Caleb Stephens joins Talking Horror to talk The Girls in the Cabin, If You Lie, and You'll Never Know, and how he went from a decade as a corporate accountant to becoming the internet's self-proclaimed "dad thriller guy." Rachel Redd sits down with the award winning and Colorado Book Award finalist author for a wide-ranging conversation on writing thrillers with horror baked in, surviving traditional publishing rejection, and building a career one breadcrumb at a time.
Timestamps:
00:01 – Welcome to Talking Horror & Meeting Caleb Stephens
01:41 – Rachel's 2 AM Reading Marathon and the Twist She Didn't See Coming
07:04 – From Alan Dean Foster to Stephen King: A Childhood Built on Fantasy and Horror
10:32 – Ten Years as a Corporate Accountant Before Taking the Leap
12:48 – Five Years, One Unpublishable Novel, and a Verdict From the Guy Who Wrote Jumanji
14:41 – Short Stories, Craft Books, and a Writer's Digest Honorable Mention
21:38 – The Fool's Cap Method and Why Gillian Flynn Can Pants a Whole Thriller
29:58 – The Girls in the Cabin's Two Year Agent Rollercoaster
32:27 – Getting Picked Up by the UK's Largest Indie Publisher and Discovering BookTok
34:02 – Why Feeders Flopped and He Became "The Dad Thriller Guy"
38:30 – Making Colorado's Deadly Weather a Character in The Girls in the Cabin
43:48 – Rewriting a Book Seven Times and Turning the Dad Into a Bigger Jerk
46:31 – Missing a Publishing Deadline and Self-Publishing If You Lie Out of Fear
48:26 – Writing Through Sciatica and a Full Manuscript Rewrite
53:39 – Building a Gone Girl Tribute Twist Into You'll Never Know
1:02:34 – First Look at Don't Hesitate: A Dad and Son Hunting Trip Gone Wrong
1:05:02 – Why Grief Keeps Showing Up in Every Book He Writes
1:07:45 – The Paperback Pre-Order Problem No One Talks About
1:10:21 – Book Recommendations: S.A. Cosby, John Boyne, and More
Grab your copy of The Girls in the Cabin: [LINK]
Connect with Caleb Stephens:
Website: https://www.calebstephensauthor.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/calebstephensauthor/?hl=en
Follow Talking Horror Podcast:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rachelreddreads/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@rachelredd
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