comedy and compassion for her family, even as her parents “opt out of parenthood” as well as society.
CC’s father is a born grifter, a used-car salesman who burns down his dealership in southern Ohio for enough insurance money to set up a life for himself, his wife, and his two young daughters in a place he picks largely at random, because the living seems easy. CC’s mother is thirty-five going on seventeen, a housewife who just wants to drive a Mustang and hang out at the mall. CC’s big sister Lorraine goes from loving Debbie Gibson and jelly shoes to having a full-on drug addiction and listening only to heavy metal, after enduring forms of abuse within her family. In the midst of this dysfunction, CC is trying to stay afloat and make it out—to achieve some semblance of a stable life while coming up against the structural and cultural challenges of growing up in poverty.
While a work of fiction, Raymer’s novel is very much drawn from real life. Hers is a unique voice telling a story with a lot of darkness, but also with incredibly comedy, compassion, and heart.  For even as CC is a young woman failed by most of those around her, she still is a character determined to succeed, and one who refuses to disavow the place and people she came from.  And while her story is harrowing, I think you will also find it surprisingly poignant.

Turning Crime Fiction On Its Head With Clemence Michallon | SCC 94

The Quiet Tenant: A novel
CLÉMENCE MICHALLON was born and raised near Paris. She studied journalism at City University of London, received a master's in Journalism from Columbia University, and has written for The Independent since 2018. Her essays and features have covered true-crime, celebrity culture, and literature. She moved to New York City in 2014 and recently became a US citizen. She now divides her time between New York City and Rhinebeck, NY.
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Celebrating Individuality with Holly Smale | SCC 93

Cassandra in Reverse: A Reese's Book Club Pick
Holly Smale is the Number One bestselling, multi-award winning author of the GEEK GIRL series.
She fell in love with writing at five years old, when she realised that books didn't grow on trees like apples. A passion for travel, adventure and wearing no shoes has since led her all over the world: she has visited 27 countries, spent two years working as an English teacher in Japan, volunteered in Nepal, been bartered for in Jamaica and had a number of ear-plugs stolen in Australia, Indonesia and India.
Holly has a BA in English Literature, an MA in Shakespeare, and currently lives in London or at @holsmale.
The GEEK GIRL series has been an internationally bestselling no1. smash-hit. It won the Waterstones Teen Prize of the Year and the Leeds book award, was shortlisted for the Roald Dahl Funny Prize and the Branford Boase award, and was long-listed for the Carnegie.
When you click a link on our site, it might just be a magical portal (aka an affiliate link). We're passionate about only sharing the treasures we truly believe in. Every purchase made from our links not only supports Dabble but also the marvelous authors and creators we showcase, at no additional cost to you.

Stories Ripped From The Headlines With Alex Marwood | SCC 92

The Island of Lost Girls: A Novel
Alex Marwood is the pseudonym of a former journalist who has worked extensively in the British press. She is the author of the word-of-mouth sensation The Wicked Girls, which won the Edgar Award for Best Paperback Original; The Killer Next Door, which won a Macavity Award for Best Mystery Novel; The Darkest Secret; and The Poison Garden. Her novels have been shortlisted for numerous crime writing awards and been optioned for the screen. She lives in south London.
When you click a link on our site, it might just be a magical portal (aka an affiliate link). We're passionate about only sharing the treasures we truly believe in. Every purchase made from our links not only supports Dabble but also the marvelous authors and creators we showcase, at no additional cost to you.

Healing Through Storytelling with Matthew Quick | SCC 91

We Are the Light: A Novel
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, including We Are the Light, a #1 Indie Next Pick and a Book of the Month selection. 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, a #1 bestseller in Brazil, a Deutscher Jugendliteratur Preis 2016 (German Youth Literature Prize) nominee, and selected by Nancy Pearl as one of Summer’s Best Books for NPR. The Hollywood Reporter has named him one of Hollywood’s 25 Most Powerful Authors. Matthew lives with his wife, the novelist Alicia Bessette, on North Carolina’s Outer Banks.
https://matthewquickwriter.com/
https://matthewquick.substack.com/
When you click a link on our site, it might just be a magical portal (aka an affiliate link). We're passionate about only sharing the treasures we truly believe in. Every purchase made from our links not only supports Dabble but also the marvelous authors and creators we showcase, at no additional cost to you.