This month, the NLA team wanted to share with you our latest, greatest writers-in-the-know online find: Making It Up. This web series, launched in March 2021 by USA Today bestselling thriller author Carter Wilson, has already racked up nearly 50 episodes. In these candid conversations with writers of all genres and backgrounds, Carter gets his guests talking about influences, creativity, luck and loss, tools of the craft, and the highs and lows of publishing.
Our favorite part of each episode comes at the end, when Carter and his guest pick a random sentence from a random book on Carter’s shelves and use it to create an impromptu back-and-forth short story. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll leave the lights on. Nothing like a little on-the-spot creativity to wake up the muse!
Check out this impressive episode list (especially episode 44, which features NLA client Katrina Monroe), and then head on over to the Making It Up YouTube channel and hit subscribe. And, hey, pick up one of Carter’s tense-as-heck thrillers while you’re at it.
Ep 1: Alex Marwood
Ep 2: Julie Clark
Ep 3: Joe Clifford
Ep 4: David Bell
Ep 5: Sean Eads
Ep 6: K.J. Howe
Ep 7: Lynne Constantine
Ep 8: Mark Stevens
Ep 9: Steven James
Ep 10: Julia Heaberlin
Ep 11: Graham Hurley
Ep 12: Emily Bleeker
Ep 13: Erika Englehaupt
Ep 14: Mark Sullivan
Ep 15: Sabrina Jeffries
Ep 16: Clare Whitfield
Ep 17: Xio Axelrod
Ep 18: Brad Parks
Ep 19: Barb Webb
Ep 20: Adrian Goldsworthy
Ep 21: Stuart Turton
Ep 22: S.A. Cosby
Ep 23: Daniel Handler
Ep 24: Maureen Johnson
Ep 25: Sarah Fine
Ep 26: Matthew Fitzsimmons
Ep 27: Robert Dugoni
Ep 28: Farrah Rochon
Ep 29: Alverne Ball
Ep 30: Drew Magary
Ep 31: Dr. Ian Smith
Ep 32: Yasmin Angoe
Ep 33: Gabrielle St George
Ep 34: Amanda Kabak
Ep 35: Lynne Reeves Griffin
Ep 36: Allen Eskens
Ep 37: Daniel Jude Miller
Ep 38: Alex Finlay
Ep 39: Aaron Philip Clark
Ep 40: Lara Elena Donnelly
Ep 41: J.T. Ellison
Ep 42: Erica Ferencik
Ep 43: Katie Lattari
Ep 44: Katrina Monroe
Ep 45: Ananda Lima
Ep 46: D.P. Lyle
Ep 47: Jess Montgomery
Ep 48: Elle Marr
Are you a writer with a favorite go-to website or writerly online resource? Drop a comment below and share it with us!