Matty Dalrymple talks with Sara Rosett about TROPES AS TOOLS IN MYSTERIES & THRILLERS, including the differences among tropes, genre conventions, and clichés, how scars and secrets function as plotting engines, how to scale the same trope for different genres, using tropes to inject new energy into a series, and what international mysteries can teach you about inventive plotting.

Interview video at https://www.youtube.com/@TheIndyAuthorPodcast/podcasts

Show notes, including extensive summary and transcript, at https://www.theindyauthor.com/episodes-all

If you find the information in this video useful, please consider supporting The Indy Author!

https://www.patreon.com/theindyauthor

https://www.buymeacoffee.com/mattydalrymple

Sara Rosett is the USA Today bestselling author of over 30 mysteries for readers who enjoy atmospheric settings and puzzling whodunits. She also writes nonfiction for authors including, How to Write a Series, How to Outline a Cozy Mystery, and Trope Thesaurus: Mystery and Thriller. Sara hosts two podcasts: Mystery Books Podcast for readers and the Wish I'd Known Then for Writers Podcast with Jami Albright.

Matty Dalrymple is the author of the Lizzy Ballard Thrillers, beginning with ROCK PAPER SCISSORS; the Ann Kinnear Suspense Novels, beginning with THE SENSE OF DEATH; and the Ann Kinnear Suspense Shorts. She is a member of International Thriller Writers and Sisters in Crime. More at mattydalrymple.com. Matty also writes, speaks, and consults on the writing craft and the publishing voyage, and shares what she's learned on THE INDY AUTHOR PODCAST. She writes nonfiction books for authors; her articles have appeared in Writer's Digest magazine; and she is a Partner Member of the Alliance of Independent Authors. More at theindyauthor.com. She also guides professionals in building their presence through a sideline or second act through her platform From Expertise to Authority. More at theindyauthor.com/authority.

Matty Dalrymple talks with Rene Gutteridge about WRITING THE MOMENTS THAT MATTER, including how real-life dramatic events translate differently to film and to fiction, why interiority is the novelist's greatest advantage over screenwriters, how to slow down a high-intensity scene so readers feel every decision, choosing the small unexpected details that make a scene feel real, why every chapter needs both a purpose and a hook, and why your job as a writer is to make your character's life miserable until the very last page.

Interview video at https://www.youtube.com/@TheIndyAuthorPodcast/podcasts

Show notes, including extensive summary and transcript, at https://www.theindyauthor.com/episodes-all

If you find the information in this video useful, please consider supporting The Indy Author!

https://www.patreon.com/theindyauthor

https://www.buymeacoffee.com/mattydalrymple

Rene Gutteridge has been writing professionally for over twenty years, with projects spanning fiction, non-fiction, comedy sketches, novelizations and screenwriting. She is the multi-genre author of 24 novels plus several non-fiction titles. Her indie film Skid won deadCenter's Best Oklahoma Feature, and her novel My Life as a Doormat was adapted into the Hallmark movie Love's Complicated. She is co-writer on the feature film Family Camp, which was a Movieguide award winner and a Dove Award nominee. She is also a Screencraft finalist in true crime. Rene is co-director of WriterCon in Oklahoma City, senior contributor at Writing Momentum and is the head writer at 231 Collective.

Matty Dalrymple is the author of the Lizzy Ballard Thrillers, beginning with ROCK PAPER SCISSORS; the Ann Kinnear Suspense Novels, beginning with THE SENSE OF DEATH; and the Ann Kinnear Suspense Shorts. She is a member of International Thriller Writers and Sisters in Crime. More at mattydalrymple.com. Matty also writes, speaks, and consults on the writing craft and the publishing voyage, and shares what she's learned on THE INDY AUTHOR PODCAST. She writes nonfiction books for authors; her articles have appeared in Writer's Digest magazine; and she is a Partner Member of the Alliance of Independent Authors. More at theindyauthor.com. She also guides professionals in building their presence through a sideline or second act through her platform From Expertise to Authority. More at theindyauthor.com/authority.

Matty Dalrymple talks with Robert Lee Brewer about A POET'S GUIDE TO CRAFT, PUBLISHING, AND COMMUNITY, including how to recognize when an idea wants to be a poem, two very different approaches to revision, the publishing landscape for poets from journal submissions to full collections, how to handle rights and track simultaneous submissions, the annual Poem-a-Day challenge on WritersDigest.com for National Poetry Month, and why reading and writing poetry is a valuable exercise for writers working in any form.

Interview video at https://www.youtube.com/@TheIndyAuthorPodcast/podcasts

Show notes, including extensive summary and transcript, at https://www.theindyauthor.com/episodes-all

If you find the information in this video useful, please consider supporting The Indy Author!

https://www.patreon.com/theindyauthor

https://www.buymeacoffee.com/mattydalrymple

Robert Lee Brewer is senior editor of Writer's Digest and author of SMASH POETRY JOURNAL, THE COMPLETE GUIDE OF POETIC FORMS, and the poetry collection SOLVING THE WORLD'S PROBLEMS. He leads daily poetry challenges on WritersDigest.com in April and November and shares weekly poetry prompts the rest of the year.

Matty Dalrymple is the author of the Lizzy Ballard Thrillers, beginning with ROCK PAPER SCISSORS; the Ann Kinnear Suspense Novels, beginning with THE SENSE OF DEATH; and the Ann Kinnear Suspense Shorts. She is a member of International Thriller Writers and Sisters in Crime. More at mattydalrymple.com. Matty also writes, speaks, and consults on the writing craft and the publishing voyage, and shares what she's learned on THE INDY AUTHOR PODCAST. She writes nonfiction books for authors; her articles have appeared in Writer's Digest magazine; and she is a Partner Member of the Alliance of Independent Authors. More at theindyauthor.com. She also guides professionals in building their presence through a sideline or second act through her platform From Expertise to Authority. More at theindyauthor.com/authority.