“Nothing guarantees anything. A breakout book doesn’t mean your next one won’t flop—and that’s just the reality.”—Andrea Bartz

Andrea Bartz is a reporter, consultant, and New York Times bestselling author. Her third novel, WE WERE NEVER HERE, was a Reese’s Book Club pick and an instant New York Times bestseller; it was optioned by Berlanti Productions and Netflix. Her most recent thriller, THE LAST FERRY OUT, was praised by NPR’s Fresh Air, Marie Claire, Publishers Weekly, and more. She is also a journalist whose work has appeared in The Wall Street Journal, Vogue, Cosmopolitan, The New York Times, and many other outlets, and she’s held editorial positions at Glamour, Psychology Today, and Self.

Among other things, Andrea and Carter discuss thinking like a businessperson to make it as a writer, separating your emotions from feedback on your writing, and engaging with readers to show gratitude. At the end of their conversation, they make up a brilliant story using a line from Victoria Houson’s At the Edge of the Woods.

“I always say that both horror and romance are genres of hope.” —Lindy Ryan

Lindy Ryan is an award-winning author, anthologist, and short-film director whose books and anthologies have received starred reviews from Publishers Weekly, Booklist and Library Journal. She was named a Publishers Weekly Star Watch Honoree in 2020, and in 2022, she was named one of horror's most masterful anthology curators. Ryan founded Black Spot Books, a specialty press focused on amplifying women's voices in horror. She is an award-winning professor at Rutgers University.

Among other things, Lindy and Carter discuss their love of Halloween, losing perspective of how dark their writing is, and emphasizing the importance of consequences in writing. At the end of their conversation, they make up a quick story using a line from Gillian Flynn’s Sharp Objects.

"The only way your journey ends is if you stop trying—and I wasn’t done." —Jeffrey Konvitz

Jeffrey Konvitz is the author of the New York Times bestseller The Sentinel. He also wrote its bestselling sequel, The Guardian, and a third bestselling novel Monster: A Tale of Loch Ness. Konvitz is an entertainment attorney, screenwriter and producer. In the 1980s and 90s, he became one of the top independent production executives in Hollywood, where he still resides to this day.

​Among other things, Jeffrey and Carter discuss changing career paths last minute, writing about the Irish mob, and Jeffrey creating his own publishing company to print the book he had been writing for 25 years. At the end of their conversation, they make up a supernatural story using a line from Greg Isles’s True Evil.