"I always place myself in the situation, then add about 50% more bravery."

Bestselling author Carter Wilson on ratcheting up the stakes, generating buzz, and his propulsive new thriller, TELL ME WHAT YOU DID

Check out the collection of past Words With (Author) Friends, wherein I g-chat with an author and you get to read over my shoulder, and order Carter’s adrenaline-fueled novel, available now.

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Me: Hey, Carter!

Carter: I'm here!

Welcome! Congrats on TELL ME WHAT YOU DID!

Thank you, so excited to see it out there!

How are you feeling post-launch? Has the madness died down or are you still in the thick of it?

Died down a bit, but now the travel is ramping up. But of course, that's always fun.

Yes! Tiring, but in the best possible way.

I feel very grateful whenever someone wants to talk to me about writing or my books, so even though it can be a whirlwind, I feel very fortunate.

100%. And speaking of talking about your books, can you share a little about TMWYD?

Yes, would love to. In short, Tell Me What You Did follows Poe Webb,
who runs the top-ranked true-crime podcast in the country, in which guests come
on and anonymously confess past crimes. Poe started the podcast as a means of
healing: she witnessed her mother's brutal killing when Poe was only 13. But when
a strange and oddly familiar man appears on her show, Poe is forced to take a
second look. Not only because he claims to be her mother’s murderer from years
ago, but because Poe knows something no one else does. Her mother’s murderer is
dead. And Poe was the one who killed him.

Such a fun and twisted premise. What was the inspiration?

My buddy told me about a podcast a few years back where people could leave an anonymous apology on a voicemail line, and I immediately thought what it was a confession? I don't outline, so that's the only nugget of an idea I had. I just wrote the first chapter and was off to the races.

That's so fun. So Poe's backstory, her mother's death and her own retribution—that all came out in the writing? When do you start to wrap your head around the major pieces of the plot?