After years of rejection, losing his agent and editor, and a creeping number of novels sitting on his hard drive, Amin Ahmad said he was writing one more book and then he was done. Good thing he did! Amin’s new book club thriller has critics and readers raving, and it’s been optioned for a limited series: proof that craft, persistence, and knowing your obsessions always pays off eventually.

On today’s episode, Amin, a former architect and creative writing professor at Duke University, sits down to talk about his breakout thriller A Killer in the Family, a Gatsby-esque story of arranged marriage, family secrets, a wealthy New York dynasty, and a lurking serial killer. But just as compelling as the novel itself is the story behind it: years of failed drafts, lost agents, and hard-won lessons about what it really takes to become a successful author.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• Why failure isn't the enemy of good writing — it's the method

• The difference between a "discovery draft" and a finished manuscript (and why confusing the two stalls writers)

• How Amin uses index cards to outline without killing creative momentum

• Why building a writing community is as important as developing your craft

• The publishing industry realities no one warns you about — and how to navigate them

• How teaching writing accelerated his own growth as an author

• Why reading screenwriting books might be the best thing a novelist can do

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Topics and Timestamps:

1:22 — Welcome & introducing *A Killer in the Family*

3:16 — The elevator pitch: arranged marriage, wealth, and a serial killer

4:17 — The real family secret that inspired the novel

5:59 — The Great Gatsby connection & the Jersey Turnpike moment

7:22 — Writing under a new name & finding Amin’s subject matter

12:40 — Literary thriller vs. genre fiction: how does Amin label it?

19:37 — Place as the way in: New York, architecture & expensive tastes

23:21 — Craft: writing immersive settings without slowing the pace

26:35 — Managing time, POV, and suspense in the novel

31:10 — From immigrant to architect to writer: the origin story

34:59 — Finding (and keeping) a literary agent

36:59 — Writing is failure — and why that's the whole point

40:05 — What Amin wishes he'd known before his first book was published

44:44 — The limited series option & the dream theme song

Amin Ahmad on failure, finding your niche, and A KILLER IN THE FAMILY