The Story Craft Cafe Podcast

Thriller Double Header With Don Winslow and Taylor Adams | SCC 80

On today's show we have a special treat for you, a double header of interviews with two of the most creative thriller writers in publishing, Don Winslow and Taylor Adams. Be sure to join us at storycraft.cafe to stay informed about all upcoming shows!
 

What to do with your finished book | Publishing in 2023 | SCC 79

You've finished your manuscript and now what? In 2023 writers have more options than ever to get their stories out to the world. Trad pub, indie, hybrid... they're all legitimate ways to publish, and our panel is going to talk about those, and attempt to shed some light on the realities of publishing in 2023.

Finishing your book and preparing for your follow-up | SCC 78

When editing your book, how do you know when It's "finished"? In the writer's eyes, is a story ever truly finished? How do you lovingly close this project and how do you start thinking about what you'll follow it up with? We'll talk about all of it this week.
 

Writing Morally Complicated Characters With Don Winslow | SCC 77

DON WINSLOW is the author of twenty-three acclaimed, award-winning international bestsellers, including six New York Times bestsellers (Savages, The Kings of Cool, The Cartel, The Force, The Border and City on Fire). Savages was made into a feature film by three-time Oscar- winning writer-director Oliver Stone and a screenplay by Shane Salerno, Winslow and Stone. Winslow's epic Cartel trilogy has been adapted for TV and will appear as a weekly series on FX in 2023. The Force is soon to be a major motion picture from 20th Century Studios starring Matt Damon with James Mangold directing from a Scott Frank screenplay. Additional Winslow books are currently in development at Netflix, Warner Brothers, Sony and Working Title and he has recently written a series of acclaimed short stories for Audible narrated by four-time Oscar nominee Ed Harris.

Writing Rules And Knowing When To Break Them | SCC 76

Read any how-to book on writing and you'll get that author's ideas about what makes the perfect story. Pick up another guide and you might find information that contradicts what the first author told you. Who's right? Aren't the rules of storytelling set in stone? The answer is a firm "sometimes". On this week's episode we're going to talk about the rules of story telling and knowing when and how to break them if necessary.

Becoming An Authorpreneur With Tonya Kappes | SCC 75

Amazon All Star Author Tonya Kappes has written more than 175 southern cozy mysteries, all of which have graced numerous bestseller lists, including USA Today and Woman's World Book Club pick twice . Best known for stories charged with southern charm, emotion and humor and filled with flawed characters, her novels have garnered reader praise and glowing critical reviews. She lives with her husband in northern Kentucky. Now that her four boys have flown out of the nest, Tonya writes full-time in her camper!
You can find her all over social media and at Tonyakappes.com.

Finding and repairing plot holes | SCC 74

When reading back over that first draft what happens when you encounter that dreaded plot hole. Pin sized plot holes are one thing, and hopefully easily resolved, but what happens when you could fly a 747 through the center of your plot? 

Grant Faulkner Talks About Building Community Around Your Writing Passion | SCC 73

Grant Faulkner is the Executive Director of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) and the co-founder of 100 Word Story. He has published two books on writing, Pep Talks for Writers: 52 Insights and Actions to Boost Your Creative Mojo, and Brave the Page, a teen writing guide. He’s also published All the Comfort Sin Can Provide, a collection of short stories, Fissures, a collection of 100-word stories, and Nothing Short of 100: Selected Tales from 100 Word Story. His stories have appeared in dozens of literary magazines, including Tin House, The Southwest Review, and The Gettysburg Review, and he has been anthologized in collections such as Norton’s New Micro: Exceptionally Short Fiction and Best Small Fictions. His essays on creativity have been published in The New York Times, Poets & Writers, Lit Hub, Writer’s Digest, and The Writer. He serves on the National Writing Project’s Writer’s Council, Lit Camp’s Advisory Council, and Aspen Words’ Creative Council. He’s also the co-host of the podcast Write-minded.

Editing In The Context Of A Series... Or How Does This Piece Fit? | SCC 72

We've talked about characters, and we've plumbed the depths of plot, but what if the story you're telling is actually one piece of a bigger puzzle, a series? How does editing in light of a series differ from sanding off the rough edges of a standalone story? When is it appropriate to start building a series bible? How do you keep characters consistent, yet growing from one part of the series to the next? We'll debate the finer points this week with special guest Richard Fox.

Series Characters That Readers Become Attached To With Mark Greaney | SCC 71

Mark Greaney has a degree in international relations and political science. In his research for the Gray Man novels, including Sierra Six, Relentless, One Minute Out, Mission Critical, Agent in Place, Gunmetal Gray, Back Blast, Dead Eye, Ballistic, On Target, and The Gray Man, he traveled to more than thirty-five countries and trained alongside military and law enforcement in the use of firearms, battlefield medicine, and close-range combative tactics. With Marine LtCol Rip Rawlings, he wrote the New York Times bestseller, Red Metal. He is also the author of the New York Times bestsellers Tom Clancy Support and Defend, Tom Clancy Full Force and Effect, Tom Clancy Commander in Chief, and Tom Clancy True Faith and Allegiance. With Tom Clancy, he coauthored Locked On, Threat Vector, and Command Authority.