Bianca and CeCe Discuss The Real Sh*t No One Tells You About Writing

The Shit No One Tells You About Writing

Bianca Marais, Carly Watters and CeCe Lyra

How To, Books, Education, Fiction, Arts

4.8 • 733 Ratings

🗓️ 5 June 2025

⏱️ 41 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In this special episode, CeCe Lyra sits down with our very own Bianca Marais to explore her writing journey, with a spotlight on her latest novel, ‘A Most Puzzling Murder.’ If you’re not already familiar with her work, Bianca is the bestselling author of ‘The Witches of Moonshyne Manor’, the beloved novels ‘Hum If You Don’t Know the Words’ and ‘If You Want to Make God Laugh’, and the Audible Original ‘The Prynne Viper’. She has also taught creative writing at the University of Toronto’s School of Continuing Studies, where she received an Excellence in Teaching Award.

In this candid conversation, CeCe and Bianca dive into the challenges of switching genres, the role of curiosity seeds in storytelling, and finding the right balance between pantsing and plotting. Bianca offers valuable insights into crafting tone, designing an interactive reading experience through puzzles, and managing the intricacies of writing an ensemble cast. They also discuss the behind-the-scenes realities of publishing and the importance of trusting your agent.

Note: Carly Watters and CeCe Lyra are literary agents at P.S. Literary Agency, but their work on this podcast is not affiliated with the agency, and the views expressed by Carly and CeCe on this podcast are solely that of them as podcast co-hosts and do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions, policies, or position of P.S. Literary Agency.

Upcoming in person event you won't want to miss! A 'Most Puzzling Murder' Book Launch! Is now SOLD OUT!

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello, listeners, this is Cece. I am so excited to announce my next course, Writing Emotion and Relationships,
0:08.4	an all-new mashup of two of my most popular classes revamped with fresh content starting on June 19th.
0:16.6	This is going to be a four-day event, so come prepared to take lots of notes.
0:22.1	We'll cover active versus passive emotions, how to effectively show versus tell,
0:27.7	most common mistakes in writing emotions and relationships, and obviously how to get it right,
0:33.8	types of relationships and how to leverage each one in a story,
0:39.1	emotional and relational makeups and arcs for protagonists and other characters, how to create chemistry between characters,
0:46.5	different genre expectations, and so much more.
0:50.2	Oh, and did I mention there is an interactive component.
0:54.0	That's right, everyone who is registered will have the option of sending an excerpt of their work for a chance to have it critiqued live during the webinar.
1:04.0	Writers of all categories and genres are invited to attend.
1:09.0	There are limited spots though, so if you're interested,
1:11.6	sign up now. And don't worry, if you can't attend one or more sessions live, the recording
1:17.0	will be sent to everyone who's registered 24 hours after each class. Once again, this is a four-day
1:24.7	class writing emotion and relationships beginning on June 19th.
1:29.6	For more details, check out the link on my Instagram bio or head over to the podcast's website.
1:36.2	I hope to see you there.
1:49.7	Hi there and welcome to our show. The Shit No One Tells You About Writing.
1:57.2	I'm Bianca Murray and I'm joined by Carly Waters and C.C. Lira from PS Literary Agency.
2:03.5	Hello everyone. Welcome to a very, very, very special episode of the shit. No One Tells You About Writing Podcast. We are interviewing our very own Bianca Moray. This is going to be really
2:10.8	weird, but I'm going to read you Bianca's bio. Just in case you guys don't know who Bianca is.
2:16.0	Bianca Moray co-hosts the popular podcast,
	...

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