September Bonus Episode
The Shit No One Tells You About Writing
Bianca Marais, Carly Watters and CeCe Lyra
4.8 • 842 Ratings
🗓️ 29 September 2025
⏱️ 71 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
It’s bonus episode time! We’re thrilled to welcome back Emilie Sommer for her popular comps segment. But first, Bianca sits down with bestselling author Hank Phillippi Ryan to talk about her latest thriller, ‘All This Could Be Yours’. They dive into the realities of book tours, the challenges writers face in the spotlight, and the layered psychology behind her characters. Hank also shares the inspiration driving her story, her creative process, and how she balances vulnerability with the high stakes of storytelling—all while staying deeply connected to her readers.
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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It’s Beta Reader Match Up time again where you can be matched up with those writing in a similar genre and/or time zone, so they can critique your work as you critique theirs.
For more information and to register, go to: https://www.biancamarais.com/beta-reader-match-
up.html
Sign up for CeCe’s Fall Course:
Writing Tension Creating Tension, Conflict and Stakes in a Story
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Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | What's up everyone? This is Cece. If you're a writer, then chances are you've wondered if your story is good enough. |
| 0:07.1 | Maybe you're wondering that right now. I get it. Here's what I can tell you. As long as your story is making the reader curious, you're good. |
| 0:15.3 | Now, I'm not saying you won't have to make edits when working with an agent or publisher. Edits are a part of the game, but I am saying that you will get ahead in your career |
| 0:24.4 | if you know how to make the reader curious. |
| 0:26.9 | The best way to do that, infuse your story with plenty of tension, conflict, and stakes, |
| 0:32.7 | which is why I'm so excited to invite you to join my four-day course, writing tension, creating tension, conflict, |
| 0:39.3 | and stakes in your story. It starts on October 13. My favorite part about this class is that there |
| 0:46.0 | are formulas, yes, formulas, for tension, for conflict, for stakes. And for the first time ever, |
| 0:53.5 | we're having two optional interactive |
| 0:55.8 | components, including a query letter studio and live critiques of select first pages. I'm super |
| 1:03.8 | excited about this new format because I've seen it yield results in writer's works. And it works |
| 1:09.3 | for writers of any genre as long as you're serious about |
| 1:12.6 | improving your work. So if you're ready to take your writing to the next level, join me for |
| 1:18.4 | this four-day course. Don't worry if you can't attend live. The sessions will be recorded. |
| 1:25.3 | For more information, check out my bio on Instagram or the podcast's website. |
| 1:30.5 | I'm looking forward to seeing you there. Have you been sitting on the fence about signing up for |
| 1:35.6 | the beta reader matchup? Or have you signed up before but haven't as yet found your writing soulmates? |
| 1:41.9 | The next matchup is the last one of the year, |
| 1:44.6 | so don't snooze on it. |
| 1:46.4 | Get matched up with those writing in a similar genre |
| 1:49.1 | and or time zone so they can critique your work |
| 1:52.0 | as you critique theirs. |
... |
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