Outliers Writing University Podcast Series

GET TO KNOW Author Ande Pliego

Ande began writing stories when she discovered she could actually wield her overactive imagination for good. A lover of stories with teeth, she writes books involving mind games, dark humor, general murder and mayhem, and most importantly, finding the hope in the dark.
When not reading or writing, she can usually be found dabbling in art, scheming up her next trip, or making constant expeditions to the library. Born in Florida, raised in France, and having left footprints all over the globe, Ande is settled in the Pacific Northwest with her craftsman husband and little son.
https://www.andepliego.com/

CRIMINAL MISCHIEF 70: Mark Safarik, Behavioral Assessment Expert

Supervisory Special Agent, F.B.I. (Ret.) Mark Safarik was one of the most respected members of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s elite Behavioral Analysis Unit, during which time he established himself as an internationally recognized expert in the analysis and interpretation of violent criminal behavior. Mr. Safarik’s law enforcement career spans over 30 years, during which time he worked in all levels of police work, from working patrol as a beat cop to investigating murders as a detective to performing on-scene forensic services early in his FBI career. But the defining moments in Mr. Safarik’s professional life came during his 23 years with the FBI, where he spent over half that time as a criminal profiler. Mr. Safarik led the consultation efforts on many high profile national and international violent crime cases and lectured at numerous foreign police forces around the world, sharing his expertise in the analysis of homicide and complex crime scene behavior.
Mr. Safarik has a graduate degree from Boston University and is an adjunct faculty member at Boston College. He is a lecturer at the University of Pennsylvania, a faculty member of the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology and an advisory board member at the Wecht Institute of Forensic Science and Law, Duquesne University. He has conducted internationally renowned research on the sexual assault and homicide of elder females and was awarded the prestigious Jefferson Medal from the University of Virginia for this groundbreaking work. He was presented with the 2009 Silver Medal from The Spanish Society of Criminology and Forensic Science, the first non-European to receive this honor. He is a member of the highly respected Vidocq Society, a criminological group that donates its investigative resources to solving cold case homicides. He is well-published in several international journals, including the Journal of Forensic Sciences, International Journal of Homicide Studies, and Journal of Interpersonal Violence. Mr. Safarik has also authored chapters on violent crime in a number of professional textbooks.
In addition to specializing in the careful and detailed analysis of violent criminals and their criminal behavior through crime and crime scene analysis, Mr. Safarik has reviewed and consulted on thousands of national and international crimes of violence including all types of homicides; serial, mass, single and multiple murders, sexual assault, assault with injury, extortion, false allegation of sexual assault, offender motivation and deterability, and equivocal death analysis. His expertise has been utilized by prosecutors and defense attorneys in both criminal and civil courts. Mr. Safarik has provided expert witness testimony throughout the United States on complex behavioral assessments in many high profile cases including the Spokane Serial Killer, the Bakersfield Mass Murder, and three California police homicides. The areas he has been asked to address range from issues related to crime dynamics to staging and undoing, as well as providing an understanding of what happened, and why. He has appeared on Dateline, Court TV, Forensic Files, MSNBC and The Discovery Channel to discuss his cases and analyses. His television series, Killer Instinct, is currently airing on the Biography Channel. Since 2008 he has been a consultant for the popular television series CSI: Las Vegas and Bones.  
Mr. Safarik is a highly regarded lecturer who has taught over 20,000 law enforcement personnel worldwide, from police chiefs to homicide and violent crime investigators, prosecutors, defense attorneys, judges, medical examiners, mental health professionals, forensic nurses, and academicians. Mr. Safarik currently consults with law enforcement agencies, attorneys, universities, writers, television networks, and foreign government entities.
https://fbsinternational.com/

GET TO KNOW Author Angela Carlisle

Angela Carlisle resides in the hills of northern Kentucky and is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers and The Christian PEN. Angela’s debut novel, Secondary Target, was a Parable Weekly top seller and was included in the Library Journal Stars So Far listing. Angela is an editor by day and prefers to spend her free time reading, baking, and drinking ridiculous quantities of hot tea. 
 
https://angelacarlisle.com/
 

GET TO KNOW Best-selling Author Kaira Rouda

USA Today bestselling and award-winning author Kaira Rouda has written
more than twenty novels beloved by readers and acclaimed by critics, who’ve
called her books “chilling, satisfying suspense” (Good Housekeeping) and
“delightfully wicked fun” (Kirkus Reviews) that are “destined to fly off the
shelves” (Library Journal). She’s distinguished herself in the popular genre of
psychological suspense by constructing seemingly perfect lives and then
tearing down facades to reveal the inner, often grim truths of her characters.
At the same time, Kaira’s razor-sharp wit and wicked sense of humor shine
through to counterbalance the darkness. Simply put, Kaira Rouda has great fun
skewering the badly behaved in her fiction.
 
Her latest thriller, JILL IS NOT HAPPY, which Scarlet/Penzler Publishers will
publish in hardcover and paperback on June 10, 2025, promises to shock,
surprise and satisfy with its unflinching depiction of a longtime married couple at war and just how far they’ll go to outwit and outplay each other.
 
https://kairarouda.com/

CRIMINAL MISCHIEF 69: AFTER ESCOBAR

AFTER ESCOBAR is the gripping true story into the rise and ultimate takedown of what former DEA head Thomas Constantine called “the biggest and most powerful crime syndicate in history”, as told by the agents themselves. By the early 1990s, Colombia’s Cali cartel had become responsible for nearly 85% of the cocaine that reached U.S. soil and 90% worldwide. They were untouchable, earning billions of dollars all while maintaining their reputation as ‘The Godfathers of Cali” and brazenly corrupting thousands of Colombian authorities and government officials, even buying the outcome of the 1994 presidential election.
In 1994, the DEA sent young operatives Chris Feistl and Dave Mitchell to Colombia with one formidable task: help Colombian authorities take down the ruthless leaders of the brutal Cali cartel. No easy feat for two men who looked more like tall, California surfers than DEA agents: standing well over six feet tall and only six years removed from the DEA Academy, they were the epitome of conspicuousness in a city where most residents rarely, if ever, saw an American in person. Many of their colleagues feared for their safety, openly questioning their ability to blend in.
Their almost three-year journey would lead them from the bureaucratic halls of the U.S. Embassy to the violent streets of Cali and deep into its rural sugar cane fields, on high alert day and night as they dodged deadly cartel assassins and oftentimes worked unilaterally to battle the unprecedented corruption within Colombia’s security forces. Over time their relentless efforts began to slowly degrade the godfathers’ defenses and weaken their infrastructure.
About the Authors
Chris Feistl was a DEA Special Agent for twenty-six years, serving in diverse assignments throughout the US as well as twelve years in Colombia, South America, where he investigated major drug cartels that were supplying tons of cocaine and heroin destined for the US. Starting as a new agent in Miami, he finished his career as an Assistant Special Agent in Charge in Phoenix in 2014. Chris has been a frequent guest on television documentaries and true crime podcasts regarding the Cali cartel. He was portrayed in eighty episodes of a Spanish-language series entitled En la Boca del Lobo, as well as in Season 3 of Netflix’s hit series Narcos. He has also appeared in several other television projects, shows, and radio programs. Chris has been the recipient of numerous awards, including the DEA Administrator’s Award of Honor (DEA’s highest honor), and four Distinguished Service Medals from the Colombian government.
Dave Mitchell is a retired DEA Special Agent with thirty-three years of service, where he played a crucial role in numerous high-profile cases targeting major drug cartels, including the Cali cartel. He began his career in Miami during the era of the Miami Cocaine Cowboys, and later conducted cocaine interdiction operations in the jungles of South America and led drug investigations throughout South Florida, the Caribbean, Central and South America, and Europe. He retired in December 2020 after receiving numerous awards, including the DEA’s highest award, the Administrator’s Award of Honor, and two Distinguished Service Medals from the Colombian government. Dave currently resides in the Fort Lauderdale area and owns ClearPath Investigative Solutions, LLC, which provides investigative services and personal protection to a select group of high-profile clients.
Jessica Balboni is a Boston-based writer and editor with a diverse background in media that spans artistic, academic, corporate, and nonprofit sectors, including roles held with the Food Network, The Rockefeller Foundation, and ESPN

GET TO KNOW Author Travis Kennedy

Outliers Get to Know host Tracey Devlyn sits down with debut author Travis Kennedy to talk about his outrageously fun, heart-thumping, satirical thriller—THE WHYTE PYTHON WORLD TOUR.
A dream gig. A secret mission. A Cold War about to blow its amp.
It’s 1986 and L.A. drummer Rikki Thunder is on the brink of stardom with Whyte Python—until the band’s rise hits a global nerve. What starts as a world tour becomes a mission of epic proportions… with killer riffs, backstage secrets, and an accidental spy caught in the middle.
Travis Kennedy lives in Scarborough, Maine with his wife, Liv, and their two children, Ella and Cole. He has a long career in public service and policymaking, having worked for the Maine State Legislature for more than nine years and the United States Senate for five years. Since 2017, his day job is Director of Public Affairs for Cumberland County Government in Southern Maine.
His work has been featured in the Best New England Crime Stories and Best American Mystery Stories anthologies, Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, and McSweeney’s Internet Tendency. He is the grand prize winner of Screencraft’s 2021 Cinematic Book Contest for “Sharks in the Valley,” to be published as Welcome to Redemption. https://TravisKennedy.com
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Show Notes: https://suspensemagazine.com

GET TO KNOW Authors Meredith Lavender and Kendall Shores

Meredith Lavender has spent more than two decades working as a television writer and an executive producer. Most recently, she served as showrunner and executive producer on Max’s The Flight Attendant, and she is currently in development on multiple projects with A&E, Paramount+, and more.
Kendall Shores’s career spans nearly seventeen years and runs the gamut from grant writing for a nonprofit museum in Orlando to communications consulting and strategy for large organizations.
https://www.meredithandkendall.com/

GET TO KNOW Best-selling Author Allison Brennan

New York Times bestselling and award-winning author Allison Brennan believes that life is too short to be bored, so she had five kids and writes three books a year. She lives with her family in Arizona where she enjoys hiking, baseball Spring Training, and (of course) reading. Best known for her long-running Lucy Kincaid FBI series, Allison is currently writing the Quinn & Costa thrillers (Make It Out Alive, Jan 2026) and Angelhart Investigations (Don’t Say a Word, Sept 2025). Her first romantic mystery, Beach Reads and Deadly Deeds, will be out June 17, 2025.
https://www.allisonbrennan.com/
 
Check Out Allison’s Upcoming Classes at the Outliers Writing University:
https://www.outlierswritinguniversity.com/ongoingconference
9-9-25: Romantic Suspense vs Romantic Mysteries
11-4-25: How Can I Write What I Know if I’ve Never Killed A Man?
2-3 26: The Villains Journey
8-4-26: Writing A Compelling Series

GET TO KNOW Best-selling Author Liv Constantine

Outliers Get to Know host Tracey Devlyn sits down with New York Times bestselling author Liv Constantine to dive into her chilling new psychological thriller—DON’T OPEN YOUR EYES.
A perfect life. A haunting vision. A terrifying race to rewrite fate.
Annabelle Reynolds has it all—until her dreams begin revealing a horrifying future she can’t escape. As chilling details come true, every choice she makes could lead to tragedy. Is it destiny, or can she change what’s meant to be?
Liv Constantine is an Edgar Award-nominated, New York Times and internationally bestselling author. She is the co-author of The Last Mrs. Parrish, a Reese Witherspoon Book Club Pick, and her critically acclaimed books have been praised by the Washington Post, USA Today, the Sunday Times, People magazine, and Good Morning America, among many others, with more than two million copies sold worldwide. Her work has been translated into twenty-nine languages, is available in thirty-four countries, and is in development for both television and film. When she’s not writing, you can find her curled up with her Labrador and golden retriever, reading a good book or binge-watching the latest limited series. https://LivConstantine.com
Show Notes: https://SuspenseMagazine.com

GET TO KNOW Author Vicki Wakefield

Outliers Get to Know host Tracey Devlyn sits down with crime fiction author Vikki Wakefield to talk about her atmospheric and gripping new thriller—THE BACKWATER.
A deadly fire. A fugitive teen. A journalist chasing the truth.
When nine people die in a trailer park fire, seventeen-year-old Sabine confesses and vanishes into the backwaters. Twelve years later, journalist Rachel Weidermann hunts for the truth—but what she finds could shatter everything. Tense, unrelenting, and impossible to put down.
Vikki Wakefield writes fiction for young adults and adults. Her books explore family, class and relationships in a contemporary setting. Her novels All I Ever Wanted, Friday Brown, In Between Days and Ballad for a Mad Girl have been shortlisted for numerous awards. This Is How We Change the Ending won Book of the Year: Older Readers, Children’s Book Council Awards, 2020. After You Were Gone, a psychological thriller, is her first novel for adults. https://VikkiWakefield.com
Show Notes: https://SuspenseMagazine.com