The Story Craft Cafe Podcast

Audiobooks are the fastest growth market in publishing. If you are not taking advantage of this market, you could be leaving readers unreached, and who wants that? Join me today as I welcome authors Jaime Castle and Rhett Bruno, as well as voice actor extraordinaire Roger Clark as they talk about the process of taking a story from the page to your earbuds.  In the West, there are worse things to fear than bandits and outlaws. Demons. Monsters. Witches. James Crowley’s sacred duty as a Black Badge is to hunt them down and send them packing, banish them from the mortal realm for good. He didn’t choose this life. No. He didn’t choose life at all. Shot dead in a gunfight many years ago, now he’s stuck in purgatory, serving the whims of the White Throne to avoid falling to Hell. Not quite undead, though not alive either, the best he can hope for is to work off his penance and fade away. This time, the White Throne has sent him to investigate a strange bank robbery in Lonely Hill. An outlaw with the ability to conjure ice has frozen and shattered open the bank vault and is now on a spree, robbing the region for all it’s worth. In his quest to track down the ice-wielder and suss out which demon is behind granting a mortal such power, Crowley finds himself face-to-face with hellish beasts, shapeshifters, and, worse…temptation. But the truth behind the attacks is worse than he ever imagined.… The Witcher meets The Dresden Files in this weird Western series by the Audible number one bestselling duo behind Dead Acre.

BRAD THOR is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of twenty-two thrillers, including RISING TIGER, BLACK ICE (ThrillerFix Best Thriller of the Year), NEAR DARK (one of Suspense Magazine’s Best Books of the Year), BACKLASH (nominated for the Barry Award for Best Thriller of the Year), SPYMASTER (“One of the all-time best thriller novels” —The Washington Times), THE LAST PATRIOT (nominated Best Thriller of the Year by the International Thriller Writers Association), and BLOWBACK (one of the “Top 100 Killer Thrillers of All Time” —NPR). Brad has appeared on ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS, FOX News Channel, FOX Business Channel, CNN, CNN Headline News, The Blaze, and MSNBC (among others) to discuss terrorism, as well as how closely his novels of international intrigue parallel the real threats facing the world today. Brad has served as a member of the Department of Homeland Security’s Analytic Red Cell Unit. He has also lectured to law enforcement organizations on over-the-horizon/future threats, and has been a keynote speaker for the National Tactical Officers Association annual conference. In 2008, Brad shadowed a Black Ops team in Afghanistan to research his thriller, The Apostle. Brad graduated cum laude from the University of Southern California where he studied creative writing, film, and television production. Prior to becoming a novelist, Brad was the award-winning creator, producer, writer and host of the critically acclaimed national public television series, Traveling Lite. Deadly operative Scot Harvath faces down the country’s most powerful enemy in #1 New York Times and #1 Wall Street Journal bestselling author Brad Thor’s new white-knuckle thriller. An unprecedented, potentially nation-ending threat has materialized on the world stage. Fearful of the global consequences of engaging this enemy, administration after administration has passed the buck. The clock, however, has run out and doing nothing is no longer an option. It is time to unleash Scot Harvath. As America’s top spy, Harvath has the unparalleled skills and experience necessary to handle any situation, but this assignment feels different. Thrust into a completely unfamiliar culture, with few he can trust, the danger begins mounting the moment he arrives. Amidst multiple competing forces and a host of deadly agendas, it becomes nearly impossible to tell predator from prey. With democracy itself hanging in the balance, Harvath will risk everything to untangle the explosive plot and bring every bad actor to justice.

On today’s show we welcome back Julie Clark to talk about her new book The Lies I Tell. Julie Clark is the New York Times bestselling author of The Ones We Choose and The Last Flight, which was also a #1 international bestseller and has been translated into more than twenty languages. She lives in […]

Today’s author interview guest is Lucy Clarke, author of One of the Girls. The latest twisty psychological thriller from internationally-bestselling author Lucy Clarke, One of the Girls is the delicious story of a bachelorette trip on a stunning Greek island… that ends in murder. It was supposed to be the perfect weekend away. Six very different women […]

Today’s author interview guest is Will Dean who returns with his brand new book First Born. From the acclaimed author of The Last Thing to Burn, a psychological thriller about the dark secrets that emerge when a woman’s twin sister is murdered, with his signature “intense, gripping, taut, terrifying, moving, and brilliant” (Lisa Jewell, #1 New York Times bestselling […]

Jenna Moreci is a International #1 Amazon Bestseller and wildly popular YouTuber who joins us today to talk all about writing fantasy characters and how she manages a successful indie author career.  ​Jenna Moreci is a #1 bestselling author of dark fantasy, as well as a YouTube sensation with hundreds of thousands of subscribers. The Savior’s Champion, her first novel in The Savior’s Series, was voted one of the Best Books of All Time by Book Depository.  Born and raised in Silicon Valley, Jenna spends her free time laughing until her face hurts with her goofball fiancé and snuggling with her tiny dog.

Today’s author interview guest is Matthew Quirk who returns to talk about his new thriller Red Warning. “Intricately plotted with extraordinary characters and riveting action.” –Jack Carr, #1 New York Times bestselling author of In the Blood CIA officer Sam Hudson races to find a deep cover operative loose in the U.S. and a mole in the Agency […]

Will Dean grew up in the East Midlands of the United Kingdom and lived in nine villages before the age of eighteen. After studying law at the London School of Economics and working in London, he settled in rural Sweden where he built a wooden house in a boggy clearing at the center of a vast elk forest, and it’s from this base that he compulsively reads and writes. His debut novel, Dark Pines, was selected for Zoe Ball’s book club on ITV, shortlisted for the National Book Awards (UK), The Guardian’s Not the Booker prize, and was named a Telegraph book of the year. From the acclaimed author of The Last Thing to Burn, a psychological thriller about the dark secrets that emerge when a woman’s twin sister is murdered, with his signature “intense, gripping, taut, terrifying, moving, and brilliant” (Lisa Jewell, #1 New York Times bestselling author) prose.Sisters. Soulmates. Strangers.Molly Raven lives a quiet, structured life in London, finding comfort in security and routine. Her identical twin Katie, living in New York, is the exact opposite: outgoing, spontaneous, and adventurous.But when Molly hears that Katie has died, possibly murdered, she is thrown into unfamiliar territory. As terrifying as it is, she knows she must travel across the ocean and find out what happened. But as she tracks her twin’s final movements, cracks begin to emerge, and she slowly realizes her sister was not who she thought she was and there’s a dangerous web of deceit surrounding the two of them.

Today’s author interview guest is Helene Wecker, author of The Hidden Palace: A Novel of the Golem and the Jinni. “Richly nuanced and beautiful. . . . An immersive and magical tale of loneliness, love, and finding hope.” (Buzzfeed) “A layered novel of many complex characters…To keep their worlds safe, Chava and Ahmad must access both […]

Today I am excited to welcome back one of my all time favorite thriller authors Brad Thor to talk about his brand new book releasing July 5, 2022 Rising Tiger. Deadly operative Scot Harvath faces down the country’s most powerful enemy in #1 New York Times and #1 Wall Street Journal bestselling author Brad Thor’s new white-knuckle thriller. An […]

Today’s author interview guest is Brian McClellan, author of In The Shadow Of Lightning: Glass Immortals, Book 1. From Brian McClellan, author of The Powder Mage trilogy, comes the first novel in the Glass Immortals series, In the Shadow of Lightning, an epic fantasy where magic is a finite resource—and it’s running out. “Excellent worldbuilding and a truly […]

Today’s author interview guest is Elly Griffiths, author of The Locked Room. Pandemic lockdowns have Ruth Galloway feeling isolated from everyone but a new neighbor—until Nelson comes calling, investigating a decades-long string of murder-suicides that’s looming ever closer. Three years after her mother’s death, Ruth is finally sorting through her things when she finds a […]

Today’s author interview guest is John Searles, author of Her Last Affair. “A winner: tense and terrifying with a twist you’ll never see coming. You won’t soon forget these characters and the shocking ways their lives intersect.” — Laura Dave, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Last Thing He Told Me Every marriage has its secrets…. […]

Today’s author interview guest is Juliet Blackwell, author of The Paris Showroom. In Nazi-occupied Paris, a talented artisan must fight for her life by designing for her enemies. From New York Times best-selling author Juliet Blackwell comes an extraordinary story about holding on to hope when all seems lost. Capucine Benoit works alongside her father to produce […]

Today Fiona Barton returns to talk about her new book Local Gone Missing. Detective Elise King investigates a man’s disappearance in a seaside town where the locals and weekenders are at odds in this rich and captivating new novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Widow. Elise King is a successful and ambitious detective—or she […]