The Story Craft Cafe Podcast

Are you a plotter or a pantser? This is one of the biggest points of debate in the author community. Today we hear from Claire Fraise and get her personal insights into plotting, and how the Plot Grid helps her to envision her stories and keep them on track. 

Claire Fraise is the author of five ghostly thrillers. She won the Grand Prize at the 2023 Writer’s Digest Self-Published Book Awards and is active on her YouTube channel, whe...

Nick Cole has built a rabid fan base that eagerly await new releases from him. He and his partner pioneered a successful business plan that allows them to embrace the Amazon ecosystem while also maintaining independence from the corporate world and sell direct to their readers.

Nick Cole is a former soldier and working actor living in Southern California. When he is not auditioning for commercials, going out for sitcoms or being sh...

Josh Hayes continues our #IndieSummer campaign with a chat about formatting and page layout for Indie Authors. Presentation matters, and how you present your work can have a tremendous impact on how people experience your work. 

A retired police officer, Josh Hayes is the author of the Valor Trilogy, the Tranquility series w/ Devon C Ford, Stryker’s War (Galaxy’s Edge), and The Terra Nova Chronicles w/ Richard Fox, along with numer...

Jeff Brown has worked as a  science fiction and fantasy illustrator and cover designer since 2013. Jeff has designed covers for Tor, Scholastic, Penguin, Bloomsbury and many more.

He has worked on projects such as Eragon, The Devils, The Three-Body Problem, Malazan Book of the Fallen, Riftwar, The Lies of Locke Lamora, and The Dragonbone Chair.

Jeff has been a Dragon Award finalist in 2023 and 2024 for Best Illustrative Book Cover

Kicking off our #IndieSummer campaign is Michelle Hazen. Michelle Hazen is a nomad with a writing problem. Years ago, she and her husband ducked out of the 9 to 5 world and moved into their truck to become desert tortoise biologists. She found her voice with the support of the online fanfiction community, and once she started typing, she never looked back.

As a result, she has written most of her books in odd places, including a bu...

Many writers struggle with resistance—procrastination, perfectionism, writer’s block. Instead of writing, you find yourself scrolling social media, cleaning the kitchen, or calling your mom. You listen to a podcast and tell yourself, Hey, this is still productive, but deep down, you wish you were making your own art. Maybe you run an errand—something necessary, but not urgent—knowing you could have written instead. It feels like yo...

Claudia Gray is the pseudonym of Amy Vincent. She is the author of the Mr. Darcy and Miss Tilney Mysteries, which began with The Murder of Mr. Wickham. She is also the writer of multiple young adult novels, including the Evernight series, the Firebird trilogy, and the Constellation trilogy. In addition, she’s written several Star Wars novels, such as Lost Stars and Bloodline She and her husband, Paul, live in Turin, Italy, under th...

KILL YOUR DARLINGS (William Morrow; June 10, 2025) is New York Times bestselling author PETER SWANSON’s most ambitious novel yet. The book marries an evergreen hook—a terrible secret unravels a marriage—to a one-of-a-kind structure: this is a thriller told in reverse.

Swanson—a “master of suspense” (Crimereads) who specializes in psychological thrillers that subvert expectations—“never disappoints” (NPR). Critics call his novels “i...

In this episode we talk with New York Times Bestseller Jayne Ann Krentz about her long career in publishing, the importance of genre, meeting reader expectations, mixing popular genres, and so much more.

With over 50 New York Times bestsellers, Krentz is one of the forerunners of paranormal romance. She writes romantic thrillers, futuristic suspense, and historical mysteries under the Krentz, Castle, and Amanda Quick names, respect...

KIMBERLY BELLE is the Edgar Award nominated, USA Today and internationally bestselling author with more than one million copies sold worldwide, with titles including The Paris Widow, The Marriage Lie, a Goodreads Choice Awards semifinalist for Best Mystery & Thriller, and the co-authored #1 Audible Original, Young Rich Widows. Kimberly’s novels have been optioned for film and television and selected by LibraryReads and Amazon a...

Linwood Barclay, a New York Times bestselling author with twenty novels to his credit, spent three decades in newspapers before turning full time to writing thrillers. His books have been translated into more than two dozen languages, sold millions of copies, and he counts Stephen King among his fans. Many of his books have been optioned for film and TV, a series has been made in France, and he wrote the screenplay for the film bas...

Jenny Morris is a psychology researcher with a fascination in ethics, human behavior, and moral dilemmas. She writes high-concept crime novels that explore deep philosophical questions that started off as conversations with friends like, ‘How much would I have to pay you to eat a human toe?’ Jenny has completed the Faber Academy ‘Writing a Novel' six-month course, and has won short story contests in both Writing Magazine and Writer...

One of the world’s most prolific and successful writers, ANTHONY HOROWITZ may have committed more (fictional) murders than any other living author, working across all media formats, from books, to TV, film, plays, and journalism. In January 2022 he was awarded a CBE for his services to literature. He has written two highly acclaimed Sherlock Holmes novels, The House of Silk and Moriarty; three James Bond novels, Trigger Mortis, For...

What's a book coach? A book coach gives you editorial feedback, accountability, support, and marketplace intelligence while you write. We’re committed to helping you write the best book you can write — and to make it a little less lonely along the way. You know what a basketball coach does? A career coach? A leadership coach? Imagine that kind of oversight, nurturing, and guidance while you are writing a book.

Jennie Nash is the fo...

Michelle Hazen is a nomad with a writing problem. Years ago, she and her husband ducked out of the 9 to 5 world and moved into their truck to become desert tortoise biologists. She found her voice with the support of the online fanfiction community, and once she started typing, she never looked back.

As a result, she has written most of her books in odd places, including a bus in Thailand, an off-the-grid cabin in the Sawtooth Moun...

In a novel, pacing is everything. During this workshop, we’ll talk about story beats and how to use them correctly, followed by an introduction to the all-powerful micro-beat. Through video clips, I'll teach you how to identify the moments on screen that bring you to the edge of your seat and show you how to apply those techniques to your writing. Learn how to create killer action scenes, nail-biting drama, and romantic moments tha...