Making It Up with Caroline Cleveland, author of When Cicadas Cry Artwork

Carter Wilson's Making It Up

In this conversation series, USA Today bestselling novelist Carter Wilson talks to writers of all backgrounds in order to find out why they do what they do. He and his guests discuss childhood influences, roots of creativity, luck and loss, tools of the craft, and the highs and lows of publishing. At the end of their conversation, they pick a random sentence from a random book and use it to create an impromptu short story. Visit Carter at www.carterwilson.com.

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Carter Wilson's Making It Up

Making It Up with Caroline Cleveland, author of When Cicadas Cry

April 18, 2024 • Carter Wilson • Season 1 • Episode 130

Caroline Cleveland credits growing up in the rural South and its quieter way of life for her lifelong passion for books and storytelling. Her dedication to the written word led her to law school at the University of South Carolina, where she earned her degree in 1991. She is certified by the South Carolina Supreme Court as a specialist in labor and employment law and is the founding partner of Cleveland & Conley, LLC. Her debut novel, When Cicadas Cry, about a high-profile murder case in a small South Carolina town rife with racial tension, will be published by Union Square Publishing on May 7, 2024.

Among other things, Caroline and Carter discuss the Murdaugh family, writing unreliable narrators, and how legal experience and connections can influence writing novels. At the end of their conversation, they make up a suspenseful and captivating story using a line from Hot Springs by Stephen Hunter.