Writers on Writing

Joshua Mohr, author of the new memoir, Sirens (Two Dollar Radio), and David Francis, author of the new novel, Wedding Bush Road (Counterpoint), join Barbara DeMarco-Barrett to discuss their books and their writing process. Download audio. (Broadcast date: Jan. 11, 2017)

Lisa Cron, author of Story Genius, published by 10 Speed Press, with Barbara. They talk about how starting with character (for fiction or memoir) is the key to unfolding the story. If you don't know your protagonist, who does? And how are you going to write a great story if you don't know whose story it is? Download audio. (Broadcast date: Dec. 26, 2016)

Bestselling novelist Fannie Flagg joins Marrie Stone to chat about her latest, The Whole Town's Talking.  Lovers of Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe will fall in love all over again with Fannie's characters, her world, and her ability to render southern charm onto the page and infuse her characters with life. She talks about writing with dyslexia, how acting helps writing, and what she's learned about writing and life over the years. In the second half, short story writer Odie Lindsey discusses his debut collection, We Come to Our Senses. He talks about his experiences in Iraq, the need to include women in the narrative of war, and the importance of the advice "revise, revise, revise."  Plus, lots of other wonderful wisdom.   Download audio. (Broadcast date: December 21, 2016)

New York Times bestselling author Wally Lamb joins Marrie Stone to talk about his latest novel, I'll Take You There.  He discusses feminism, recurring characters, magical realism, how his interests have shifted over time, and his nostalgic love affair with an age now past. In the second half, Mary Troy shares her novel Swimming on Hwy N.  Mary discusses her love for Missouri and bringing that place to life on the page, quirky characters, and how she approached the novel after her work in short fiction. Download audio. (Broadcast date: December 14, 2016)

Norman Ollestad, author of French Girl with Mother, is Barbara's featured guest for the entire hour. Norman talks about writing fiction from life, the best training for a writer, writing tight, and more. Download audio. (Broadcast date: Dec. 7, 2016)

In the first half hour, novelist Teddy Wayne, author of Loner, talks with Nicole Nelson about leveraging spare use of the second person to add menace, building dread gradually through multiple drafts, and managing his writing time to balance work on fiction as well as being a regular contributions to The New Yorker and The New York Times. In the second half, novelist Shawn Wong, author of American Knees, talks about his pioneering work in the field of Asian American Studies, how watching and listening closely to women helps him write rounded female characters, and how working with returning soldiers through the Red Badge Project taught him to think on his feet. Download audio. (Broadcast date: November 30, 2016)

Caroline Leavitt, author of Cruel Beautiful World, and Molly Brodak, author of Bandit talk with Barbara DeMarco-Barrett about their books, and the art and business of writing. Download audio. (Broadcast date: 11/23/2016)

In the first half, Shawn Shiflett, author of Hey, Liberal! talks to co-host Nicole Nelson about the challenges of humanizing evil characters, writing realistic dialogue, and how being a natural mimic helps him create authentic-sounding voices. In the second half, Barbara DeMarco-Barrett talks to Jim Fusilli, editor of, and contributor to Crime Plus Music about how being a music critic influenced him as a fiction writer, how he finds short stories more challenging to craft than novels, and why noir seems to work better in short fiction and movies as opposed to longer formats. Download audio. (Broadcast date: November 9, 2016)

In this post-election show, Clarence Major (novelist, poet, painter, short story writer and essayist) joins Marrie Stone to talk about his latest story collection, Chicago Heat and Other Stories.   What's been on his mind?  How do we love?  How do we connect?  Where do we find hope?  He shares this and more. In the second half, Kelly Luce talks about her debut novel, Pull Me Under.  She discusses her time in Japan, and how a phenomena unique to Japanese youth influenced her novel.  Kelly also discusses working with psychologically difficult characters, what a move to present tense did for the book, and how she became a serious writer after leaving her MFA program.  Download audio. (Broadcast date: November 16, 2016)

Gina Frangello, author of Every Kind of Wanting, joins Marrie Stone to talk about writing through difficult life circumstances, how literature can save us, the inspiration for her characters, and more. In the second half, Francine Prose shares her novel Mister Monkey.  Everything is fodder for her writing.  She talks about embracing various points of view, how books have a life of their own, life coincidences, and how she tackled the "monkey problem." Download audio. (Broadcast date: November 2, 2016)

Author, former screenwriter, and Los Angeles therapist to creatives, Dennis Palumbo, talks with Barbara DeMarco-Barrett about writers block, writing fiction, writing for the large and small screen, and much more. Download audio. (Broadcast date: Oct. 26, 2016)

Debut novelist Jade Chang, author of The Wangs vs. the World, talks with co-host Nicole Nelson about playing with point of view, her experience putting an earlier novel in a drawer, and how she found her agent. In the second half, novelist Janice Y. K. Lee, author of The Expatriates, talks about balancing three different POV characters, not taking the easy way out, and the importance of trusting yourself and your voice when you struggle to write through to the end. Download audio. (Broadcast date: October 5, 2016)

Poet and non-fiction author Patrick Phillips joins co-host Marrie Stone to talk about his book, Blood at the Root: A Racial Cleansing in America.  Phillips shares his experiences in hometown Forsyth County, Georgia, a township that remained essentially 100 percent white throughout most of the 20th century. He also talks about the responsibility of white writers to talk about race, his research process, the factors that existed in Forsyth that made this possible, and the complicated characters that emerged from history to bring this shadowy story to light. In the second half, novelist Whitney Terrell discusses his latest novel, The Good Lieutenant.  As an embedded reporter in Iraq, Terrell tells the story of one female lieutenant and the forces and decisions that shaped the woman she became.  He tackles several points of view, a complicated structure, and shares his experiences of how it all happened. Download audio. (Broadcast date: October 19, 2016)

Martin J. Smith, author of Combustion, and Aris Janigian, author of Waiting for Lipchitz at Chateau Marmont talk with Barbara about plotting (or not), creating suspense, publishing with a small press, and more. Download audio. (Broadcast date: October 12, 2016)

Young adult author Nora Raleigh Baskin joins Marrie Stone to discuss her new middle-grade novel, Nine, Ten: A September 11 Story.  She discusses survivor's guilt, unprocessed emotion and how books for young readers can be the best way to explore difficult subject-matter, rules for middle grade writers, and more. In the second half, Alexander Weinstein joins to talk about his debut short story collection, Children of the New World.  He talks about experimental fiction, inventive structures for a story, point of view choices, knowing when things aren't working, as well as a host of practical advice for writers. Here's a review of the book in the New York Times Book Review. Download audio. (Broadcast date: September 7, 2016)