Uncorking a Story Podcast

Uncorking a Story

Hosted ByMike Carlon

Stories influence, teach and inspire us, but what about the storytellers who create them? Uncorking a Story profiles storytellers to uncover how their background and life experiences influence the stories they create. We learn what motivates them, their path to success, and what fuels them to keep creating. It all starts by asking one simple question, where does your story begin? Welcome to uncorking a story. All of the books promoted on Uncorking a Story can be viewed and purchased here: https://bookshop.org/shop/UncorkingaStory

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Crime and Creativity, with Lina Chern

June 24, 2025 MPN Uncorking a Story 0 Comments
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“The essence of art is taking life’s randomness and shaping it into something meaningful.” — Lina Chern

Lina Chern’s debut mystery Play the Fool earned major acclaim, winning the 2024 Mary Higgins Clark Award. Now she’s back with Tricks of Fortune, a darker, more nuanced follow-up inspired by a real-life incident in her community. In this candid conversation, Lina and Mike talk about the writer’s true superpower (curiosity), the difference between myth and reality, and how life experience shapes better storytelling. If you’re a fan of crime fiction, writing craft, or simply love hearing about the creative process, this episode is for you.

Key Takeaways:

  1. Writing is a skill, not a lightning strike: Lina shares how persistence and practice mattered far more than innate talent in becoming a successful author.
  2. The author’s true superpower: It’s not stringing pretty sentences together — it’s following deep curiosity wherever it leads.
  3. Turning fact into fiction: Tricks of Fortune draws emotional truth from a real crime, but is highly fictionalized to respect the complexity of the story.
  4. Myth vs. Reality: The story explores how public figures (especially law enforcement) often cultivate myths that later unravel — rich territory for fiction.
  5. Writing with life experience: Lina feels her later-in-life writing career has benefited from deeper insight into people and the world.
  6. The pressure of book two: Success brings new expectations — from balancing new and returning readers to writing on deadline.
  7. The joy of writing community: Conventions, author events, and connecting with fellow writers has become a huge source of inspiration and camaraderie.

Buy Tricks of Fortune

Amazon: https://amzn.to/4meh2Zx

Bookshop.org: https://bookshop.org/a/54587/9780593500682

Connect with Lina

Website: https://www.linachern.com/

Twitter: https://x.com/ChernLina

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/linachernwrites/

Connect with Mike

Website: https://uncorkingastory.com/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSvS4fuG3L1JMZeOyHvfk_g

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/uncorkingastory/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@uncorkingastory

Twitter: https://twitter.com/uncorkingastory

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/uncorkingastory

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/uncorking-a-story/

If you like this episode, please share it with a friend. If you have not done so already, please rate and review Uncorking a Story on Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

#CrimeFiction #MysteryNovels #TricksOfFortune #WritingProcess #TurningFactIntoFiction #CreativityAndCuriosity #AuthorsLife #UncorkingAStory #PodcastInterview #LinaChern

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