Dean Monti has worked creatively in a variety of mediums including short stories, plays, novels, journalism, and screenwriting. His latest novel, The Monosexual, will be published July 2024. He is also the author of several one-act plays and has had his works premiered in Chicago, and was a finalist in a national playwriting competition. He taught creative writing and novel writing classes at Columbia College in Chicago and College of DuPage. He is currently working on new novels and recently adapted one of his works as a screenplay. Throughout it all, he has held a full-time job as an editor and journalist for more than 20 years.

Among other things, Dean and Carter discuss balancing writing your story and market considerations, establishing conflict early on, and how publicity and online presence affects sales. At the end of their conversation, they make up a mysterious story using a line from Douglas Adams’ The Long Dark Tea-Time to the Soul.

Victoria Helen Stone, author of the runaway best seller Jane Doe, writes critically acclaimed novels of dark intrigue and emotional suspense. Aside from Follow Her Down, At The Quiet Edge, The Last One Home, Problem Child, and other chart-topping novels, she also published twenty-nine books as USA Today bestselling author Victoria Dahl and won the prestigious American Library Association Reading List award for best genre fiction.

Among other things, Victoria and Carter discuss how family secrets influence writing, balancing a character’s struggles with positive outcomes, and removing extensive description from your novel. At the end of their conversation, they make up a witty and suspenseful story using a line from Araminta Hall’s One of the Good Guys.

Aimie Runyan is a multi-published and bestselling author of historical and contemporary fiction. She has been nominated for a Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers Writer of the Year Award, a Historical Novel Society’s Editor’s Choice selection, and a four-time finalist for the Colorado Book Awards. She is an adjunct instructor for the Drexel University MFA in Creative Writing program.

Among other things, Aimie and Carter discuss using empathy to create compelling characters, what exactly defines genre, and maintaining a fanbase and readership. At the end of their conversation, they make up a mysterious story using a line from Donna Tartt’s The Little Friend.