Today we zoom out from moment-to-moment tension and look at how escalation and de-escalation shape a story at the structural level—how raising stakes, lowering pressure, and shifting focus can control pacing, reader emotion, and narrative momentum. Our hosts explore what happens when stakes escalate too quickly (and lose meaning), and how de-escalation can b ... Show More
Apr 19
21.16: Tension and Release as Call and Response
Today, we’re talking about tension and release as a kind of call and response, and how that dynamic can guide your reader through a story. It explores how different types of tension—conflict, unanswered questions, anticipation, and microtension—can be balanced with moments of rel ... Show More
21m 19s
Apr 12
21.15: Using Contrast for Maximum Effect
Today, we’re talking about how to use contrast to make key moments in your story hit harder, especially in the middle. We explore how pairing light and dark beats, shifting expectations, or placing opposing elements side by side can deepen the emotional impact and keep your reade ... Show More
23m 28s
Apr 5
21.14: Because at First, They Don’t Succeed
Today, we’re talking about the “try-fail cycle” and why failure is essential to making the middle of your story actually interesting. It allows readers to follow characters as they try something, fail, adjust, and try again until they finally succeed. Our conversation gets into h ... Show More
25m 21s
Nov 2019
The best crime fiction of 2019
Welcome to The Irish Times Books Podcast. In this latest episode, Martin Doyle talk to The Irish Times’s two regular crime fiction reviewers, Declan Burke and Declan Hughes, both acclaimed crime writers themselves, about their favourite crime fiction of 2019. So get your pen and ... Show More
40m 49s
Mar 2024
596 The Power of Stories (with J Edward Chamberlin) | Taylor Swift and Emily Dickinson | Flannery O'Connor (with Mike Palindrome) | My Last Book with Shin Yu Pai
It's a literary smorgasbord! First, Jacke dives into the recent news of the surprising connection between Taylor Swift and Emily Dickinson. Next, he welcomes Mike Palindrome, President of the Literature Supporters Club, for a discussion of why Mike has been reading Flannery O'Con ... Show More
1h 10m
Sep 2024
Book Club: 'The Hypocrite,' by Jo Hamya
<p>Jo Hamya’s novel <strong>“The Hypocrite”</strong> follows a famous English novelist as he watches a new play by his daughter, Sophia, in London. The lights go down in the theater, and immediately the novelist realizes: The play is about him, the vacation he took with Sophia a ... Show More
41m 55s
Sep 2025
The Adventure of the Devil's Foot: Part Two
When Mortimer Tregennis is found dead under the same terrifying conditions as his siblings, Holmes realises the case is far from over. A strange substance, a smoking lamp, and a private experiment lead him to the truth—but at a terrible cost. And as the final pieces fall into pla ... Show More
40m 43s
Feb 2025
#794: Brandon Sanderson on Building a Fiction Empire, Creating $40M+ Kickstarter Campaigns, Unbreakable Habits, The Art of World-Building, and The Science of Magic Systems
Brandon Sanderson is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Stormlight Archive series and the Mistborn saga; the middle-grade series Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians; and the young-adult novels The Rithmatist, the Reckoners trilogy, and the Skyward series. He has sold mo ... Show More
3h 23m
Mar 2025
CZM Book Club: The Barrow Will Send What it May: Chapter One
Margaret reads Robert the second novella of the Danielle Cain series, Preorder the third book in the series, including all three audiobooks, on Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/tangled-wilderness/the-immortal-choir-holds-every-voice See omnystudio.com/listener f ... Show More
28m 20s
Oct 2025
Stephen King Isn't Always Scary (with Sean Fennessey)
<p>It's October, which means it's time for scary books and scary movies. There's one person who is well known for both: Stephen King. Since his first novel, "Carrie," was published in 1974 and adapted into a hit film two years later, his novels and short stories have been a relia ... Show More
53m 10s
Sep 2024
The Gaslight Novel Available Now!
The Gaslight novel dives even deeper into the dark, twisted universe of the podcast—revealing untold backstories, hidden motives, and what life was like behind the walls of the cult - it answers some of those burning questions you've been dying to uncover, as well as posing new o ... Show More
1m 21s