Barbara Feigin is an advertising executive and World War II refugee, having fled with her parents from Nazi Germany as a young child in 1940. She attended Whitman College, then completed a graduate program in business run jointly by Harvard Business School and Radcliffe Graduate School. She had a 30-year career in advertising, mostly with Grey Advertising, and in 2017 she was named one of the century’s Legendary Pioneers by Grey. Her memoir was released January 2024.

Among other things, Barbara and Carter discuss Barbara’s family’s experiences escaping Nazi Germany, working in advertising as a woman in the 1960s, and how Barbara utilized writing coaching to start her memoir. At the end of their conversation, they make up an imaginative story using a line from Alex Kenna’s Burn This Night.

Karen Dionne is the USA Today and #1 internationally bestselling author of the award-winning psychological suspense novels The Marsh King’s Daughter and The Wicked Sister, both published by G.P. Putnam’s Sons in the U.S. and in dozens of other countries. The Marsh King’s Daughter was named one of the best books of 2017 by iBooks and many other booksellers and reviewers, and released in 2023 by Lionsgate as a major motion picture.

Among other things, Karen and Carter discuss why Karen returned to writing after 30 years, the process behind writing The Marsh King’s Daughter, and the struggle of self-identifying as an author. At the end of their conversation, they make up a multiple-POV story using a line from Clare Mackintosh’s The Last Party.

Lisa Gardner is a #1 New York Times bestselling thriller novelist. Her internationally acclaimed novels have been published across 30 countries. She’s had four books become TV movies (At the Midnight Hour; The Perfect Husband; The Survivors Club; Hide). Her novel, The Neighbor, won Best Hardcover Novel from the International Thriller Writers, and the Grand Prix des Lectrices de Elle in France. She was also recognized with the Daphne du Maurier Award in 2000 for The Other Daughter. Finally, Lisa received the Silver Bullet Award from the International Thriller Writers in 2017.

Among other things, Lisa and Carter discuss the dangers of “writing by committee”, avoiding repetition after having published several books, and changing up your style and genre of writing in commercial fiction. At the end of their conversation, they make up a creepy story using a line from Darcy Coates’ From Below.