Inside the Writer's Studio

Charlie talks with historical romance novelist Joanna Lowell, whose latest book is A Shore Thing, about balancing commercial writing and academic life, queer and trans representation in romance, the evolution of the romance market, the importance of bicycles, and much more.

To launch a new season of IWS, Charlie talks with Peng about her novels The Cartographers and the recently published All This and More. They discuss the line between passion and obsession, the world of old maps, the structural challenges of a "choose your own adventure" novel for grownups, the nature of reality TV, and much more.

Charlie talks with Sarah about her new novel A Better World. They discuss ideal neighborhoods, suburban dystopia, family dynamics, writing about the future, ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances, an amazing book cover, and much more.

Charlie talks with Stephen about his latest novel You Only Call When You're in Trouble. They discuss openings, language choice, character driven novels, humor, adaptations to the stage and screen, architecture, and much more.

Charlie talks with debut novelist Nina Simon about her breakout novel Mother Daughter Murder Night. They discuss writing mysteries, the natural world, mother daughter relationships, strong women characters, and how Nina came to write this book in the first place.

Charlie talks with Hunter Harrell, Charlie Putnam, and Tanner Whicker, stars of the world premiere stage adaptation of his 2020 novel Escaping Dreamland about the process of bringing the characters of Magda, Tom, and Gene to life in the production produced by the Little Theatre of Winston-Salem.

Charlie talks with Curtis Chin, author of Everything I Learned I Learned in a Chinese Restaurant about the immigrant experience, coming of age in Detroit in the 1980s, coming out in the 1980s, and food glorious food, Chinese style!

Charlie talks with British mystery writer Janice Hallett about her novel The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels. They discuss writing in the documentary form, cold cases, religion, cults, classic mysteries, journalistic ethics, and much more.

Charlie talks with Sunday Times bestselling author Jane Corry about her novel Coming to Find You. They discuss Devon, old houses, Frederic Leighton, prison, tabloid journalism, and much more about the art and craft of writing a mystery.

Charlie talks with Virginia Kantra, author of the forthcoming novel The Fairytale Life of Dorothy Gale. They discuss classic children's books (from Oz to Narnia), the importance of setting, absent parents, the art of elegant exposition, metafictional irony, and much more.

Charlie talks live with legendary actor Henry Winkler at a Bookmarks event about his new best-selling memoir Being Henry: The Fonz . . . And Beyond. They talk about dyslexia, Yale Drama School, TV and stage acting, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, behind the scenes stories, life lessons, and, of course, Arthur Fonzarelli.

Charlie talks to debut novelist Dominic Lim about his queer romance All the Right Notes. They discuss Dominic's background in music and how music is woven throughout the novel, the incorporation of Filipino culture and particularly food, the state of queer fiction, playing piano at Marie's Crisis and more.

Charlie talks with Julie Soto, fresh off her appearance at the 2023 Bookmarks Festival, about her new novel Forget Me Not. They talk about theatre, romance novels, wedding planning, Jane Austen, humor, donuts, and more.

Ahead of her appearance at the 2023 Bookmarks Festival in Winston-Salem on September 23, Charlie talks to Megan Miranda about her novel, The Only Survivors. They discuss structuring a thriller, setting, writing about a tight group of characters, the impact of trauma, the book industry, and more.

John Connolly joins Charlie all the way from Ireland to talk about The Land of Lost Things, the long awaited follow-up to his The Book of Lost Things. John will be at the 2023 Bookmarks Festival of Books and Authors in Winston-Salem. He and Charlie discuss fairy tales and folklore, ritual, the importance of books, paradox, humor, and much more.

Charlie talks to UK mystery writer Alice Bell about her new novel Grave Expectations. They discuss Dickens, Agatha Christie, humor in murder mysteries, ghosts, chapter structure, police procedurals, and much more.

Charlie talks with Dwyer Murphy about his new noir thriller The Stolen Coast. They discuss small town New England, the use of dialogue, basketball, the noir aesthetic, and the imagination that goes into planning a heist.

Charlie talks with novelist Elizabeth Silver about her new book The Majority—inspired by the life of Ruth Bader Ginsberg. They talk about the intersection of law and narrative, choosing the moments to dramatize in a historical novel, the Holocaust, women's rights, and much more.

Charlie talks with bestselling author J. Ryan Stradal about his new novel Saturday Night at the Lakeside Supper Club. They discuss midwestern novels, how to begin a novel, the structure of chapters, creating characters, and of course the culture of the supper club.

Something a little different this episode, Charlie shares his "Thoughts on Scholarship" in the annual Roger Lancelyn Green lecture delivered on the occasion of the publication of his new biography of the author of Alice in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll: Formed by Faith. Charlie's groundbreaking religious biography of Carroll provides examples for his advice to researchers, historians, and scholars.

Charlie talks with Laurell K. Hamilton, author of the Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter series about the latest installment, Smolder. They discuss the challenges of sustaining a series, creating a long-range character arc, the combination of hard boiled detective with paranormal, the importance of therapy, and more.

Charlie talks with internationally best-selling author Steve Berry about his latest Cotton Malone adventure The Lost Kingdom. Steve talks about using history in a contemporary thriller and gives great advice on everything from starting chapters to using setting, researching historical figures, pacing a thriller and more.

Charlie talks with Alice Kate Marshall about her new adult thriller What Lies in the Woods. They discuss writing characters at different ages, setting as a reflection of theme, finding voice and crafting point of view, writing for different audiences, magic, and much more.

Charlie talks with bestselling author of thrillers, tv writer, and historian Brad Meltzer about his new book The Nazi Conspiracy—about a plot to assassinate Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin at the height of WWII. They discuss research, structure, storytelling, and the relevance of books like The Nazi Conspiracy to the world we live in today.

Charlie talks with debut novelist Lauren Nossett about her new work of dark academia, The Resemblance. They discuss the genre as well as life on campus, Greek life, investigative techniques, writing prologues, and much more.

Charlie chats with Australian best selling novelist Kate Forsyth about her latest historical novel, The Crimson Thread, set on Crete during the Nazi occupation. They discuss writing historical novels, ancient mythology, finding hidden WW II stories, and mush more.

Charlie talks with 73-time NYT bestseller Sandra Brown about her latest novel, Overkill. They discuss structuring thrillers, pacing, writing villains, the terrible trouble, the North Carolina Mountains, and much more.

Author of middle grade books Frank Morelli takes over the microphone to interview Charlie about his new middle grade novel The Book of the Seven Spells, a fast-paced adventure about four children who discover a magical library.

Ahead of their appearance at the Bookmarks Festival in Winston-Salem, Charlie and Scott discuss Scott's new novel Suspect, touching on everything from what makes a thriller to rapid character development, creating villains, the American legal system, and more.

Anne Bogel (aka Modern Mrs. Darcy) interviews Charlie about his new novel The Enigma Affair. Anne (host of the What Should I Read Next podcast) asks Charlie about surprises, research, writing thrillers, and of course she puts him on the hot seat with the ten questions.

Charlie talks with horror novelist Grady Hendrix about his new novel How to Sell a Haunted House. They discuss the history and development of the horror genre, family dynamics, the use of humor, structuring a novel, pacing, and why dolls and puppets are just so darn creepy.

Charlie returns from summer vacation to talk with bestselling author Jamie Ford about his new novel The Many Daughters of Afong Moy, a sweeping story about the things we inherit from our ancestors. They talk about mixing historical fiction and speculative fiction, the Chinese experience in America, cliffhangers, what America means, and much more.

Charlie talks with Pulitzer Prize winer Geraldine Brooks about her new novel horse and its inspiration, a nineteenth century American racehorse. They discuss structuring a novel across multiple time frames. capturing the voice of a past era, race in America, the history of horse racing, and much more,

Charlie talks with Elle about her Finlay Donovan books. They talk plotting, murder, body disposal, character building, the genesis of Finlay, motherhood, divorce, Writers' Police Academy, and mixing humor and crime in books about a single mom recruited to be a contract killer.

Charlie talks with Lauren McBrayer about her new novel Like a House on Fire in which protagonist Merit must understand her feelings towards her boss Jane. They discuss the search for identity, female friendship, religion, sensory detail and much more about this wonderful novels that explores relationships from parenthood to professional.

Charlie talks with Kyle Lukoff about his new middle grade novel Different Kinds of Fruit. They talk about writing LGBTQ characters, getting into the emotional headspace of sixth graders, layering secondary and tertiary characters, structure, family dynamics, and much more.

Charlie talks with Annie Hartnett about her new novel Unlikely Animals. They discuss depicting small towns, using magical realism, narrative voice and point of view, and the background of this fascinating novel—a 26,000 acre private wildlife preserve called Corbin Park. And of course, they discuss animals!

Charlie talks with Booker Prize winner Roddy Doyle about his new book of short stories Life Without Children. They talk about Irish storytelling, Dublin, the pandemic, the craft of short story writing, the difference between incident and story, and much more.

Charlie talks to best-selling author Ruta Sepetys about her new crossover novel I Must Betray You, set in Romania just before the fall of communism. They discuss Eastern European history, what it was like to live in communist Romania, how Ruta researched such a repressive regime, how authoritarianism robs children of their childhood, and more.

Charlie talks with bestselling author Josie Silver about her new novel One Night on the Island—the talk about romance tropes and subverting them, setting a narrative in a remote location, researching during COVID, building strong secondary characters, and more.

Charlie talks to historical novelist Fiona Davis about her novel The Magnolia Palace, set largely at the Frick Museum in New York City in 1919 and 1966. They discuss (among other things) New York, researching historical details, the place of the model in society, and the amazing true story of Audrey Munson, the artists' model who served as the basis for one of the heroines in Fiona's novel.

Charlie starts off the new year talking with historical novelist Kerri Maher about her new novel The Paris Bookseller, a fascinating and moving account of Sylvia Beach and her famous store Shakespeare and Company. They discuss Beach's publication of Ulysses by James Joyce, the place of expatriates like Ernest Hemingway in 1920s Paris, the role of bookstores in society and much more.

Charlie talks to debut novelist Elizabeth Weiss about her novel Sisters Sweet which follows the lives of twin sisters as they navigate the world of vaudeville in the 1920s and 1930s. They discuss theatre history, writing about twins, changing technology, religion, family and more.

Charlie chats with Sophie Cousens, author of the romantic comedy Just Haven't Met You Yet, about living on the island of Jersey in the English Channel, the connection between place and story, the meaning of objects in our lives, the preservation of stories, humor in the inner lives of characters, positivity in the face of difficulties, and more.

Charlie talks with screenwriter and novelist Rex Pickett about his new novel The Archivist. They discuss the place of an archivist in the life of a writer, southern California, the thorny issues of archival ethics, adapting novels for the screen and screenplays into novels, the support networks writers depend on, writing strong women characters, and more.

Charlie talks with British novelist Sophie Kinsella about her new book The Party Crasher. They discuss family dynamics, writing humor, confining the action to a single place and time, the character arc of a house, how to humanize even unlikeable characters, the advantages of a first person narrative, and much more.

Fresh on the heels of Lauren's appearance at the Bookmarks Festival in Winston-Salem, NC, Charlie and Lauren discuss her new novel Matrix about the poet Marie de France. They discuss religion, economics, feminism, queer history, poetry, royalty, mysticism, and how all those elements combine to create an unforgettable novel.

Charlie talks with fellow North Carolina novelist about his new novel When Ghosts Come Home. The talk about issues of race and class, how to use backstory to create pacing, how tragedy magnifies the details of life, creating believable minor characters, emotion in writing, making a setting resonate with readers, and much more. Wylie and Charlie will also share the stage at the Bookmarks Festival on September 25.

Charlie talks with Marie and Victoria about their historical novel The Personal Librarian, the story of a trailblazing black woman who passed for white while building one of the most significant book collections in the world—now the Morgan Library and Museum. They discuss race in historical fiction, creating characters out of real people, the antiquarian book world, how two authors worked together to create one book, and much more about this fascinating historical novel.

Charlie chats with Canadian mystery writer Shari Lapena about her new novel Not a Nice Family. They discuss managing information in a mystery, family dynamics, the art of crafting chapter endings, and much more about the murder, dysfunction, and suspicion within the family at the center of this page-turner.

Charlie talks with Matt Haig all the way from England about his bestselling novel The Midnight Library and his more recent non-fiction The Comfort Book. They discuss connections between the two books, the importance of hope, the ways in which depression and mental illness bubble up in Matt's work, the general fabulousness of libraries, and much more.