Biblio Breakdown

Andy Weir's 2021 novel Project Hail Mary is chock full of complicated science concepts, yet it's a bestseller as a book and a blockbuster as a movie. How did Weir do it? Find out what simple writing elements he used to make the story more relatable in this episode!

Get your first listen of my brand new book, The Witch's Apprentice and Other Stories, coming out August 12, 2025!

When we lose someone we love, it can be incredibly hard to talk about it. Find out how author Nick Spalding uses dashes of humor and life truths in Grave Talk to make those those conversations easier.

Stories about plane crashes and traveling to space are fun, but not all stories have to be big to make an impact. See how Becky Hunter used a quiet story in One Moment to change her characters in a way that will reverberate for them forever.

How do you take the most absurd concept ever -- aliens stopping on Earth for a layover -- and use it to make your writing more universal? Find out how Emily Jane takes ridiculous ideas and makes them completely relatable and human in On Earth As It Is on Television.

"Enemies to lovers" usually touches on the change of relationship between two characters. But what if the enemies are the protagonist and the reader? Bonnie Garmus gives us an unlikable main character in her fantastic book Lessons in Chemistry and shows us how to make her someone to root for.

Sometimes the best writing comes from the simplicity in the prose. Find out how how Sarah Addison Allen uses this powerful tool in Other Birds.

The best stories include intricate layers that enrich the work and make it better. Discover how author Sulari Gentill did it in The Woman in the Library!

Learn how to take chances in your writing like Jennie Wexler did with her YA debut Where It All Lands!

Do you ever wonder how to go big -- really big -- in your stories? Listen how Pulitzer Prize-winning author Anthony Doerr did it with his latest novel, Cloud Cuckoo Land, and find out how you can do it too.

In this episode, learn about how to be reckless in your writing within the context of Enola Holmes and the Black Barouche by Nancy Springer.

The best characters and plots shock us, because they’re audacious. In The Nature of Fragile Things, author Susan Meissner shows us just how to create a fearless protagonist who must be bold when circumstances and even the earth turn against her. Listen to the episode to find out more about this incredible book and how you can use some of the same techniques in your own writing.