Writers on Writing

Marrie Stone interviews novelist John Burley, author of The Forgetting Place.  Dr. Burley discusses creating an authentic setting, managing suspense, creating compelling characters, and more.  In the second half, Kelly Link discusses her short story collection, Get In Trouble.  She discusses her draw to the fantastical, titling stories, what makes a compelling story, endings, and more. Download audio. (Broadcast date: March 4, 2015)

Poet and debut novelist Jill Alexander Essbaum, author of Hausfrau, joins co-host Nicole Nelson to talk about the importance of the small Swiss town setting for her story and her protagonist Anna, how the worst times in our lives are probably the most important, and how a love of words unites her work in poetry and fiction. Then author Michele Young-Stone talks about her latest novel, Above Us Only Sky, balancing research when writing a novel, exploring the concept of "home" in her work, and approaching the page with confidence. Jill will be at the LA Times Festival of Books; her panel is Sunday, April 19 at 12:30 (Conversation 2042). Download audio. (Broadcast date: April 1, 2015)

Jincy Willett, author of Amy Falls Down and The Writing Class, talks with Barbara DeMarco-Barrett about voice, story, writing humor, and alter egos.  Download audio.  (Broadcast date: March 25, 2015)

Matt Sumell, author of Making Nice talks to co-cost Nicole Nelson about leveraging humor as a coping mechanism, trusting his gut, and using what hurts. Then novelist Elisa Albert, author of After Birth, about the usefulness of keeping a notebook, what her revision process looks like, and having faith that the ending will emerge. Download audio. (Broadcast date: March 11, 2015)

Christopher Noxon, author, journalist, and illustrator, is the author of Plus One.  He speaks with Marrie Stone about mining details of personal life for fiction, writing routines, and more.  In the second half, Tara Ison talks about her essay collection Reeling Through Life: How I Learned to Live, Love and Die at the Movies. Download audio.  (Broadcast date: January 28, 2015)

Maureen Corrigan, author and NPR book critic, talks to co-host Nicole Nelson about her latest book, So We Read On: How The Great Gatsby Came To Be And Why It Endures, as well as what some of Fitzgerald's revisions left behind in earlier drafts of the novel, the importance of water imagery in the book, and her experience retracing some of the author's steps. In the second half, Stewart O'Nan discusses his latest novel West of Sunset, which fictionalizes the last chapter of Fitzgerald's life, the Hollywood years. He talks about coming late to appreciate Fitzgerald himself, what kind of research was required to immerse himself in the world of Hollywood in the late 1930s, and how his experience writing narrative nonfiction helped create a world that served both history and his character. Download audio. (Broadcast date: February 25, 2015)

Barbara DeMarco-Barrett talks with novelists Miranda July, author of The First Bad Man and Adam Langer, author of The Salinger Contract about first drafts, revision, metafiction, and more. Download audio. (Broadcast date: Feb. 4, 2015)

Israeli novelist Assaf Gavron joins Marrie Stone to talk about his latest novel, The Hilltop.  In the second half, Chris Baty, founder of National Novel Writing Month, talks about his book No Plot, No Problem.  Download audio. (Broadcast date: December 17, 2014)

Literary Agent Jane Dystel, founder and president of Dystel & Goderich Literary Management, joins Marrie Stone to talk about what makes an effective agent, what to look for in an agent, how to query an agent, what's selling and what's not, how the industry has changed, the importance of platform, how ebooks are saving fiction, and more.  Download audio.  (Broadcast date: January 7, 2015)

Meghan Daum, author of The Unspeakable: And Other Subjects of Discussion, talks with co-host Nicole Nelson about the advantages of going unseen in Los Angeles, her favorite essayists, and writing with humor--including, and perhaps especially--while talking about serious and upsetting things.  Then novelist Siri Hustvedt, author of The Blazing World, discusses the crucial work of an author to find the emotional truth, the potential benefits of automatic writing, and starting a novel with only a glimmer or "smell" for the story. Her PEN America workshop is titled "Why One Story and Not Another." 0 false 18 pt 18 pt 0 0 false false false /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} Download audio.  (Broadcast date: January 21, 2015)

Lisa Cron author of Wired for Story, talks with Barbara DeMarco-Barrett about hooking the reader from the start, regardless of genre. Download audio. (Broadcast date: Dec. 31, 2014

Kim Fay, Edgar Award Finalist and author of The Map of Lost Memories talks to Marrie Stone about her passion for Southeast Asia, sustaining momentum over fourteen years of work on a project, and the value of belonging to a writing group. Then cognitive scientist and author of the new book The Sense of Style: The Thinking Person's Guide to Writing in the 21st Century Steven Pinker talks to Nicole Nelson about the importance of using examples in non-fiction, the shortcomings and value of the green wiggly line in MS Word, and how he earned his rank as one of the journal Science's top 50 stars of Twitter. Download Audio. (Broadcast date: December 10, 2014)

Miriam Toews talks to Nicole Nelson about her new book ALL MY PUNY SORROWS. She talks about writing the hard stuff, gaining control over life through writing, and the importance of bleeding on the page. Then monologuist Josh Kornbluth talks about his influences, how he develops a show, and the comedic gold in failure. His current monologue-in-progress is Reports from the Zen Hospice: Improvs, which will run Thursdays at 8 p.m. at the Berkeley Marsh through the end of December. Download audio. (Broadcast date: December 3, 2014)

Azar Nafisi, bestselling author of Reading Lolita in Tehran and The Republic of Imagination: America in Three Books, joins Marrie Stone to talk about the importance of fiction and how it's a guardian of memory, what is unique about American fiction, and the necessity for a public discourse about literature. In the second half, Lydia Millet joins to talk about her latest novel, Mermaids in Paradise.  She discusses inspiration, landscape, and how connecting two disparate concepts in fiction can lead to intriguing plot lines.  Download audio. (Broadcast date: November 19, 2014)

Pulitzer Prize winning author Robert Olen Butler joins Marrie Stone to talk about his latest Christopher Marlow Cobb novel, The Empire of Night, and how to utilize the "compost of the imagination" to create art.  Licensed mortician Caitlin Doughty joins in the second half to discuss her memoir, Smoke Gets in Your Eyes and Other Lessons from the Crematory.  Caitlin gives advice on how to talk to children about death, what attracted her to mortuary science, and options for after-life care most people don't know exist.  Download audio.  (Broadcast date: November 12, 2014)