Writers on Writing

Jonathan Lethem, author of The Feral Detective, and Deborah Gaal, author of The Dream Stitcher, talk with Barbara DeMarco-Barrett about the art, craft, and business of writing. Download audio. (Broadcast date: Nov. 21, 2018)

Young adult writer Marie Lu returns to "Writers on Writing" to talk with Marrie Stone about her latest duology, Warcross and Wildcard. She talks about the intersection between video gaming and her novels, how to build a compelling world, how her sketchbooks help her build character, and more. In the second half, debut novelist Rita Dragonette joins to discuss her novel The Fourteenth of September. In addition to talking about the impact of the Vietnam War on her life, she discusses the difficulties of writing a novel over the course of 12 years, mining your own life as a starting point in fiction, the role of critique groups in her writing and more. The interviews were pre-recorded and ran longer than the allotted on-air time. To access the longer interviews, click on the links below the podcast. Download audio. Download full length Marie Lu. Download full length Rita Dragonette. (Broadcast date: November 14, 2018)

Hallie Ephron, author of You'll Never Know, Dear, and Lisa Brackmann, author of Black Swan Rising, talk with Barbara DeMarco-Barrett about the art, craft, and business of writing mysteries and suspense.  Download audio. (Broadcast date: Nov. 7, 2018)

Marcus Zusak, author of Bridge of Clay and The Book Thief, and Lisa Unger, author of Under My Skin, talk with Barbara DeMarco-Barrett about the art, craft, and business of writing. Download Audio. (Broadcast date: 10/24/2018)

Rick Moody, author of The Ice Storm, Hotels of North America, and Demonology (among many other works), joins Marrie Stone to talk about taking risks, the importance of playing with form, stoking creativity, living in the world in an artist in today's America, and more. Download audio.  (Broadcast date: October 31, 2018)

Andre Dubus III joins Marrie Stone for the full hour to talk about his latest novel, Gone So Long. He discusses how to make the empathetic leap into characters vastly different from him, and living in the discomfort of a character who might repulse him. He gives insight into his process for writing effective sex scenes. He talks craft, process, structure, and revision, all with his signature down-to-earth and eloquent style. Download audio.  (Broadcast date: October 17, 2018)

Liana Finck, author of the graphic memoir, Passing for Human, and novelist Deborah Reed, author of The Days When Birds Come Back, join Barbara DeMarco-Barrett to talk about their new books and the art, craft, and business of writing. Download audio. (Broadcast date: October 10, 2018)

Christina Dalcher, author of Vox, talks with Marrie about dystopian fiction, linguistics, the importance of language, and her love of flash fiction. She also discusses beat sheets, rough outlines, how flash fiction helps novel writing, and more. In the second half, Donna Hilbert discusses her latest poetry collection, Gravity. She talks about the quiet space necessary to produce work, art versus therapy, and the process of understanding what a poem is about. Donna also dissects one of her poems for the listening audience. Download audio.  (Broadcast date: October 3, 2018)

Tod Goldberg, author of Gangsterland and Gangster Nation, and NYC literary agent Jennie Dunham talk with Barbara DeMarco-Barrett about novels, agents, publishing, and so much more. Download audio. (Broadcast date: Sept. 26, 2018) Tod will be featured at the Pen on Fire Speaker Series and Salon on Oct. 16, 2018, at the Lido Bookstore in Newport Beach, CA   More at www.penonfire.com/speakerseries

Novelist and essayist Jo Ann Beard talks with Marrie Stone about her past works, The Boys of My Youth and In Zanesville. Over the course of the hour, she shares a wealth of wisdom and honest insights about her process and craft, her feelings about her work and her artistry, the importance of the work versus the importance of publication, and much more. Download audio. (Broadcast date: September 19, 2018)

Leslie Schwartz, author of the memoir The Lost Chapters talks with Barbara on the show about her time in jail, treatment of prisoners, and how this experience became a book, and how reading books kept her going during these 90 days. Download audio. (Broadcast date: Sept. 12, 2018)

Alexia Arthurs joins Marrie Stone to share her short story collection debut, How to Love a Jamaican. She discusses beginnings and endings. She talks about writing from place and setting. And she talks about the unexpected surprises of a short story and what they reveal to the writer. Download audio.  (Broadcast date: September 5, 2018)

Novelist and memoirist Sandra Gail Lambert joins Marrie Stone to talk about her memoir in essays, A Certain Loneliness. She discusses how writing from the body avoids sentimentality, and how she can both protect her own privacy while exposing herself on the page. Sandra also discusses how one essay, when broken apart, became the backbone structure for the whole book. Download audio. (Broadcast date: September 5, 2018)

Glen David Gold, author of I Will Be Complete (Knopf), is Barbara's guest for the entire hour. The show is a master class in writing memoir. If you're writing memoir, you won't want to miss this one. Download audio. (Broadcast date: August 29, 2018) Avoid missing a show. Visit iTunes and subscribe, free of charge, to the Writers on Writing podcast. When a new show is uploaded, it will arrive in your podcast file.

Nancy Rommelmann, author of To the Bridge: A True Story of Motherhood and Murder (Little A) talks with Barbara DeMarco-Barrett about the book, from idea to publication, where stories originate,   how covering dark topics affects her as a writer and a mother, and more.  Download audio.  (Broadcast date: Aug. 22, 2019)