The Story Craft Cafe Podcast

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.

Historical Crime and Speculative Fiction With T. A. Willberg | SCC 90

Marion Lane and the Raven's Revenge: A Novel (A Marion Lane Mystery Book 3)
T.A. Willberg grew up on a small-holding in South Africa. At 27, she moved to Malta and wrote her debut novel, MARION LANE AND THE MIDNIGHT MURDER which was named one of Amazon's "100 Best Books of 2021" as well as a Strand "Book of the Month", a Library Reads pick and many more. It has also been translated into multiple languages. The sequel, MARION LANE AND THE DEADLY ROSE, was published around the world in February, 2022 and was featured in The New York Times Book Review. T.A. now lives between Europe and South Africa, chasing summers and adventures.
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.

Low Country Summer Beach Reads With Victoria Benton Frank | SCC 89

My Magnolia Summer: A Novel
MY MAGNOLIA SUMMER is full of humor, fun, romance, and recipes guaranteed to make your mouth water. Most importantly, it’s a story about the bond of family and the strength of women. Everyone knows that when the three generations of South Carolina women join forces—the family pillar Gran, troubled Lily, impulsive Violet, and redoubtable Maggie—anything is possible. 
Victoria Benton Frank makes her home just outside of Charleston, South Carolina. A graduate of the College of Charleston and the French Culinary Institute, married to a chef, and mother of two little hurricanes, her book is alive with lived experience and love for the land of her ancestors.
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.

Author Double Header With Deepa Varadarajan And Christina Dodd | SCC 88

Late Bloomers: A Novel
Deepa Varadarajan lives in Atlanta with her husband and two children. She is a legal academic and a graduate of Yale Law School. She grew up in Texas and received her BA from the University of Texas at Austin. Her short fiction has appeared in The Georgia Review and Colorado Review, and her legal scholarship has appeared in The Yale Law Journal and many other publications. Late Bloomers is her first novel.
In our second segment we welcome Christina Dodd
Forget What You Know: A Novel
Readers become writers, and Christina Dodd has always been a reader. She reads everything, but because she loves humor, she likes romance best.
A woman wants things like world peace, a clean house, and a deep and meaningful relationship based on mutual understanding and love. A man wants things like a Craftsman router with attachments, undisputed control of the TV remote, and a red Corvette which will miraculously make his bald spot disappear. So when Christina’s first daughter was born, she told her husband she was going to quit work and write a book. It was a good time to start a new career, because how much trouble could one little infant be?
Ha! It took ten years, two children and three completed manuscripts before her first novel, CANDLE IN THE WINDOW, was published. In the thirty-two years since, her novels have been translated into 25 languages, won Romance Writers of America’s prestigious Golden Heart and RITA Awards and been called the year’s best by Library Journal and Booklist. Christina Dodd herself has been a clue in the Los Angeles Times crossword puzzle (11/18/05, # 13 Down: Romance Novelist named Christina.) Her mother was thrilled! With more than 15 million of her books in print, Booklist praises her, “brilliantly etched characters, polished writing, and unexpected flashes of sharp humor that are pure Dodd.”
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.

The Current State Of Fantasy With Stephen Aryan | SCC 87

The Judas Blossom: Book I of The Nightingale and the Falcon
Stephen Aryan was born in Iran in 1977 and raised in Whitley Bay, on the north east coast of the UK. He has been reading fantasy since a very young age. It started with books by David Eddings, Tolkien, C.S Lewis, Terry Brooks, Ursula le Guin, Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman and later David Gemmell, who had a huge influence on his work.
After graduating university in 1999 he started working in marketing. Around this time he also started submitting his first fantasy novel to agents.
In 2013, he submitted his latest novel, Battlemage, to Juliet Mushens. It took Stephen a long time and many struggles to get this far. You can read the full story on a two part blog he wrote called How I Found an Agent Part 1, and How I Found an Agent Part 2.
In 2014, Battlemage, was snatched up by Orbit books and subsequently published in 2015. It went on to be published in France, Germany and Russia and was a finalist for the David Gemmell Morningstar Award for best debut fantasy novel. Battlemage went on to win the inaugural Hellfest Inferno Award in France after a public vote. The sequels, Bloodmage, and Chaosmage were both published in 2016, completing the Age of Darkness trilogy.
In 2017 he published Mageborn, the first in a new trilogy, the Age of Dread, with Orbit books. This followed on from his first trilogy, with the return of fan-favourite characters and many new faces. The sequels, Magefall and Magebane were published in 2018 and 2019 respectively, wrapping up his second trilogy.
In 2018 he also published Of Gods and Men with Orbit, a digital and audio novella which served as a prequel to Battlemage.
In 2020 Stephen was picked up for a new duology by Angry Robot Books. The story is set in a brand new world. The first novel, The Coward, was published in June 2021 and it received a Starred Review from Publishers Weekly. The sequel, The Warrior, was published in August 2022.
In 2022, Angry Robot signed The Judas Blossom, the first instalment in a Persian inspired fantasy trilogy, from Stephen. The first book will be published on 11th July 2023. The Judas Blossom has been described as an “imaginative and sprawling reimagining of the Mongol Empire’s invasion of Persia” following the lives of four characters at the centre of the war. It is an examination of Persian culture, family and war in a stunning, immersive world. 
Stephen lives in the West Midlands with his partner and two cats. When he’s not writing novels or podcasting, he can be found drinking real ale, reading books or watching TV.
Stephen is represented by Juliet Mushens of the Mushens Entertainment agency.
You can find him on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram.
https://twitter.com/SteveAryan
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.

Writing Antiheroes That You Hate To Love With Caroline Kepnes | SCC 86

For You and Only You: A Joe Goldberg Novel
Caroline Kepnes is the New York Times bestselling author of You, Hidden Bodies, Providence and You Love Me. Her work has been translated into a multitude of languages and inspired a television series adaptation of You, currently on Netflix. Kepnes graduated from Brown University and then worked as a pop culture journalist for Entertainment Weekly and a TV writer for 7th Heaven and The Secret Life of the American Teenager. She grew up in Cape Cod, and now lives in Los Angeles.
https://youtube.com/live/sRyVLrq1iJY
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.