Writers on Writing

Bestselling novelist Ann Patchett joins Marrie Stone for the full hour to discuss her latest book, The Dutch House. She talks about how the writing of this novel differed from her others, and how many times she had to rewrite and revise the manuscript. She shares the one writer who can teach you everything you need to know about writing fiction, and the essay she penned that will answer all your writing related questions. Discover how being a bookstore owner has changed her approach to writing, her feelings about cultural appropriation, separating good art from bad artists, the colorful story behind the book's cover, and much more. Download audio. (Broadcast date: October 2, 2019)

Meet the woman who lives inside your iPhone. Writer and poet Mariana Lin was recruited by Apple to write the personality for Siri, and went on to write for other artificially intelligent personalities, like Sophia. This week's show explores the thinking behind creating a personality and "voice" for machines—from their humor to their backstories. Mariana was tasked with considering machines living in other cultures, and how they should respond to racist, sexually charged, or other offensive speech. And she was challenged to imbue them with whimsy, nuance, and complexity. Hear about how Mariana’s love of language, fiction, and poetry is influencing a new cast of characters living in our world.  Download audio.  (Broadcast date: September 18, 2019)

Actor, audiobook narrator, and writer Jorjeana Marie joins Barbara DeMarco-Barrett to talk about Improv for Writers. In the second half, novelist Helen Phillips comes on to talk about The Need, published by Simon and Schuster. Phillips discusses "emotional" revision while Marie talks about how improv is a tool writers can employ for everything from getting past the blank page to figuring out plot and structure. Download audio. (Broadcast date: Sept. 11, 2019)

Novelist Christy Lefteri joins Marrie Stone to talk about her latest book, The Beekeeper of Aleppo. She talks about her time as a UNICEF volunteer and growing up as a child of two refugees and how these events informed the novel. She discusses how words and phrases trigger her memories, and how she used that experience as an effective flashback device in the book, and much more. In the second half, Susan Straight shares her memoir, In the Country of Women. She talks about her family's secret language, the effective thread of The Odyssey throughout the book, and her enduring relationship with a very special possum. Download audio.  (Broadcast date: September 4, 2019)

Peter Orner joins Marrie Stone to talk about his latest collection, Maggie Brown & Others. He discusses the power of the short story form, and how he attempted to create the sensation of walking down a city sidewalk and staring up into all the lit apartment windows to get a sense of story. He talks about the importance of place, and leaving it. And much more. In the second half, Ben Marcus shares his collection, Notes From the Fog. Ben talks about the story around which the rest of the collection formed, how Elon Musk's hatred of food inspired him, and more. Download audio. (Broadcast date: August 21, 2019)

T. Jefferson Parker, author of The Last Good Guy, and Sigrid Nunez, author of Mitz: The Marmoset of Bloomsbury, join Barbara DeMarco-Barrett to discuss the art, craft, and business of writing on Writers on Writing, KUCI-FM, 88.9 fm. Download audio. (Broadcast date: August 28, 2019) Archive: writersonwriting.blogspot.com

In a show dedicated to memoir, Rick Moody joins Marrie Stone to talk about his latest book, The Long Accomplishment: A Memoir of Hope and Struggle in Matrimony. He shares how he wrote through a difficult life experience, feeding his creative energy, and more. In the second half, Elissa Altman joins to talk about Motherland: A Memoir of Love, Loathing and Longing. She discusses the intricate connection between food and mothering, writing critically about a loved one who is still alive, and what the writing—and reading aloud—of the book taught her about her own story. Download audio. (Broadcast date: August 14, 2019)

Memoirist Liz Scott, author of This Never Happened, and Sands Hall, author of Flunk. Start.: Reclaiming My Decade Lost in Scientology, talk with Barbara DeMarco-Barrett about their memoirs. Download audio.   (Broadcast date: August 7, 2019)

Novelist Janet Fitch, author of Chimes of a Lost Cathedral, joins Barbara DeMarco-Barrett to talk about her new novel published by Little Brown. Download audio. (Broadcast date: July 31, 2019)

Taffy Brodesser-Akner joins Marrie Stone to talk about her novel, Fleishman is in Trouble. In the second half, Kathleen Alcott joins to talk about her latest, America Was Hard to Find. Download audio. (Broadcast date: July 24, 2019)

New York City literary agent Mark Gottlieb joins Barbara DeMarco-Barrett for the entire hour to talk about what he looks for in a client, the attraction--and danger--of trends, self-publishing, and so much else about publishing. Here's his bio: Mark Gottlieb is a literary agent at Trident Media Group in New York City. He ranks highly among literary agents in overall deals and other categories. With that insight and initiative, Mark Gottlieb is actively building his client list of new authors. He manages and grows author careers at publishing's leading agency. One of his core values is helping writers realize their book publishing dreams. Since his time at Trident Media Group, he has represented New York Times bestselling, as well as award-winning authors. He has also optioned and sold books to film and TV companies. He previously ran Trident Media Group's Audiobook Department and before that worked in Foreign Rights. Prior to that he served as Executive Assistant to the literary agency's Chairman. Agent Mark Gottlieb is actively seeking submissions in all categories. He is looking forward to bringing new authors to the curious minds of their future readers. Download audio. (Broadcast date: July 17, 2019)

Caite Dolan-Leach joins Marrie Stone to talk about her latest novel, We Went to the Woods. She shares her draw to her childhood home as setting, her research methods, the myriad blind paths her narrator led her down, and her methods for unlocking character. Download audio. (Broadcast date: July 10, 2019)

Shawn Levy, author of The Castle on Sunset:Life, Death, Love, Art, and Scandal at Hollywood's Chateau Marmont, joins Barbara to talk about his new nonfiction book. The only guest for the entire hour, they discuss "gathering string," doing research, writing and revising. Download audio. (Broadcast date: July 3, 2019)

Novelist Gary Shteyngart joins Marrie Stone for the full hour to talk about his latest book, Lake Success, now available in paperback. Gary talks about creating effective satire, his pull toward the immigrant story, research, the novel's biggest challenge, and much more. Download audio.  (Broadcast date: June 26, 2019)

Novelist and short story writer Karen Russell joins Marrie Stone to talk about her latest collection, Orange World. She discusses how she approaches stories versus novels, the Venn Diagram of character, how copying out sentences of other writers helps her rhythm and more. In the second half, Jessica Francis Kane joins to talk about her novel, Rules for Visiting. She shares insights into how to deal with an interior main character, how the novel can be structured like a series of stories, what motivated the novel and more. Download audio.  (Broadcast date: June 19, 2019)