Inside the Writer's Studio

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.