Kelton ReidThe award-winning literary suspense novelist and New York Times bestselling author of The Bookseller, Cynthia Swanson, took a break before her upcoming book tour to chat with me about her new thriller, The Glass Forest, the writer-slash-designer’s process and unique relationship with creativity, and how she finds her ideas.
The bestselling author started out as a freelance marketing and technical writer before her debut novel, The Bookseller, became an Indie Next pick and winner of the 2016 WILLA Award for Historical Fiction. The book has been translated into over a dozen languages and was optioned for a film adaptation with Julia Roberts attached to star and produce.
Cynthia’s latest psychological thriller The Glass Forest, has been described as “… a gripping literary suspense novel set in the 1960s about a deeply troubled family and three women who will reveal its dark truths.”
The Library Journal said of the book, “… Swanson demonstrates her signature trait: a consistent, superbly executed sense of knife-edge disquiet…” and Publisher’s Weekly called it an “… intoxicating slow burn [that] builds to a conclusion rife with shocking reveals.”
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In this file Cynthia Swanson and I discuss:
- How she targeted the time periods for her historical novels
- Why you shouldn’t research while you write
- How a professional novelist migrated to Scrivener
- Why you need to intentionally goof around to beat procrastination
- Great quotes for defeating self-doubt
- Why you need to find your own writer’s community
Listen to The Writer Files: Writing, Productivity, Creativity, and Neuroscience below ...
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The Show Notes
- If you’re ready to see for yourself why more than 201,344 website owners trust StudioPress — the industry standard for premium WordPress themes and plugins — swing by StudioPress.com for all the details.
- CynthiaSwansonAuthor.com
- The Glass Forest: A Novel – Cynthia Swanson
- The Bookseller: A Novel – Cynthia Swanson
- Cynthia Swanson, Author – Facebook Page
- Julia Roberts to Star in Adaptation of Cynthia Swanson’s ‘The Bookseller’ – Variety
- Cynthia Swanson on Instagram
- Cynthia Swanson on Twitter
- Kelton Reid on Twitter
Hey Kelton and Cynthia!
These are valuable tips and information for any writer. It’s good to learn from every writer in any genre.
I agree with not doing research while writing. You want to do all of your research prior to writing. I would organize all of my resources and facts nicely before I begin writing.
I do like listening to music while writing. Classical music seems to be very relaxing and helpful to keep focus while writing.
I’m also a PC guy! haha 😀
Thank you so much for sharing!
Best regards!
Thank you for listening Freddy! I would agree that for certain types of writing, research is very important up front.
I’m also a big fan of movie soundtracks for setting the mood, or finding inspiration. Cheers –
I wish your podcast was available through Anypod, Tunein or Spotify. I listen on my Amazon Echo!
You can find us on Stitcher!