“Tell me facts, and I’ll learn. Tell me truth, and I’ll believe you. But tell me a story and it will live in my heart forever.” – Native American Proverb
I admit it – I’m a geek. Back in the day I got a lot of props from my fellow geeks when I caught an error in the movie The Net (released in 1995 with Sandra Bullock and Jeremy Northam). They had an Internet protocol address that was bigger than 255 which is the maximum number that can be represented in 8 bits. Yep, I’m a geek.
But I also learn a great deal about technology by how it’s presented in books and movies. Even for technologies that I know well, my focus is on helping people use them effectively so I often don’t truly grasp how they can be used for nefarious purposes until I read about it in a story. It is truly remarkable how much research goes into making a compelling narrative about some of the challenges facing our world.
For instance, Michael Connolly recently released a fantastic legal thriller, The Proving Ground, about the dangers of AI and the ability to hold companies accountable. And one of my favorite bestselling authors, Barbara Nickless, educated me about online gaming and the dangers presented by virtual manipulators in her latest fantastic thriller, A Voice in the Dark.
In this episode of The Life of Try podcast, I talk with Wall Street Journal bestselling author Barbara Nickless about A Voice in the Dark. Our conversation moves from the dark corners of online gaming and internet manipulation to the real-world vulnerabilities of teenagers, families, and people searching for belonging.
Barbara shares how deep research, FBI consultants, and her own curiosity shape her fiction, especially as she writes about FBI profiler Helen Belle, criminal humanist Benedict Hoffman, addiction, trauma, and the question of what draws people toward danger.
This thoughtful author interview explores how storytelling can help us understand complicated human experiences, including moral injury, PTSD, addiction, grief, law enforcement, cybercrime, and the healing power of writing. Barbara also reflects on teaching writing to military veterans and civilians, researching dangerous places and difficult subjects, and using narrative to “de-other” people we might otherwise misunderstand.
Key Takeaways:
- A Voice in the Dark explores the dangers young people can face in online communities, especially when vulnerable teens and young adults are targeted by manipulative influencers.
- Storytelling can help us “de-other” people by taking us inside their motivations, histories, and struggles in ways that facts and news stories alone often cannot.
- Curiosity is at the heart of Barbara Nickless’s writing process. Her research into online gaming, FBI investigations, addiction, trauma, and moral injury helps make her fiction vivid, compassionate, and grounded in real human experience.
- Researching modern crime fiction requires balancing accuracy with readability, particularly when writing about cybercrime, AI, online manipulation, and evolving law enforcement tools.
- The conversation highlights a core Life of Try theme: trying begins with curiosity, openness, and a willingness to enter unfamiliar worlds in order to understand ourselves and one another more deeply.
If you love conversations about books, personal growth, curiosity, crime fiction, psychological thrillers, resilience, and what it means to keep trying, this episode offers a rich and compassionate look at the stories that help us make sense of ourselves and one another.
Here are some other ways you can listen and watch this episode:
- The podcast player embedded below
- Click this link to watch in a browser: Barbara Nickless on A Voice In The Dark, Online Gaming, and The Power of Story
- Subscribe to The Life of Try on Spotify, Amazon Music, or Apple Podcasts
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Barbara Nickless on A Voice In The Dark, Online Gaming and The Power of Story – The Life of Try: Personal growth, one try at a time.
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📘 Order A Voice In the Dark from Barnes & Noble , Bookshop or Amazon
🌐 Visit Barbara Nickless’s website: https://barbaranickless.com/
🎥 Watch the Book trailer for A Voice in the Dark
🔔 Subscribe to The Life of Try for more conversations on personal growth, creativity, reinvention, resilience, writing, and mindset.
Barbara Nickless on A Voice in the Dark, Online Gaming, and the Power of Story transcript
Other Episodes you Might Enjoy:
➡️ Letting Go Of Outcomes: The Mindset That Keeps You Moving
➡️ 48: How to Get Unstuck: Michael Yang on Saying Yes, Resilience and Coming Alive
➡️ How to Finally Write That Book You’ve Been Dreaming About | Writing Motivation with Vicki Atkinson
(featured photo from Pexels)
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