Writing Dialogue That Carries the Entire Scene and How Voice Can Make or Break Your Novel

In part one of this week’s double author interview, Carly Watters sits down with debut author Lara Stokes to discuss her novel ‘Midsummer Nights’ — a contemporary, theater-filled spin on William Shakespeare’s ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’. Lara opens up about querying during COVID, the memoir and “drawer novel” that came before her debut, and how writing the book “just for fun” ultimately led to her publishing breakthrough. They also dive into balancing literary and commercial fiction, writing humor and romance, Shakespeare’s lasting influence on modern storytelling, and the realities of building a writing career while juggling day jobs, rejection, and uncertainty.

In part two of this week’s double author interview, Bianca chats with author Camille Perri about writing across genres, crafting distinct multi-POV voices, and why voice can make or break a novel. They dive into the layered editing process, balancing humor with emotional depth, the challenge of writing “complex” female characters, and how setting can become an active part of storytelling. Plus, Camille shares how ‘Social Animals’ evolved from a screenplay into a novel packed with mystery, heart, and dog park drama.

Note: CeCe Lyra is a literary agent at Wendy Sherman Associates. If you’d like to query CeCe, please refer to the submission guidelines at www.wsherman.com. Carly Watters is a literary agent at P.S. Literary Agency, but her work on this podcast is not affiliated with the agency, and the views expressed by Carly on this podcast are solely that of her as a podcast co-host ​and do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions, policies, or position of P.S. Literary Agency.

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