David Ellis is a judge and an Edgar-award-winning author of ten novels of crime fiction, as well as eight bestselling books co-authored with James Patterson. His novels have been translated into more than ten languages worldwide. In December 2014, Dave was sworn in as the youngest-serving Justice of the Illinois Appellate Court for the First District. Among other things, Carter and David discuss figuring out how to actually write, David’s experience as a co-author with James Patterson, and the never-ending plague of typos. At the end of the conversation, they devise a story with quite a cliffhanger, starting with a sentence from The Winner by David Baldacci.  Connect with Carter at www.carterwilson.com Connect with David at www.davidellis.com

Making It Up with Laurie R. King, author of Back to the Garden

Making It Up is an unscripted conversation series about the messy reality of being a writer.Each episode is a deep, unplanned conversation with writers at every stage of the journey. New York Times bestselling authors. Award winners. Debut novelists just getting started. No prepared questions. No talking points. Just two people following the conversation wherever it leads.We talk about where stories really come from. Childhood influences. Fear. Luck. Loss. Discipline. Doubt. The highs, the lows, and the long stretches in between that rarely get talked about.At the end of every episode, we put the philosophy into practice. We choose a random sentence from a random book and use it to create an impromptu short story. No prep. No outline. Just making something out of nothing.Because that is the job.And that is the point.&nbsp;Visit Carter at www.carterwilson.com.