ATTENTION: THIS PODCAST HAS MOVED!

Please read and/or listen to the following special announcement about the "Writers on Writing" podcast, as it has moved.

As you likely know, for the past several months, "Writers on Writing" has been experiencing trouble with our Apple and Amazon podcast platforms. Ironically, the problem stems from how long we've been podcasting the show. When we originally began podcasting in 2005, the technology for podcasters was still primitive and new. Since then, it has evolved significantly and we've been forced to change platforms. Unfortunately, so far, Apple and Amazon have been unable to move our subscribers over to the new platform.

Rest assured, we've been posting shows on Mondays as usual, but they're now showing on a new "Writers on Writing" podcast. Please consider resubscribing at our new site. It’s entirely free, as always.

Search for “Writers on Writing” with Barbara DeMarco-Barrett and Marrie Stone. You’ll notice a slightly updated new logo, which includes  a radio tower beaming out its circular signal to the left of the “Writers on Writing” title with the pen. You’ll know you have the correct show when you see recently posted episodes.

If you’re experiencing any difficulties, please feel free to reach out to us at marriestone@gmail.com or bdemarcobarrett@gmail.com. Our new website is www.writers-on-writing.com.

Thanks again for your ongoing support of the show. We value your listenership. Happy holidays!

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Paul Bradley Carr, 1414 Degrees

Paul Bradley Carr, author of the new novel 1414 Degrees, talks with Barbara DeMarco-Barrett about his new novel, writing in multiple POVs, the crossover from nonfiction to fiction, opening a bookstore, and so much more. 

Download audio. 

(Recorded in October 2022) 

Find us on our Patreon page.

Music and sound design by Travis Barrett 

Barbara DeMarco-Barrett: www.penonfire.com 

Marrie Stone: www.marriestone.com 

Travis Barrett: https://travisbarrett.mykajabi.com

Brian O'Hare on his debut story collection, "Surrender"

A former U.S. Marine Corps officer and graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, Brian O'Hare's debut story collection Surrender brings war to life. These 17 interconnected stories explore manhood through the lens of fatherhood, football culture, the military, war, and more.

Brian joins Marrie Stone to talk about the art, craft, and business of fiction. He shares how training as an actor influenced his writing, the "architects and gardeners" in fiction, the importance of writing contests and creating a niche for yourself, how to market your work and so much more.  

For more information on "Writers on Writing" and additional writing tips, visit our Patreon page.

Download audio. 

(Recorded on October 20, 2022)

Music and sound design by Travis Barrett

Barbara DeMarco-Barrett: www.penonfire.com
Marrie Stone: www.marriestone.com
Travis Barrett: https://travisbarrett.mykajabi.com

Liska Jacobs, author of The Pink Hotel

Novelist Liska Jacobs, author of The Pink Hotel (FSG), talks with Barbara DeMarco-Barrett about influences, first drafts, bloglines, synopses, and the art, craft, and business of writing.

Liska Jacobs is also author of Catalina and The Worst Kind of Worst. She holds an MFA from the University of California, Riverside. Her essays and fiction have appears in The Rumpus, Los Angeles Review of Books, Literary Hub, the Millions, and The Hairpin, among other publications. The Pink Hotel is her third novel. 

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(Recorded on September 27, 2022)

Music and sound design by Travis Barrett 

Visit our Patreon page to become a supporter here. There are perks!

Barbara DeMarco-Barrett: www.penonfire.com
Marrie Stone: www.marriestone.com
Travis Barrett: https://travisbarrett.mykajabi.com

George Saunders on his latest collection, "Liberation Day"

George Saunders joins Marrie to talk about his latest collection of stories (and first collection since Tenth of December in 2013). The nine stories in Liberation Day contain his signature humor and compassion, broken characters and strange landscapes. Time Magazine calls Saunders "the best short-story writer in English." He spends the hour sharing a bit of his process.

In addition to breaking down several of these stories and sharing their backstory and inspiration, Saunders talks about using the whole page, including elegant line and word spacing techniques, to render syntax and dialect for his characters. He discusses how his engineering background helps him as a writer, how to trust your intuition, and so much more.

If you find this or other interviews useful, consider supporting the show on Patreon.  

Download audio.

(Recorded on October 3, 2022)

Music and sound design by Travis Barrett
Barbara DeMarco-Barrett: www.penonfire.com
Marrie Stone: www.marriestone.com
Travis Barrett: https://travisbarrett.mykajabi.com

Celeste Ng, Our Missing Hearts

Novelist Celeste Ng, author of Our Missing Hearts and Barbara DeMarco-Barrett discuss her latest novel (NYT review, 10/2/22). They talk about world building, developing characters, reading for writers, and much more. 

Celeste Ng is the author of three novels, Everything I Never Told You, Little Fires Everywhere, and Our Missing Hearts. Celeste grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and Shaker Heights, Ohio. She graduated from Harvard University and earned an MFA from the University of Michigan (now the Helen Zell Writers’ Program at the University of Michigan).  Her fiction and essays have appeared in the New York Times, The Guardian, and many other publications, and she is a recipient of the Pushcart Prize, a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, and a Guggenheim Fellowship, among other honors.

 Download audio. 

 (Recorded on 9/23/2022) 

Music and sound design by Travis Barrett 

We are now on Patreon! If you've gleaned useful tidbits over the years--24 years we've been broadcasting the show--consider becoming a supporter. Visit Patreon.com/writersonwriting

 Barbara DeMarco-Barrett: www.penonfire.com 

Marrie Stone: www.marriestone.com 

Travis Barrett: https://travisbarrett.mykajabi.com

Literary Agent Lori Galvin on finding the right agent

Literary agent Lori Galvin of Aevitas Creative Management represents both adult fiction (especially women's fiction and crime fiction) and non-fiction (memoir, food writing, and cookbooks). A few of her clients include Hannah Kirshner's Water, Wood, and Wild Things (Viking '21), Cambria Brockman's Tell Me Everything (Ballantine '19), and Wanda M. Morris's All Her Little Secrets (Morrow '21). Some projects have been optioned by A24 and Netflix.

Galvin joins Marrie to talk about changes in the publishing industry, what she looks for in effective query letters, the importance of the first five pages, the dos and don'ts of finding an agent, what you can do to improve your chances of finding a good match with an agent, and so much more. 

If you find this or other interviews useful, consider supporting the show on Patreon.   

Download audio.  

(Recorded on September 21, 2022)

Music and sound design by Travis Barrett
Barbara DeMarco-Barrett: www.penonfire.com
Marrie Stone: www.marriestone.com
Travis Barrett: https://travisbarrett.mykajabi.com

Novelist Antoine Wilson, Mouth to Mouth

Novelist Antoine Wilson, author of Mouth to Mouth, and Barbara DeMarco-Barrett discuss setting, plotting, creating characters, ironic endings, and more. About Mouth to Mouth, one of Barack Obama's favorite books of 2022, Kirkus said, "A deliciously nasty morality play in the guise of a thriller." 

Download audio.  

(Recorded on August 18, 2022) 

Music and sound design by Travis Barrett 

Support the show on Patreon. 

Barbara DeMarco-Barrett: www.penonfire.com 

Marrie Stone: www.marriestone.com 

Travis Barrett: https://travisbarrett.mykajabi.com

Novelist Anthony Marra, author of "Mercury Pictures Presents"

Anthony Marra is the New York Times bestselling author of The Tsar of Love and Techno and A Constellation of Vital Phenomena, longlisted for the National Book Award. He joins Marrie Stone to talk about his latest novel, Mercury Pictures Presents, and how a book he began over eight years ago suddenly took on new and unsettling relevance in today's America. 

Marra shares his struggles with writing this book, managing a large cast of characters and an enormous amount of research, as well as some general writing advice for novelists. He stresses the importance of filling your notebook with questions, reading broadly, writing daily and more. 

If you find this or other interviews useful, consider supporting the show on Patreon.  

Download audio.

(Recorded on September 8, 2022)

Music and sound design by Travis Barrett
Barbara DeMarco-Barrett: www.penonfire.com
Marrie Stone: www.marriestone.com
Travis Barrett: https://travisbarrett.mykajabi.com

Memoirist Isaac Fitzgerald, author of "Dirtbag, Massachusetts"

Isaac Fitzgerald, author of the new memoir, Dirtbag, Massachusetts: A Confessional, talks with Barbara DeMarco-Barrett about the art, craft, and business of writing his memoir.

Fitzgerald is the New York Times bestselling author of Dirtbag, Massachusetts. He appears frequently on The Today Show and is also the author of the bestselling children's book How to Be a  Pirate as well as the co-author of Pen & Ink: Tattoos and the Stories Behind Them and Knives & Ink: Chefs and the Stories Behind Their Tattoos (winner of an IACP Award). His writing has appear in The New York Times, The Atlantic, Esquire, The Guardian, The Best American Nonrequired Reading, and numerous other publications. He lives in Brooklyn.

Download audio.  

(Recorded on July 15, 2022 via Zoom)

Music and sound design by Travis Barrett 

Support the show on Patreon. Marrie and I appreciate every dollar.

Barbara DeMarco-Barrett: www.penonfire.com
Marrie Stone: www.marriestone.com
Travis Barrett: https://travisbarrett.mykajabi.com

Memoirist Amy Turner, author of "On the Ledge"

In 1957, when Amy Turner was four years old, her father stepped out onto the ledge of his high-rise hotel room and threatened to jump. More than 50 years later, Turner faced her own near-death experience when she was struck by a truck in a pedestrian crosswalk. Those two incidents, happening over half a century apart, led Turner to understand the legacy of anxiety and depression she inherited from her family, and the role of trauma in forming her identity.

Turner joined Marrie Stone to talk about her memoir, On the Ledge, as well as coming to writing later in life, how being an attorney impacted her writing, and how she knew when it was time to publish this book. Turner shares the struggles she had with structure, knowing what material to cut, and how to deal with time gaps in her story. She also discusses choosing She Writes Press (a small press who publishes women writers), foregoing the need for an agent, marketing her memoir and choosing a publicist.  

For more information about the show, as well as additional writing tips, prompts, and perks, visit our Patreon page here.

Download audio. 

(Recorded on August 27, 2022)
(Broadcast date: August 29, 2022) 

Music and sound design by Travis Barrett
Barbara DeMarco-Barrett: www.penonfire.com
Marrie Stone: www.marriestone.com
Travis Barrett: https://travisbarrett.mykajabi.com

Novelist Jacinda Townsend, Mother Country

Jacinda Townsend, author of the novel Mother Country (Graywolf), and Barbara DeMarco-Barrett discuss her new book and the setting of Morocco, alternating POVs, slavery, writing with the senses, and more. 

During her Fulbright year, on a layover in Morocco, Jacinda discovered the city of Marrakech and fell in love. Later that same year, on a trip to Northern Mali, she also first witnessed modern-day slavery: that incident inspired the research that eventually took her to Mauritania, where she met with escaped slaves and anti-slavery activists and began the work that would become her newly published novel, Mother Country (Graywolf, 2022).  Mother Country is told in the voices of an American woman struggling with infertility who kidnaps a young Moroccan girl, and the young mother, escaped from Mauritanian slavery, who loses her. Jacinda is also the author of Saint Monkey (Norton, 2014), which is set in 1950’s Eastern Kentucky and is a love letter to a Black community that has all but disappeared. Saint Monkey won the 2015 Janet Heidinger Kafka Prize for best fiction written by a woman and the James Fenimore Cooper Prize for that year’s best historical fiction. Saint Monkey was also the 2015 Honor Book of the Black Caucus of the American Library Association.

Download audio.  

(Recorded via Zoom on July 28, 2022) 

Music and sound design by Travis Barrett 

Check out our Patreon page!

 Barbara DeMarco-Barrett: www.penonfire.com 

Marrie Stone: www.marriestone.com 

Travis Barrett: https://travisbarrett.mykajabi.com

Novelist Tom Perrotta, author of "Tracy Flick Can't Win"

Tom Perrotta joins Marrie to talk about his latest novel, Tracy Flick Can't Win. The author of nine previous works of fiction, Perrotta wrote Election, The Leftovers, Little Children and Mrs. Fletcher, all of which have been adapted to screen.

The conversation covers the #metoo movement and how feminism and the women's rights movement has evolved since Election came out 25 years ago. Perrotta discusses how he approaches politics in fiction, and what he failed to see coming in this country despite setting his novels in America's suburbs. He also shares insights into his writing process including the importance of drawing a distinct time-frame around your novel, writing from various points of view, how writing for the screen has helped his fiction, and so much more.

For more information about the show, as well as additional writing tips, prompts, and perks, visit our Patreon page here.

Download audio.  

(Recorded on August 11, 2022)
(Broadcast date: August 15, 2022) 

Music and sound design by Travis Barrett
Barbara DeMarco-Barrett: www.penonfire.com
Marrie Stone: www.marriestone.com
Travis Barrett: https://travisbarrett.mykajabi.com

Novelist Susan Straight, Mecca

Susan Straight, author of the novel, Mecca, which Michael Connelly called "a masterpiece," talks with Barbara DeMarco-Barrett about her new novel and how it came to be. Susan Straight was born in Riverside, CA, and still lives there with her family. She’s passionate about home, California, the Santa Ana River, the foothills and the deserts, and has been writing about southern California and the inland area for forty years. From her kitchen window, she can see the hospital where she was born, which her three daughters find kind of hilarious and pathetic; most days, she walks her dog Angel beside the Santa Ana River as she has since childhood, and then past the classrooms at Riverside City College, where she wrote her first short story, at 16, which is also kind of hilarious, but hopeful. She has written about the people of California for her new memoir, In the Country of Women, based on women’s stories told for five generations to Straight and her daughters, in driveways and trucks, at parks and funerals. She’s published that memoir, eight novels, and two books for children. Her short stories and essays have been published everywhere from The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, and The Guardian to Alta, The Believer, McSweeneys, Zoetrope, Reader’s Digest, Real Simple, and Family Circle. She’s been awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship, the Lannan Prize for Fiction, a California Gold Medal for Fiction, and the Kirsch Award for Lifetime Achievement from the Los Angeles Times Book Prizes. 

Download audio. 

(Recorded on July 12, 2022) 

Music and sound design by Travis Barrett 

Support the show on Patreon! 

Barbara DeMarco-Barrett: www.penonfire.com 

Marrie Stone: www.marriestone.com 

Travis Barrett: https://travisbarrett.mykajabi.com

Monique Roffey, author of "The Mermaid of Black Conch"

Monique Roffey is the author of six works of fiction and the 2012 memoir, With the Kisses of His Mouth. The British-Tobagonian author's latest book, The Mermaid of Black Conch, was released by a small press during the height of the 2020 pandemic. But, much like Roffey's outcast mermaid, the novel is enjoying a second life, winning prestigious awards, getting picked up by Knopf in the United States, and garnering praise in the press.

Roffey joins Marrie Stone to talk about the novel's unlikely journey, from her decision to launch a crowdfunding campaign in 2019 to the book's ultimate award-winning success. She also discusses writing compelling sex scenes, how Jungian analysis changed the trajectory of her writing, using television-style treatments for her manuscripts, why she needs 20 strong scenes before she begins writing, and so much more.  

For more information about the show, as well as additional writing tips, prompts, and perks, visit our Patreon page here.

Download audio.

(Recorded on July 29, 2022)
(Broadcast date: August 1, 2022) 

Music and sound design by Travis Barrett
Barbara DeMarco-Barrett: www.penonfire.com
Marrie Stone: www.marriestone.com
Travis Barrett: https://travisbarrett.mykajabi.com

 

Memoirist Tad Friend

Memoirist Tad Friend, author of In the Early Times, and Barbara DeMarco-Barrett discuss getting to the truth in memoir, what to do when you're asked to record your own audio book (and don't want to), revision, backstory vs. front story, and so much more.

Tad Friend has been a New Yorker staff writer since 1998. An excerpt of this book was published in an April issue, which is when we became aware of the memoir and knew we had to have Tad on the show. 

Download audio. 

(Recorded via Zoom on July 7, 2022) 

Music and sound design by Travis Barrett. More typewriter music on Spotify: Just My Type

Consider becoming a Patreon supporter. Now that we're no longer at the station, it's a bit more complicated producing shows so every donation helps more than you know. Here's the link. 

Barbara DeMarco-Barrett: www.penonfire.com 

Marrie Stone: www.marriestone.com 

Travis Barrett: https://travisbarrett.mykajabi.com

Debut crime writer Dwyer Murphy, author of "An Honest Living"

Dwyer Murphy is the editor-in-chief of CrimeReads, Literary Hub‘s crime fiction vertical and a popular destination for thriller readers. A former litigator, Murphy is the author of the debut novel An Honest Living (publishing on July 26, 2022 by Viking). 

Murphy joins Marrie Stone to talk about writing crime fiction and what he's learned about crime writing in his years working in the industry. He gives insights into New York in the early 2000s and setting a novel before the social media and technology boom. He also talks about creating recurring characters, how to maintain suspense, and other aspects of creating compelling crime fiction. 

For additional writing tips, prompts, and perks, visit our Patreon page here.

Download audio.  

(Recorded on July 7, 2022)
(Broadcast date: July 18, 2022) 

Music and sound design by Travis Barrett
Barbara DeMarco-Barrett: www.penonfire.com
Marrie Stone: www.marriestone.com
Travis Barrett: https://travisbarrett.mykajabi.com

Novelist Julie Clark

Julie Clark, author of the new novel, The Lies I Tell, talks with Barbara DeMarco-Barrett about how she found her way to the domestic thriller genre, why she finds female con artists fascinating, her revision process, how she finds time to teach full-time and get her writing done, and so much more. 

Julie Clark is the New York Times bestselling author of The Last Flight. It has earned starred reviews from Kirkus, Publishers Weekly, and Library Journal, and the New York Times has called it “thoroughly absorbing.” It’s been named an Indie Next Pick, a Library Reads Pick, and a Best Book of 2020 by Amazon Editors and Apple Books. Her debut, The Ones We Choose, was published in 2018 and has been optioned for television by Lionsgate. She lives in Los Angeles with her two sons and a golden doodle with poor impulse control.

Download audio.  

 (Recorded in June, 2022) 

Support the show on Patreon.com/WritersonWriting!

 Music and sound design by Travis Barrett 

 Barbara DeMarco-Barrett: www.penonfire.com 

Marrie Stone: www.marriestone.com 

Travis Barrett: https://travisbarrett.mykajabi.com

Eric Nguyen, author of "Things We Lost to the Water"

Eric Nguyen's debut novel, Things We Lost to the Water, was one of President Obama's favorite books of 2021. It's recently out in paperback.

Eric joined Marrie Stone to talk about understanding his own history through the lens of fiction, how he came to know his characters, writing about a well-known city in a new light, how bilingualism serves his fiction, and so much more.

If you're a regular listener or like this episode, check out our new Patreon page, where we offer weekly writing tips and prompts, as well as other goodies for our listeners.

Thanks for listening!

Download audio.  

(Recorded on June 24, 2022) 

 
Music and sound design by Travis Barrett
Barbara DeMarco-Barrett: www.penonfire.com
Marrie Stone: www.marriestone.com
Travis Barrett: https://travisbarrett.mykajabi.com

Novelist Erica Ferencik, Girl in Ice

Erica Ferencik, author of Girl in Ice, talks with Barbara DeMarco-Barrett about her new novel, creatures that can freeze and thaw out alive, why she's a plotter, writing the book she wished existed, and more. 

Erica Ferencik is an award-winning novelist who writes adventure novels featuring women who brave not only internal struggles but face extreme challenges in their environment: remote forests, steaming jungles, and desolated ice scapes. To research GIRL IN ICE, (Scout Press, an imprint of Simon & Schuster), she explored the desolate iceberg-packed fjords of Greenland.

Download audio. 

(Recorded in June 2022) 

Music and sound design by Travis Barrett 

Barbara DeMarco-Barrett: www.penonfire.com 

Marrie Stone: www.marriestone.com 

Travis Barrett: https://travisbarrett.mykajabi.com

Visit our Patreon page at www.patreon.com/writersonwriting

Alexis Schaitkin, author of "Elsewhere"

Alexis Schaitkin joins Marrie Stone to talk about her latest novel, Elsewhere (to be published by Celadon on June 28, 2022).

 The speculative fiction story explores the perils and pleasures of motherhood, how mothers judge one another, how women can often disappear into motherhood — and into aging — and how sometimes they can find themselves again. The setting is evocative and the issues are profound.

Schaitkin shares several backstories behind the novel, including the inspiration for this hauting fictional village, her many attempts to find her way into the story, how she let go of her expectations for the novel, and how she once again managed a large cast of characters. For novelists, there's mounds of advice for character development and structure. For speculative fiction writers, there are insights for creating effective rules for your world. For Schaitkin's fans, there's fun backstories on how she constructs her novels and the themes she remains interested in exploring. 

Schaitkin's first novel, Saint X, was a NYT Notable Book of 2020 and is being adapted into a miniseries by Hulu. 

Download audio.  (Recorded on June 9, 2022)

Music and sound design by Travis Barrett
Barbara DeMarco-Barrett: www.penonfire.com
Marrie Stone: www.marriestone.com
Travis Barrett: https://travisbarrett.mykajabi.com

Novelist, Steve Almond, All the Secrets of the World

Steve Almond, author of All the Secrets of the World (Zando, 2022) joins Barbara DeMarco-Barrett to discuss his new novel and why he wanted to write a social novel, how it took him five tries to get it right, and much more on the process of writing. Steve is the author of twelve books of fiction and nonfiction, including the New York Times bestsellers Candyfreak and Against Football. His recent books include William Stoner and the Battle for the Inner Life, which is about reading and writing and the struggle to pay attention to our lives, and Bad Stories, a literary investigation of the 2016 election. For four years, Steve hosted the New York Times Dear Sugars podcast with Cheryl Strayed. His short stories have been anthologized widely, in the Best American Short Stories, The Pushcart Prize, Best American Erotica, and Best American Mysteries series. His new book is a novel called All the Secrets of the World. 

Download audio. 

(Recorded on May 27, 2022, via Zoom audio) 

Music and sound design by Travis Barrett 

Check out his typewriter compositions at Just My Type on Spotify

Barbara DeMarco-Barrett: www.penonfire.com 

Marrie Stone: www.marriestone.com 

Travis Barrett: https://travisbarrett.mykajabi.com

Find us on Patreon.com/writersonwriting

Jess Walter, author of collection "The Angel of Rome"

Novelist and short story writer Jess Walter joins Marrie Stone to talk about his latest collection, The Angel of Rome. Jess is the author of seven novels (including The Cold Millions and Beautiful Ruins), two collections of short stories, and a non-fiction book. He is the recipient of the Edgar Allan Poe Award (Citizen Vance), and was a finalist for the National Book Award (The Zero).

Walter talks about assembling the collection, choosing these 12 thematic stories out of 40 or 50 choices. He discusses effective humor, the difference between sentiment and sentimentality, and how to avoid cliches and stereotypes. He also talks about his ability to access elderly characters, writing a Gen X collection while not identifying completely with Gen X, and so much more.

For more information about Jess Walter, upcoming events, and more visit his website here. 

We also invite you to check out our new Patreon page, where we offer weekly writing tips and prompts, as well as other goodies for our loyal listeners. This week's tip was inspired by this conversation.

Thanks for listening!

Download audio.  

(Recorded on June 2, 2022)

Music and sound design by Travis Barrett 

Barbara DeMarco-Barrett: www.penonfire.com
Marrie Stone: www.marriestone.com
Travis Barrett: https://travisbarrett.mykajabi.com

Novelist Jeffrey Fleishman

Jeffrey Fleishman, author of the brand new novel, Good Night, Forever (Blackstone), and Barbara DeMarco-Barrett talk about setting your book where you live, side characters, crime fiction and social issues, and so much more. 

Download audio.  

Jeff Fleishman is foreign and national editor at the Los Angeles Times. Previously, he was a senior writer on film, art and culture. A 2002 Nieman fellow at Harvard University, Fleishman was a Pulitzer Prize finalist in feature writing. A longtime foreign correspondent, he served as bureau chief for The Times in Cairo and Berlin, and was previously based in Rome for the Philadelphia Inquirer. He has been a finalist for the Goldsmith Prize for Investigative Reporting and a finalist for the Center for Public Integrity’s Award for Outstanding International Investigative Reporting. He is the author of three novels: “My Detective,” “Shadow Man” and “Promised Virgins: A Novel of Jihad.”

 (Recorded on April 27, 2022.) 

Music and sound design by Travis Barrett 

 Barbara DeMarco-Barrett: www.penonfire.com 

Marrie Stone: www.marriestone.com 

Travis Barrett: https://travisbarrett.mykajabi.com

A.J. Jacobs, author of "The Puzzler"

Immersion journalist A.J. Jacobs returns to the show to talk with Marrie Stone about his latest book, The Puzzler: One Man's Quest to Solve the Most Baffling Puzzles Ever, from Crosswords to Jigsaws to the Meaning of Life. Along the way he shares mounds of writing advice, including the importance of approaching your work with a curious mindset, how finding a toehold in your writing can help you expand, how constraints lead to creativity and so much more. 

A.J. also shares why, after all his many books, the writing process is still difficult and how he overcomes his resistance. Check out this essay for a sneak peek into that conversation. 

Beyond the great writing advice, A.J. also shares his infectious love for puzzles and the many wonderful backstories and interviews behind the writing of this book. Geeks, puzzlers, and writers alike will take much away from this conversation.

Download audio. 

(Recorded on May 4, 2022) 

Music and sound design by Travis Barrett
Barbara DeMarco-Barrett: www.penonfire.com
Marrie Stone: www.marriestone.com
Travis Barrett: https://travisbarrett.mykajabi.com

Gary Phillips, One-Shot Harry

Gary Phillips, author of One-Shot Harry, is my guest. Gary has been a community activist, labor organizer and has published various novels, comics, short stories as well as editing several anthologies including Orange County Noir (which is how we met; I have a story in the Akashic anthology) and the award-winning The Obama Inheritance: Fifteen Stories of Conspiracy Noir. Violent Spring, first published in 1994 was named in 2020 one of the essential crime novels of Los Angeles. He was a senior story editor on FX’s Snowfall, about crack and the CIA in 1980s South Central where he grew up. His newest novel is One-Shot Harry, which has been receiving quite a bit of love from the Wall Street Journal and elsewhere. On the show we discuss why he set his novel in the early 60s, loglines, creating a photographer protagonist, and so much more. 

Download audio. 

(Recorded on May 5, 2022) 

Music and sound design by Travis Barrett 

Barbara DeMarco-Barrett: www.penonfire.com 

Marrie Stone: www.marriestone.com 

Travis Barrett: https://travisbarrett.mykajabi.com

Find Writers on Writing on Patreon and become a Patron!

Robert Kerbeck, author of Ruse: Lying the American Dream from Hollywood to Wall Street

Robert Kerbeck joins Marrie Stone to talk about his memoir, Ruse: Lying the American Dream from Hollywood to Wall Street. From corporate espionage to uncomfortable encounters with O.J. Simpson, Kevin Spacey and others, Kerbeck weaves an incredible tale of deception and redemption, peppered with Forrest Gump-like brushes with fame. 

Kerbeck shares both his incredible story, as well as mounds of writing advice and publishing wisdom—from the benefits of reading plays to insights on how to market your book after publication. Memoir writers will take away insights on how to treat chapters as short stories, the benefits of writing short and tight, how writing groups can help your career, the critical role of networking and more.

Download audio. 

(Recorded on March 11, 2022)
(Podcast on May 9, 2022)

Visit our Patreon page here for additional benefits. 

Music and sound design by Travis Barrett
Barbara DeMarco-Barrett: www.penonfire.com
Marrie Stone: www.marriestone.com
Travis Barrett: https://travisbarrett.mykajabi.com

Poet Kim Dower, I Wore This Dress for You, Mom (Red Hen Press)

Kim Dower, West Hollywood poet laureate, instructor at UCLA Extension and Antioch LA, and book publicist, talks with Barbara DeMarco-Barrett about her latest volume, I Wore This Dress for You, Mom (Red Hen Press). They talk about inspiration, on not getting an MFA, what to do when you hit a wall, and more.

Download audio.  

(Recorded in April 2022) 

Music and sound design by Travis Barrett 

Visit our Patreon page at www.patreon.com/writersonwriting

Barbara DeMarco-Barrett: www.penonfire.com 

Marrie Stone: www.marriestone.com 

Travis Barrett: https://travisbarrett.mykajabi.com

Annie Hartnett, author of "Unlikely Animals"

Annie Hartnett, author of the 2017 novel Rabbit Cake, returns with what The Millions calls "One of the most anticipated books of 2022." Part mystical, part mystery, Unlikely Animals is filled with quirky characters, problematic animals, and chatty ghosts. 

Hartnett joins Marrie Stone to talk about the importance of following your obsessions and establishing a strong writing routine, as well as good tips on how to do it. (Hint: check out this article by Aimee Bender.) Hartnett also talks about mistakes she made in finding an agent and how to avoid them. Perhaps best of all, she shares some insightful tips for how to approach the revision process. 

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(Recorded on April 7, 2022)
(Broadcast on April 24, 2022)

Writers on Writing is now available on Patreon. Check out our fun perks and special offers for members. For the first ten patrons who join, we're offering the benefits of the next highest tier for one month.

Music and sound design by Travis Barrett 

Barbara DeMarco-Barrett: www.penonfire.com 

Marrie Stone: www.marriestone.com 

Travis Barrett: https://travisbarrett.mykajabi.com

T. Jefferson Parker, A Thousand Steps

T. Jefferson Parker, author of the new novel, A Thousand Steps (Forge) talks with Barbara DeMarco-Barrett about the book he's wanted to write for years, finding his voice, rituals, and more. 

This interview was originally recorded as a Sisters in Crime Zoom event (which was Zoom-bombed, but that's another story). If you'd like to view the interview (minus the Zoom-bomb), visit YouTube and search out the Sisters in Crime Orange County channel.

Download audio. 

We are now on Patreon. If you're a loyal listener and would like to show your appreciation, any amount helps. Visit Patreon.

(Recorded in March and April, 2022) 

Music and sound design by Travis Barrett 

Barbara DeMarco-Barrett: www.penonfire.com

 

Marrie Stone: www.marriestone.com 

Travis Barrett: https://travisbarrett.mykajabi.com

Poet and "Slow Journalist" Tom Sleigh on Writers on Writing

In 2007, Tom Sleigh was invited to the Middle East by Munir Akash — who translated works of the famous Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish — to tell a more nuanced and emotional story of the Palestinian and Syrian refugees. Shortly after his arrival, war broke out again in Lebanon and Sleigh's time quickly turned from an archivist poet to an eye-witness journalist. 

Sleigh has written eleven collections of poetry, as well as essays and prose on his experiences in war-torn countries, his own lifelong battle with a deadly disease, and other topics. Sleigh is a Distinguished Professor in the MFA program at Hunter College.

He joins Marrie Stone to talk about his latest collection, The King's Touch, published by Graywolf Press. He talks about the current crisis in Ukraine, finding the authority to tell stories about refugees, how most poems take 80 or 90 drafts, how the personal can be married to the political and more.

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(Recorded on March 13, 2022)
Music and sound design by Travis Barrett
Barbara DeMarco-Barrett: www.penonfire.com
Marrie Stone: www.marriestone.com
Travis Barrett: https://travisbarrett.mykajabi.com

Francine Prose, author of the novel, The Vixen

Novelist Francine Prose talks with Barbara DeMarco-Barrett about her novel, The Vixen. They also talk about writing about writers, writing during Covid, using McCarthyism as an allegory for Trumpism, and more. 

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(Recorded in February 2022) 

Music and sound design by Travis Barrett 

Barbara DeMarco-Barrett: www.penonfire.com 

Marrie Stone: www.marriestone.com 

Travis Barrett: https://travisbarrett.mykajabi.com

Charlotte McConaghy, Migrations and Once There Were Wolves

Charlotte McConaghy, author of the novels, Migrations and Once There Were Wolves, talks with Barbara DeMarco-Barrett about wolves' role in bringing the forests back to life, writing in the close first person, and defying categories. 

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(Recorded on Feb. 17, 2022)

Music and sound design by Travis Barrett

Barbara DeMarco-Barrett: www.penonfire.com

Marrie Stone: www.marriestone.com

Travis Barrett: https://travisbarrett.mykajabi.com

Lee Cole discusses his debut novel, Groundskeeping

Lee Cole grew up in Kentucky and set his debut novel, Groundskeeping, in his childhood home. He joins Marrie Stone to talk about establishing a strong sense of place within the novel, tackling dialect, and the physical and psychological distance required to write about home. 

As a graduate of the University of Iowa's MFA program, Cole talks about the lessons he learned there, including the importance of staying in scene, establishing a strong sense of interiority in his characters, and more. 

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Record date: February 22, 2022
Broadcast date: March 28, 2022

Lee Kravetz discusses Sylvia Plath on Writers on Writing

Lee Kravetz—author of Supersurvivors: The Surprising Link Between Suffering and Success and Strange Contagion: Inside the Surprising Science of Infectious Behaviors and Viral Emotions and What They Tell Us About Ourselves—takes on the life and legacy of Sylvia Plath in his debut novel, The Last Confessions of Sylvia P.

Kravetz joins Marrie Stone for a deep dive into the enduring influence of Sylvia Plath and her work, and how she—along with Anne Sexton—pioneered the genre of confessional poetry, leading in part to punk rock and the memoir as we know it today. The Last Confessions of Sylvia P. is at once a compelling mystery, a psychological study, a slice of historical literary fiction, and an homage to some of the greatest poets of the mid-20th century.

Kravetz spent years in the publishing industry. He decided on an advanced degree in psychology instead of an MFA. And he opted to leave nonfiction behind in favor of fiction. He shares all the insights and wisdom he's gained along the way, as well as mounds of writing advice. Listeners will learn the importance of putting on their shoes, and how a dog determined Kravetz next project, among many other great stories.

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Record date: February 28, 2022
Broadcast date: March 14, 2022

Coolest American Stories 2022 w/Mark Wish, Mary Taugher & David Ebenbach

This show was especially fun for me because I got to talk with Mark Wish, editor of Coolest American Stories 2022, an anthology that includes my story, "Blue Martini," along with stories I loved by two other writers in the book, Mary Taugher and David Ebenbach.

More than 125 of Mark Wish's short stories have appeared in print venues such as Virginia Quarterly Review, The Georgia Review, Triquarterly, Best American Short Stories and Pushcart Prize 2000. His three novels, published by two small presses and Putnam, have been praised by the Los Angeles Times and The Wall Street Journal.

Mary Taugher’s short stories have appeared in The Gettysburg Review, Narrative Magazine, Santa Monica Review, Epiphany, Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, and Redivider. She has worked as a journalist in Ohio and Southern California, and as a writer and editor for public relations, political consulting, and fundraising agencies. She lives in San Francisco, where she is working on a collection of short stories. 

David Ebenbach is the author of nine books of fiction, poetry, and non-fiction, including his recent novel How to Mars. He lives with his family in Washington, DC, where he teaches at the Center for Jewish Civilization and promotes student centered teaching through the Center for New Designs in Learning and Scholarship. More at davidebenbach.com.

 More about show host B. DeMarco-Barrett at www.penonfire.com.

Learn more about COOLEST AMERICAN STORIES 2022 at www.coolestamericanstories.com The anthology is considering stories for the 2023 edition.

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(Recorded: Feb 11, 2022)

Music and sound editing by Travis Barrett

Chigozie Obioma on "Writers on Writing"

Nigerian author Chigozie Obioma was twice shortlisted for the Booker Prize for his novels The Fishermen (2015) and An Orchestra of Minorities (2019). With fluidity in several languages, and immersion in disparate cultures and literature, Obioma brings his unique voice to the page. He also tackles challenging points of view, from a madman in The Fishermen to the chi—the Igbo personal life force or guardian angel—in An Orchestra of Minorities. 

Obioma teaches in the creative writing program at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and brings the strength of his experience in teaching and writing, as well as the wisdom he's gained in straddling different cultures and languages to the conversation. He joins Marrie Stone to talk about his childhood in Nigeria, how his native language impacts his work, choosing challenging points of view, and the remarkable way he sold his first novel. 

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(Broadcast date: February 28, 2022)

Sara Gran, The Book of the Most Precious Substance

Sara Gran, author of The Book of the Most Precious Substance (Dreamland Books) talks with B. DeMarco-Barrett about her new erotic thriller, revising, the book within the book and why she chose to start a publishing company to publish the novel rather than going through an agent and traditional publisher. 

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 (Broadcast date: Feb. 21, 2022)

Weike Wang, author of "Joan is Okay," on Writers on Writing

Weike Wang planned to pursue a career in medicine. She obtained a bachelor's degree in chemistry and a doctorate in public health, both from Harvard University. But she also earned an MFA from Boston University and it changed the trajectory of her career. Joan is Okay is her second novel. Her debut novel, Chemistry, won the Pen/Hemingway Award in Fiction and a Whiting Award in 2018. 

Joan is Okay tackles issues of race, culture, gender, family and economics, all set against the backdrop of the pandemic. Wang joined Marrie Stone to talk about unlearning how to write like an academic, finding the voice for an elusive character, how writing in the collage structure paid unexpected dividends, and more.

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(Record date: January 27, 2022
Broadcast date: February 14, 2022)

Benjamin Percy, The Unfamiliar Garden

Benjamin Percy, author of The Unfamiliar Garden, talks with Barbara DeMarco-Barrett about his new book and the writing life. 

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(Recorded on January 28, 2022)

Music and sound editing by Travis Barrett

Tessa Hadley, author of "Free Love," on Writers on Writing

In the spirit of The Lost Daughter, Tessa Hadley's latest novel explores one of the biggest taboos of western culture—women who leave. The British author has penned eight novels and three collections of short stories. She's known in the industry as "a writer's writer," admired by contemporaries like Zadie Smith, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Hilary Mantel and Anne Enright.

Hadley joins Marrie Stone to talk about Free Love. She discusses some of the enduring themes in her fiction, the freedom of setting a novel in the 1960s, how she tackles her sex scenes, and why this novel came easily to her when others mostly don't. 

Hadley came late to publishing, her first novel making its debut when the author was 46. She discusses the advantages of publishing later in life, and how she approaches her different roles as novelist versus short story writer. 

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(Record date: January 13, 2022)
(Broadcast date: January 31, 2022)

Debut novelist April Davila with Barbara DeMarco-Barrett

Debut novelist, April Dávila, author of 142 Ostriches, published by Kensington, talks with Barbara DeMarco-Barrett about taking your time writing your book, how a seed of experience turns into a story, and writing setting and place.

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(Recorded on January 4, 2022)

Music and sound editing by Travis Barrett

New Yorker Staff Writer Kathryn Schultz, author of "Lost and Found"

Kathryn Schulz lost her father in 2016, only a year after falling in love with fellow New Yorker staff writer Casey Cep, whom she would marry in 2018. The confluence of tragedy and discovery moved her to write the memoir, Lost and Found, a book full of personal accounts of loss, discovery and the mystery of what conjoins them. It leads the reader not only through Schulz's experiences, but the more universal experience of loss and revelation by using philosophy, science, poetry and other disciplines. The result is a beautiful meditation on the ordinary experiences of everyday life, as well as the profound mysteries of love and loss.

Schulz joins Marrie Stone to talk about the memoir, how she settled on its structure, how she's built the deep well of scientific, philosophical, spiritual and literary knowledge she drew from, and more.

Schultz is a staff writer for the New Yorker Magazine. She won the Pulitzer Prize for her 2015 article, "The Really Big One." She's also the author of the 2010 book, Being Wrong: Adventures in the Margin of Error.

Download audio. (Broadcast date: January 17, 2022)

T. Jefferson Parker, A Thousand Steps

T. Jefferson Parker, author of A Thousand Steps (Forge), released on Jan. 11, 2022, talks with Barbara DeMarco-Barrett about his new novel, why he wanted to write a novel based in 1968, point of view and tense, merging fact with fiction, and so much more.  

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 (Recorded via Zoom on Jan. 6, 2022)

Music and sound editing by Travis Barrett