#118: Storytelling Tips and Murder Writing with Carlos Allende

Do you ever have a recurring dream? Maybe you're always falling, and you wake up just before you smack into something. Or maybe you're like me as a child and randomly dream about fat men eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and exploding (but in a fun, cartoony way).

For Carlos Allende, a fiction writer and media scholar, his recurring dream was that he had murdered someone. And that morbid and macabre environment served as the launching pad for his latest book, Coffee, Shopping, Murder, Love.

Carlos is talking about his new book, but he's also dropping plenty of knowledge on storytelling, writing, and marketing your work. And don't worry, no one actually gets murdered in this episode, so you can safely tune in.

Highlights of our conversation

• Why you can look toward games for proper writing technique. (3:02)

• A glimpse at the novel Carlos started writing when he was 17 years old. Spoiler: It was pretty bad. (5:06)

• The inspiration behind Carlos’s new book, Coffee, Shopping, Murder, Love. (6:06)

• How the previous two books Carlos has written helped shape his writing process for Coffee, Shopping, Murder, Love. (11:33)

• The importance of going to events and certain marketing strategies that have worked well. (15:08)

• Why Carlos enjoys making the reader root for horrible people. (19:07)

• A sneak peak of Carlos’s upcoming book that he’s currently working on. (24:50)

• The top modern composers. (27:43)

Where to find Carlos Allende

Pick up a copy of Carlos’s book here.

Check out his website for his upcoming book launch events!

Support Good People, Cool Things

Thanks to Dave Zalatoris from Beer In Front for this episode’s intro. Take a listen and grow your beer knowledge. Cheers to that!

Buy a copy of Kind, But Kind of Weird: Short Stories on Life's Relationships.

Pick up some merch at the shop.

Share this episode with a friend. Thanks for listening!