Caleb Stephens on Becoming the Internet's "Dad Thriller Guy"

Caleb Stephens joins Talking Horror to talk The Girls in the Cabin, If You Lie, and You'll Never Know, and how he went from a decade as a corporate accountant to becoming the internet's self-proclaimed "dad thriller guy." Rachel Redd sits down with the award winning and Colorado Book Award finalist author for a wide-ranging conversation on writing thrillers with horror baked in, surviving traditional publishing rejection, and building a career one breadcrumb at a time.

Timestamps:

00:01 – Welcome to Talking Horror & Meeting Caleb Stephens

01:41 – Rachel's 2 AM Reading Marathon and the Twist She Didn't See Coming

07:04 – From Alan Dean Foster to Stephen King: A Childhood Built on Fantasy and Horror

10:32 – Ten Years as a Corporate Accountant Before Taking the Leap

12:48 – Five Years, One Unpublishable Novel, and a Verdict From the Guy Who Wrote Jumanji

14:41 – Short Stories, Craft Books, and a Writer's Digest Honorable Mention

21:38 – The Fool's Cap Method and Why Gillian Flynn Can Pants a Whole Thriller

29:58 – The Girls in the Cabin's Two Year Agent Rollercoaster

32:27 – Getting Picked Up by the UK's Largest Indie Publisher and Discovering BookTok

34:02 – Why Feeders Flopped and He Became "The Dad Thriller Guy"

38:30 – Making Colorado's Deadly Weather a Character in The Girls in the Cabin

43:48 – Rewriting a Book Seven Times and Turning the Dad Into a Bigger Jerk

46:31 – Missing a Publishing Deadline and Self-Publishing If You Lie Out of Fear

48:26 – Writing Through Sciatica and a Full Manuscript Rewrite

53:39 – Building a Gone Girl Tribute Twist Into You'll Never Know

1:02:34 – First Look at Don't Hesitate: A Dad and Son Hunting Trip Gone Wrong

1:05:02 – Why Grief Keeps Showing Up in Every Book He Writes

1:07:45 – The Paperback Pre-Order Problem No One Talks About

1:10:21 – Book Recommendations: S.A. Cosby, John Boyne, and More

Grab your copy of The Girls in the Cabin: [LINK]

Connect with Caleb Stephens:

Website: https://www.calebstephensauthor.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/calebstephensauthor/?hl=en

Follow Talking Horror Podcast:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rachelreddreads/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@rachelredd

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