Louise Doughty is the author of ten novels, most recently A Bird in Winter. Her previous books include Platform Seven, filmed for ITVX; Black Water, a New York Times Notable Book of the Year; the bestseller Apple Tree Yard, adapted for BBC One; and Whatever You Love, nominated for the Costa Novel Award and the Women’s Prize for fiction. She has been nominated for many other prizes and has helped with creating and writing the hit BBC drama Crossfire. Her work has been translated into thirty languages.

Among other things, Louise and Carter discuss the complexities of writing about sex, writing violence realistically and focusing on the consequences of violence, and how being a writer involves so much more than just writing a book. At the end of their conversation, they make up a suspenseful and descriptive story using a line from S.F. Kosa’s The Night We Burned.

This week's Making It Up is extra-special as it features Tim Booth, lead singer and lyricist of James, a British band who has been performing for over 40 years and has sold more than 25 million albums globally (James is also Carter’s absolute favorite band, making Tim one of his personal heroes). You may have seen quotes from James songs as epigraphs in many of Carter’s novels, which is how he got to know Tim. After a decade in the making, Tim's brilliant debut novel, When I Died For the First Time, just released in the U.K. and is set for a U.S. launch in July 2024.

Among other things, Tim and Carter discuss seeking out art and culture as a kid, how improvisation and editing are large parts of Tim’s lyricism, and how having an established audience affects confidence in writing. At the end of their conversation, they make up an incredibly descriptive story using a line from David Mitchell’s Slade House.

Christopher Reich is the New York Times bestselling author of The Take, Numbered Account, Rules of Deception, Rules of Vengeance, Rules of Betrayal, and many other thrillers. His novel The Patriots Club won the International Thriller Writers award for Best Novel in 2006. He is also the author of the Simon Riske series, an international spy thriller series, and his newest novel Matterhorn was just released in April 2024.

Among other things, Christopher and Carter discuss writing in first person present, quitting a day job to pursue a career in writing, and the pressure of writing accurate historical fiction. At the end of their conversation, they make up a chilling story using a line from John Grisham’s A Painted House.