Carter Bays

Carter Bays brought experience in television comedy to his first novel, The Mutual Friend. He co-created How I Met Your Mother with Craig Thomas and served as its co-showrunner throughout the series. Bays had previously written for Late Show with David Letterman and produced American Dad! Dutton published The Mutual Friend in 2022. Set in New York in 2015, the ensemble story links Alice Quick, her roommate Roxy, Roxy’s brother Bill, and other characters negotiating work, friendship, ambition, and constant phone use. Bays uses an interwoven structure to follow the connected cast across one summer.