This is The Beautiful Writers' podcast. I'm Linda Sieverts, and today's conversation with Dean Coons and Robert McKee as my guest host is going to be a bit of a master class on craft. I can think of no two better experts on story to put together for this, and I've learned so much.

Dean is one of the most popular novelists of all time, having sold nearly a half a billion books in 38 languages, 14 of which have risen to number one on the New York Times bestseller list.

The Washington Post calls his book's page turners.

Middle of the night, sneak up behind you suspense thrillers that touch our hearts and

tingle our spines.

Playboy magazine says that if Stephen King is the Rolling Stones of novelist, Coons is the Beatles.

Robert McKee was a guest here last year, and he's a living legend, too, to so many writers

and screenwriters.

Since 1984, more than 100,000 students have taken his courses in cities around the world.

Some names you may recognize include Peter Jackson, Jane Campion, Jeffrey Rush, Paul Haggis,

Kirk Douglas, David Bowie, on and on.

The writers of Pixar, who are the creators of Toy Story and Finding Nemo, consider Robert's story seminar a rite of passage.

His alumni have earned 200 Oscar nominations with 60 wins and a thousand Emmy Noms with 200 wins. His clients have written,

produced, acted in or directed for Game of Thrones, Downton Abbey, House of Cards, Frozen and Breaking

Bad. Plus, he's a project consultant to major film and television studios as well, and may or may not

have some harsh words for Hollywood.

May.

The three of us are going to talk about character and setting and dialogue and suspense

and opening hooks, premonition, puzzle, contracts, and work ethic, and so much more. Both men have new books out.

Robert's latest is called Dialogue, the art of verbal action for the page, stage, and screen,

and Dean's newest drops today. It's called The Whispering Room. It's the second in the Jane Hawks series

with our protagonist, Jane, a rogue FBI agent who is

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