Backstory Archives - Sterling & Stone

Johnny and Sean (AKA Aubrey Parker) discuss books 7-9 of the Tillionaire Boys’ Club. They discuss the origin of the characters, their writing process, and where they plan to go next with their stories.The post BS25 Trillionaire Boys’ Club 7-9 appeared first on Sterling & Stone.

Curious about how No Hope, book three in the No Justice series was made? In this episode of Backstory, Dave and Sean share their personal commentary on a story of justice and redemption.The post BS24 No Hope appeared first on Sterling & Stone.

Join Dave and Sean as they discuss writing No Escape. The cultural landscape that the story interacts with and the emotional tax of writing a story that feels immediately relevant has given this series a flavor that stands out from previous books in the Collective Inkwell library.The post BS23 No Escape appeared first on Sterling & Stone.

Tomorrow Gene was intended to be 5 books long, right on the heels of the 7 book Invasion. But it ended up being only 3 books – a very different scope that what they began with. In today’s Backstory, learn about the process the guys went through to trim down their fiction, as well as […]The post BS22 The Tomorrow Gene Series appeared first on Sterling & Stone.

The post BS21 The Future of Sex Series appeared first on Sterling & Stone.

Karma Police claims 6 episodes of blood, sweat, and tears for Dave, and puppy enthusiasm from Sean. Dave’s inspiration comes from David Levithan’s Every Day. This is a story Dave wishes he wrote, and so he and Sean wrote Karma Police instead. This was an interesting project that almost became a superhero story. Plus, listen […]The post BS20 Karma Police appeared first on Sterling & Stone.

Cursed was designed to be an episodic experience, but things changed along the way. The guys talk about the experience of writing the series, how they decided to close it, and some of the plot changes and world-building scrambles they had along the way. Discover the thought behind each of the characters, how they bridged […]The post BS19 Backstory for Cursed appeared first on Sterling & Stone.

WARNING: THIS EPISODE CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR THE GURU AND THE TRILLIONAIRE BOYS CLUB SERIES. We haven’t been able to do any Backstory episodes for the Trillionaire Boys’ Club for one reason: Johnny wasn’t ‘out’ as Aubrey yet. But now that’s behind us, and we can talk The Guru. Learn about the one throw-away decision that […]The post BS18 The Guru appeared first on Sterling & Stone.

La Fleur was never meant to have a Back Story episode, but there’s something very special about it. Today, Sean and Johnny talk about the inspiration for La Fleur de Blanc, which comes from Sean’s real world experience in a flower shop in California. They discuss how it nearly ruined the Lexi Maxwell brand, and […]The post BS17 La Fleur de Blanc appeared first on Sterling & Stone.

This is one book that’s difficult to talk about without revealing some shocking spoilers. Today, Sean and Johnny discuss the process of writing Devil May Care, one of Sterling and Stone’s passion projects. While this literary work won’t necessarily be a best-seller, that wasn’t the purpose. Find out what was cut and the struggle of […]The post BS16 Devil May Care appeared first on Sterling & Stone.

Threshold is a unique story in many ways. For one, it’s the first book the guys had to completely rewrite, and it’s one that Dave started out wanting to write. Find out when Threshold was born, how it changed over the course of being written, and the struggles the guys faced while going through a […]The post BS15 Threshold appeared first on Sterling & Stone.

Dead City is one of the guys’ favorite books, and today, Sean and Johnny discuss the book, how it started, and how it drastically changed. Find out why it’s not really a monster book, beats that never made it to the final book, and the guys’ favorite moments in the story and creating it. Also, […]The post BS14 Dead City appeared first on Sterling & Stone.

***This episode contains spoilers for Resurrection, part of the Invasion series. Resurrection is the final book in the Invasion series, one of the guys’ favorite and most popular stories. Want to know what ending the guys originally intended versus what happened? Want to know Johnny’s and Sean’s favorite moments, and the awesome Easter eggs you […]The post BS13 Resurrection appeared first on Sterling & Stone.

**This episode contains spoilers for the Collective Inkwell book, Available Darkness.** Available Darkness is special to Sean and Dave; it’s the first work they started together. Find out the strange place Dave got the idea of the story, and dig into the part of Dave’s psyche that fuels a lot of what Collective Inkwell publishes. […]The post BS12 Available Darkness appeared first on Sterling & Stone.

**This episode contains spoilers for Judgement, a book in the Invasion series, and other books in the series. What’s it like to write a series, one book at a time? From reader confusion to story arcs to how they revealed them, Johnny and Sean go through the challenges of writing the book and series. Find […]The post BS11 Judgement appeared first on Sterling & Stone.

Yesterday’s Gone was the title where Collective Inkwell (Sean and Dave) really found its voice. With the entire series complete, the guys have an amazing time remembering the process they went through writing it, and the challenges they faced as indies several years ago. They also talk about the beloved serial character, Boricio.The post BS10 Yesterday’s Gone appeared first on Sterling & Stone.

**This episode contains spoilers for Extinction, part of the Invasion series, as well as earlier books in the series.** Invasion is a series that Sean and Johnny have had a blast writing, and Extinction is their absolute favorite book in the series. In today’s episode, they share the struggles and challenges, as well as the […]The post BS09 Extinction appeared first on Sterling & Stone.

SPOILER ALERT! Today, Johnny and Sean talk about what went on behind the scenes during Dream Engine and the most recent book, Ruby Room. This story was one of the first Story Shopped, or beats 2.0, stories, and the guys talk about the challenges they faced with such a huge world and remembering what characters […]The post BS08 Ruby Room Extras appeared first on Sterling & Stone.

THIS EPISODE CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR SHADEBORN, THE FOURTH BOOK OF THE NIGHTBLADE EPIC. Today, Sean and Garrett talk about the creation of the Shadeborn book, part of the Nightblade epic series. Find out when Sean and Garrett collaborated, and whether it was a good idea or not Rogan, and the challenges of filling the character […]The post BS07 Shadeborn Extras appeared first on Sterling & Stone.

THIS EPISODE CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR DARKFIRE, THIRD BOOK IN THE NIGHTBLADE SERIES. Sean and Garrett talk about what went into the writing of Darkfire, the third book in the Nightblade series. Find out what went on behind the scenes! How Darkfire is like ‘The Wire’ in that it pulls back to a much bigger picture […]The post BS06 Darkfire Extras appeared first on Sterling & Stone.