Writers on Writing

Luis Alberto Urrea, author of The House of Broken Angels, talks with Barbara DeMarco-Barrett about his current wondrous novel, as well as the art, craft, and business of writing. Download audio. (Broadcast date: April 25, 2018)

Joan Silber, author of Improvement, joins Marrie Stone for the full hour. Improvement recently won the 2018 PEN/Faulkner Award for fiction, as well as the National Book Critics Circle Award for fiction. Silber discusses the importance of travel on her work, cultural appropriation in fiction, finding one's voice, humor, the "kaleidoscopic story cycles" of her novels, metaphor, revision and more. Download audio.  (Broadcast date: April 18, 2018)

Erica Garza, author of the memoir Getting Off: One Woman's Journey Through Sex and Porn Addiction, talks with Marrie Stone about her reasons for writing the memoir, the incredible reception it has received since publication, and the obvious need to bring buried issues to light. She discusses how to tackle painful scenes, overcoming shame, where and how to begin one's story, and more. In the second half, Jennifer Haupt joins to discuss her debut novel, In the Shadow of 10,000 Hills. She discusses thorny issues surrounding cultural appropriation, how her work in journalism impacted her work as a fiction writer, the importance of travel, the difficulties of writing a novel over the course of years, revision, and more. Download audio.  (Broadcast date: April 4, 2018)

Memoirist and novelist Jasmin Darznik joins Marrie Stone to talk about her novel, Song of a Captive Bird. She talks about her pull toward Iran, toward silenced women, poetry, and more. She discusses the difficult path she took to find the structure of her novel, research, point of view, and more. In the second half, memoirist Tara Westover joins to talk about her debut memoir, Educated. Tara grew up in Idaho, under the care of a father who didn't trust the government. That meant no birth certificate, no medical care, and no school. Tara shares her journey to Harvard and Cambridge, and her journey to writing the memoir. She talks about teaching herself to write by using the New Yorker Fiction podcasts, discovering what her book was really about, and finding the embedded metaphors inside her life. Download audio. (Broadcast date: March 21, 2018)

John Dufresne, author of Flash! Writing the Very Short Story and Susan Henderson, author of The Flicker of Old Dreams talk with Barbara DeMarco-Barrett about their new books. Download audio. (Broadcast date: March 28, 2018)

Novelist, essayist and psychotherapist Dennis Palumbo joins Marrie Stone to talk about his latest Daniel Rinaldi thriller, Head Wounds. He discusses the role of technology in crime fiction, the ways in which crime fiction can reflect society, and the many challenges posed when writing brilliant characters. Dennis also shares his many words of wisdom to writers regarding teh creative process and challenges he sees from his therapist's chair. In the second half, Veera Hiranandani joins to discuss her debut young adult novel, The Night Diary.  She talks about the pleasures and limitations from the diary format, writing from a distant place and distant time, teaching history without being didactic, and more. Download audio. (Broadcast date: March 14, 2018)

Literary critic, writer and poet John Freeman joins Marrie to talk about his collection, Maps. John brings all his insights, wisdom and pitch-perfect ear to the discussion of poetry, and treats the listener with a few readings. In the second half, Jensen Beach talks about his collection, Swallowed by the Cold.  These interlocking stories, set in Sweden, provide the groundwork for a discussion of setting, character,  pacing and plot in the short story form. Download audio. (Broadcast date: November 1, 2017)

Novelist Leni Zumas, author of Red Clocks, talks to guest host Nicole Nelson about how attention to language can help foster authenticity, how she learned to put more pressure on story threads and "stick with the trouble," and how she developed a style that insists that readers "keep up." Download audio.  (Broadcast date: March 07, 2018) p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 11.0px 'Helvetica Neue'}

New York Times bestselling novelist Kristin Hannah joins Marrie Stone for the hour to discuss her latest novel, The Great Alone. Kristin shares her fascination with Alaska and living off the grid. She discusses writing dark characters and dark themes, against the backdrop of an oppressive setting. Kristin talks about writing in the aftermath of success, throwing away failed novels, creating suspense, and her long fascination with writing about strong women. Download audio. (Broadcast date: February 28, 2018)

Marrie Stone is joined by Catherine Banner, author of House at the Edge of Night. Catherine discusses the art of structure, how introducing a fairy tale to the beginning of each section grounded the book, inhabiting characters very different from herself, and writing as an outside (from the perspective of both time and place). In the second half, Kelly Corrigan discusses her latest, Tell Me More: Stories About the 12 Hardest Things I'm Learning to Say. Corrigan talks about several of those hard things, the need to re-write something 42 times to make it appear easy and seamless, the importance of details and the tines of a fork, and much more great wisdom and advice. Download audio. (Broadcast date: February 14, 2018) PLEASE NOTE: Catherine Banner's interview cuts off a bit early due to technical difficulties.

New York Times bestselling author Dean Koontz joins Marrie Stone to talk about his Kindle in Motion book, Ricochet Joe. He also shares mounds of writing advice about finding ideas, the importance of character in a thriller, the role of dialogue, and much more. In the second half, debut novelist Patrick Nathan joins to share his novel, Some Hell. He talks about the long journey of novel writing, character development, revision, and more. Download audio. (Broadcast date: January 17, 2018)

Novelist Peter Heller, author of The Dog Stars, The Painter, and Celine talks with Writers on Writing show host Barbara DeMarco-Barrett about the crossover from a journalism and poetry to fiction, starting with a first sentence, writing in cafes wearing Bose headphones listening to the SimplyRain app, and listening to your characters, and so very much more. Download audio. (Broadcast date: Feb. 21, 2018)

Marrie Stone talks with novelist Attica Locke, author of Bluebird, Bluebird, about capturing a familiar place from a distance, her decision to break her own rule and write about a cop, inhabiting uncomfortable points of view, and how her book became a much different book in the age of Donal Trump (even though she never changed a word). In the second half, Janet Buttenweiser joins to talk about her memoir Guts. In addition to sharing her personal story, Janet talks about crafting a compelling narrative from life events, the emotional distance required to write objectively, finding the metaphors in real-life events, and much more. Download audio. (Broadcast date: January 31, 2018)

Ivy Pochoda, author of Wonder Valley, joins Barbara DeMarco-Barrett for the entire hour to talk about her new novel and how it came to be. Download audio. (Broadcast date: Dec. 6, 2017)

Gayle Brandeis, author of The Art of Misdiagnosis, and Jessica Bruder, author of Nomadland, talk with Barbara DeMarco-Barrett about the art, craft, and business of writing. Download audio. (Broadcast date: Feb. 7, 2018)