Writers on Writing

Short story writer Aimee Bender and novelist Jacob M. Appel talk with guest host Nicole Nelson about the art and business of writing short stories and novels.  Download audio.  (Broadcast date: Oct. 30, 2013)

Rebecca Lee, author of the short story collection, Bobcat, and Andre Dubus III, author of Dirty Love, came on the show to talk with guest host Marrie Stone about their writing. Download audio.  (Broadcast date: Oct. 9, 2013)

This podcast was recorded in May 2012 at the Pen on Fire Speaker Series in Corona del Mar, CA. The panel is comprised of Claire Bidwell Smith, Dinah Lenney, and James Brown, moderated by Barbara DeMarco-Barrett. If you'd like news about upcoming speaker series event, visit penonfire.com/speakerseries.  Download audio  (Broadcast date: May 12, 2012)

Novelist Dara Horn and poet Gary Soto talk with guest host Nicole Nelson on the show.  Download audio. (Broadcast date: Sept. 25, 2013)

Memoirist Beverly Donofrio, author of Astonished, Riding in Cars with Boys, and Looking for Marycame on the show to primarily discuss her latest, Astonished. One highlight: When an editor bought Riding in Cars with Boys, she visited him in his office. He started talking to her about her memoir, but she said no, no, she had written a novel.  "I can't sell a novel," he said.  "I can sell a memoir." Donofrio hemmed and hawed a lil bit, then said, Well, okay, I didn't make anything up.  Donofrio is a memoirist through and through.  Very entertaining, especially difficult to do when telling a story about being raped after 50 and the journey it led her on. Download audio.  (Broadcast date: Sept. 18, 2013)

Gregg Hurwitz, author of Tell No Lies, is Barbara's guest for the entire show. He talks about writing suspense fiction, and his latest novel, Tell No Lies.  Download audio. (Broadcast date: Sept. 4, 2013)

Marrie Stone talks with short story writer Said Sayrafiezadeh about his latest collection, Brief Encounters with the Enemy.   In the second half hour, C.E. Poverman discusses his novel, Love by Drowning.  (There is a brief delay in the second half, as the interview starts a little late.  Stay tuned.)  Download audio.  (Broadcast date: August 28, 2013)

Karen Joy Fowler, author of We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves, and David Groves, author of What Happens to Us, talk with my guest host Nicole Nelson and with me about their novels, their process, and ebooks. Download audio. (Broadcast date: July 24, 2013)

Guest host Nicole Nelson talks with novelists Erika Robuck, author of Call Me Zelda and Courtney Angela Brkic, author of The First Rule of Swimming. Download audio. Please be aware there may be technical problems with the broadcast...it's not you, it's us... (Broadcast date: July 3, 2013)

Here's one from the archives... Barbara DeMarco-Barrett interviews Piper Kerman, author of Orange is the New Black: My Year in a Women's Prison. Download Audio. (Broadcast Date: December 8, 2010)

Guest host Nicole Nelson and Barbara DeMarco-Barrett, producer and host of Writers on Writing, talk with Curtis Sittenfeld, author of Sisterland, about her new novel and about writing. Download audio.  (Broadcast date: July 3, 2013)

Barbara DeMarco-Barrett interviews Vicky Bijur, New York City literary agent. Download audio. (Broadcast date: February 11, 2009)

Literary agent Vicky Bijur and Robert Olen Butler, for Part II of the interview with him. Part I took place on 8/2/11. He's author of A Small Hotel. Download audio. (Broadcast date: August 10, 2011.)

Marrie Stone chats with Caroline Leavitt, author of Is This Tomorrow, about being an outsider, how writing can't escape personal experience, and what perseverance really looks like.  In the second half hour, Howard Norman discusses his memoir, I Hate To Leave This Beautiful Place, his love of ornithology, and the power of place. Download audio. (Broadcast date: July 10, 2013)

San Francisco-based agent Ted Weinstein talks about the current state of publishing, and offers advice to writers: Let agents find you (he talks about how), become a multimedia empire (he talks about how), new publishing models (he talks about these), and more. (Note: There's a bit of technical trouble toward the beginning of the interview and at the end, about 50 minutes in.  It's not you, it's me.) Download audio Broadcast date: June 26, 2013)