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  • ATTENTION: THIS PODCAST HAS MOVED!

    ATTENTION: THIS PODCAST HAS MOVED!

    · Writers on Writing

    Please read and/or listen to the following special announcement about the "Writers on Writing" podcast, as it has moved.

    As you likely know, for the past several months, "Writers on Writing"has been experiencing trouble with our Apple and Amazon podcast platforms. Ironically, the problemstems from how long we've been podcasting the show. When we originally beganpodcasting in 2005, the technology for podcasters was still primitive and new.Since then, it has evolved significantly and we've been forced to changeplatforms. Unfortunately, so far, Apple and Amazon have been unable to move our subscribersover to the new platform.

    Rest assured, we've been posting shows on Mondays as usual,but they're now showing on a new "Writers on Writing" podcast. Please consider resubscribingat our new site. It’s entirely free, as always.

    Search for “Writers on Writing” with Barbara DeMarco-Barrettand Marrie Stone. You’ll notice a slightly updated new logo, which includes  a radio tower beaming out its circular signalto the left of the “Writers on Writing” title with the pen. You’ll know youhave the correct show when you see recently posted episodes.

    If you’re experiencing any difficulties, please feel free toreach out to us at [email protected] or [email protected] new website is www.writers-on-writing.com.

    Thanks again for your ongoing support of the show. We valueyour listenership. Happy holidays!

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  • Paul Bradley Carr, 1414 Degrees

    Paul Bradley Carr, 1414 Degrees

    · Writers on Writing

    Paul Bradley Carr, author of the new novel 1414 Degrees, talks with Barbara DeMarco-Barrett about his new novel, writing in multiple POVs, the crossover from nonfiction to fiction, opening a bookstore, and so much more. 
    Download audio. 
    (Recorded in October 2022) 
    Find us on our Patreon page.
    Music and sound design by Travis Barrett 
    Barbara DeMarco-Barrett: www.penonfire.com Marrie Stone: www.marriestone.com Travis Barrett: https://travisbarrett.mykajabi.com

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  • Liska Jacobs, author of The Pink Hotel

    Liska Jacobs, author of The Pink Hotel

    · Writers on Writing

    Novelist Liska Jacobs, author of The Pink Hotel (FSG), talks with Barbara DeMarco-Barrett about influences, first drafts, bloglines, synopses, and the art, craft, and business of writing.

    Liska Jacobs is also author of Catalina and The Worst Kind of Worst. She holds an MFA from the University of California, Riverside. Her essays and fiction have appears in The Rumpus, Los Angeles Review of Books, Literary Hub, the Millions, and The Hairpin, among other publications. The Pink Hotel is her third novel. 

    Download audio.  

    (Recorded on September 27, 2022)

    Music and sound design by Travis Barrett 

    Visit our Patreon page to become a supporter here. There are perks!

    Barbara DeMarco-Barrett: www.penonfire.com
    Marrie Stone: www.marriestone.com
    Travis Barrett: https://travisbarrett.mykajabi.com

  • George Saunders on his latest collection,

    George Saunders on his latest collection, "Liberation Day"

    · Writers on Writing

    George Saunders joins Marrie to talk about his latest collection of stories (and first collection since Tenth of December in 2013). The nine stories in Liberation Day contain his signature humor and compassion, broken characters and strange landscapes. Time Magazine calls Saunders "the best short-story writer in English." He spends the hour sharing a bit of his process.

    In addition to breaking down several of these stories and sharing their backstory and inspiration, Saunders talks about using the whole page, including elegant line and word spacing techniques, to render syntax and dialect for his characters. He discusses how his engineering background helps him as a writer, how to trust your intuition, and so much more.

    If you find this or other interviews useful, consider supporting the show on Patreon.  

    Download audio.

    (Recorded on October 3, 2022)

    Music and sound design by Travis Barrett
    Barbara DeMarco-Barrett: www.penonfire.com
    Marrie Stone: www.marriestone.com
    Travis Barrett: https://travisbarrett.mykajabi.com

  • Celeste Ng, Our Missing Hearts

    Celeste Ng, Our Missing Hearts

    · Writers on Writing
    Novelist Celeste Ng, author of Our Missing Hearts and Barbara DeMarco-Barrett discuss her latest novel (NYT review, 10/2/22). They talk about world building, developing characters, reading for writers, and much more. 

    Celeste Ng is the author of three novels, Everything I Never Told You, Little Fires Everywhere, and Our Missing Hearts. Celeste grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and Shaker Heights, Ohio. She graduated from Harvard University and earned an MFA from the University of Michigan (now the Helen Zell Writers’ Program at the University of Michigan).  Her fiction and essays have appeared in the New York Times, The Guardian, and many other publications, and she is a recipient of the Pushcart Prize, a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, and a Guggenheim Fellowship, among other honors.


     Download audio. 
     (Recorded on 9/23/2022) 
    Music and sound design by Travis Barrett 
    We are now on Patreon! If you've gleaned useful tidbits over the years--24 years we've been broadcasting the show--consider becoming a supporter. Visit Patreon.com/writersonwriting
     Barbara DeMarco-Barrett: www.penonfire.com Marrie Stone: www.marriestone.com Travis Barrett: https://travisbarrett.mykajabi.com
  • Literary Agent Lori Galvin on finding the right agent

    Literary Agent Lori Galvin on finding the right agent

    · Writers on Writing

    Literary agent Lori Galvin of Aevitas Creative Management represents both adult fiction (especially women's fiction and crime fiction) and non-fiction (memoir, food writing, and cookbooks). A few of her clients include Hannah Kirshner's Water, Wood, and Wild Things (Viking '21), Cambria Brockman's Tell Me Everything (Ballantine '19), and Wanda M. Morris's All Her Little Secrets (Morrow '21). Some projects have been optioned by A24 and Netflix.

    Galvin joins Marrie to talk about changes in the publishing industry, what she looks for in effective query letters, the importance of the first five pages, the dos and don'ts of finding an agent, what you can do to improve your chances of finding a good match with an agent, and so much more. 

    If you find this or other interviews useful, consider supporting the show on Patreon.   

    Download audio.  

    (Recorded on September 21, 2022)

    Music and sound design by Travis Barrett
    Barbara DeMarco-Barrett: www.penonfire.com
    Marrie Stone: www.marriestone.com
    Travis Barrett: https://travisbarrett.mykajabi.com

  • Novelist Antoine Wilson, Mouth to Mouth

    Novelist Antoine Wilson, Mouth to Mouth

    · Writers on Writing

    Novelist Antoine Wilson, author of Mouth to Mouth, and Barbara DeMarco-Barrett discuss setting, plotting, creating characters, ironic endings, and more. About Mouth to Mouth, one of Barack Obama's favorite books of 2022, Kirkus said, "A deliciously nasty morality play in the guise of a thriller." 
    Download audio.  
    (Recorded on August 18, 2022) 
    Music and sound design by Travis Barrett 
    Support the show on Patreon. 
    Barbara DeMarco-Barrett: www.penonfire.com Marrie Stone: www.marriestone.com Travis Barrett: https://travisbarrett.mykajabi.com

  • Novelist Anthony Marra, author of

    Novelist Anthony Marra, author of "Mercury Pictures Presents"

    · Writers on Writing

    Anthony Marra is the New York Times bestselling author of The Tsar of Love and Techno and A Constellation of Vital Phenomena, longlisted for the National Book Award. He joins Marrie Stone to talk about his latest novel, Mercury Pictures Presents, and how a book he began over eight years ago suddenly took on new and unsettling relevance in today's America. 

    Marra shares his struggles with writing this book, managing a large cast of characters and an enormous amount of research, as well as some general writing advice for novelists. He stresses the importance of filling your notebook with questions, reading broadly, writing daily and more. 

    If you find this or other interviews useful, consider supporting the show on Patreon.  

    Download audio.

    (Recorded on September 8, 2022)

    Music and sound design by Travis Barrett
    Barbara DeMarco-Barrett: www.penonfire.com
    Marrie Stone: www.marriestone.com
    Travis Barrett: https://travisbarrett.mykajabi.com

  • Memoirist Isaac Fitzgerald, author of

    Memoirist Isaac Fitzgerald, author of "Dirtbag, Massachusetts"

    · Writers on Writing

    Isaac Fitzgerald, author of the new memoir, Dirtbag, Massachusetts: A Confessional, talks with Barbara DeMarco-Barrett about the art, craft, and business of writing his memoir.

    Fitzgerald is the New York Times bestselling author of Dirtbag, Massachusetts. He appears frequently on The Today Show and is also the author of the bestselling children's book How to Be a  Pirate as well as the co-author of Pen & Ink: Tattoos and the Stories Behind Them and Knives & Ink: Chefs and the Stories Behind Their Tattoos (winner of an IACP Award). His writing has appear in The New York Times, The Atlantic, Esquire, The Guardian, The Best American Nonrequired Reading, and numerous other publications. He lives in Brooklyn.

    Download audio.  

    (Recorded on July 15, 2022 via Zoom)

    Music and sound design by Travis Barrett 

    Support the show on Patreon. Marrie and I appreciate every dollar.

    Barbara DeMarco-Barrett: www.penonfire.com
    Marrie Stone: www.marriestone.com
    Travis Barrett: https://travisbarrett.mykajabi.com

  • Memoirist Amy Turner, author of

    Memoirist Amy Turner, author of "On the Ledge"

    · Writers on Writing

    In 1957, when Amy Turner was four years old, her father stepped out onto the ledge of his high-rise hotel room and threatened to jump. More than 50 years later, Turner faced her own near-death experience when she was struck by a truck in a pedestrian crosswalk. Those two incidents, happening over half a century apart, led Turner to understand the legacy of anxiety and depression she inherited from her family, and the role of trauma in forming her identity.

    Turner joined Marrie Stone to talk about her memoir, On the Ledge, as well as coming to writing later in life, how being an attorney impacted her writing, and how she knew when it was time to publish this book. Turner shares the struggles she had with structure, knowing what material to cut, and how to deal with time gaps in her story. She also discusses choosing She Writes Press (a small press who publishes women writers), foregoing the need for an agent, marketing her memoir and choosing a publicist.  

    For more information about the show, as well as additional writing tips, prompts, and perks, visit our Patreon page here.

    Download audio. 

    (Recorded on August 27, 2022)
    (Broadcast date: August 29, 2022) 

    Music and sound design by Travis Barrett
    Barbara DeMarco-Barrett: www.penonfire.com
    Marrie Stone: www.marriestone.com
    Travis Barrett: https://travisbarrett.mykajabi.com

  • Novelist Jacinda Townsend, Mother Country

    Novelist Jacinda Townsend, Mother Country

    · Writers on Writing

    Jacinda Townsend, author of the novel Mother Country (Graywolf), and Barbara DeMarco-Barrett discuss her new book and the setting of Morocco, alternating POVs, slavery, writing with the senses, and more. 
    During her Fulbright year, on a layover in Morocco, Jacinda discovered the city of Marrakech and fell in love. Later that same year, on a trip to Northern Mali, she also first witnessed modern-day slavery: that incident inspired the research that eventually took her to Mauritania, where she met with escaped slaves and anti-slavery activists and began the work that would become her newly published novel, Mother Country (Graywolf, 2022).  Mother Country is told in the voices of an American woman struggling with infertility who kidnaps a young Moroccan girl, and the young mother, escaped from Mauritanian slavery, who loses her. Jacinda is also the author of Saint Monkey (Norton, 2014), which is set in 1950’s Eastern Kentucky and is a love letter to a Black community that has all but disappeared. Saint Monkey won the 2015 Janet Heidinger Kafka Prize for best fiction written by a woman and the James Fenimore Cooper Prize for that year’s best historical fiction. Saint Monkey was also the 2015 Honor Book of the Black Caucus of the American Library Association.

    Download audio.  
    (Recorded via Zoom on July 28, 2022) 
    Music and sound design by Travis Barrett 
    Check out our Patreon page!
     Barbara DeMarco-Barrett: www.penonfire.com Marrie Stone: www.marriestone.com Travis Barrett: https://travisbarrett.mykajabi.com

  • Novelist Tom Perrotta, author of

    Novelist Tom Perrotta, author of "Tracy Flick Can't Win"

    · Writers on Writing

    Tom Perrotta joins Marrie to talk about his latest novel, Tracy Flick Can't Win. The author of nine previous works of fiction, Perrotta wrote Election, The Leftovers, Little Children and Mrs. Fletcher, all of which have been adapted to screen.

    The conversation covers the #metoo movement and how feminism and the women's rights movement has evolved since Election came out 25 years ago. Perrotta discusses how he approaches politics in fiction, and what he failed to see coming in this country despite setting his novels in America's suburbs. He also shares insights into his writing process including the importance of drawing a distinct time-frame around your novel, writing from various points of view, how writing for the screen has helped his fiction, and so much more.

    For more information about the show, as well as additional writing tips, prompts, and perks, visit our Patreon page here.

    Download audio.  

    (Recorded on August 11, 2022)
    (Broadcast date: August 15, 2022) 

    Music and sound design by Travis Barrett
    Barbara DeMarco-Barrett: www.penonfire.com
    Marrie Stone: www.marriestone.com
    Travis Barrett: https://travisbarrett.mykajabi.com

  • Novelist Susan Straight, Mecca

    Novelist Susan Straight, Mecca

    · Writers on Writing

    Susan Straight, author of the novel, Mecca, which Michael Connelly called "a masterpiece," talks with Barbara DeMarco-Barrett about her new novel and how it came to be. Susan Straight was born in Riverside, CA, and still lives there with her family. She’s passionate about home, California, the Santa Ana River, the foothills and the deserts, and has been writing about southern California and the inland area for forty years. From her kitchen window, she can see the hospital where she was born, which her three daughters find kind of hilarious and pathetic; most days, she walks her dog Angel beside the Santa Ana River as she has since childhood, and then past the classrooms at Riverside City College, where she wrote her first short story, at 16, which is also kind of hilarious, but hopeful. She has written about the people of California for her new memoir, In the Country of Women, based on women’s stories told for five generations to Straight and her daughters, in driveways and trucks, at parks and funerals. She’s published that memoir, eight novels, and two books for children. Her short stories and essays have been published everywhere from The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, and The Guardian to Alta, The Believer, McSweeneys, Zoetrope, Reader’s Digest, Real Simple, and Family Circle. She’s been awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship, the Lannan Prize for Fiction, a California Gold Medal for Fiction, and the Kirsch Award for Lifetime Achievement from the Los Angeles Times Book Prizes. 
    Download audio. 

    (Recorded on July 12, 2022) 
    Music and sound design by Travis Barrett 

    Support the show on Patreon! Barbara DeMarco-Barrett: www.penonfire.com Marrie Stone: www.marriestone.com Travis Barrett: https://travisbarrett.mykajabi.com

  • Monique Roffey, author of

    Monique Roffey, author of "The Mermaid of Black Conch"

    · Writers on Writing

    Monique Roffey is the author of six works of fiction and the 2012 memoir, With the Kisses of His Mouth. The British-Tobagonian author's latest book, The Mermaid of Black Conch, was released by a small press during the height of the 2020 pandemic. But, much like Roffey's outcast mermaid, the novel is enjoying a second life, winning prestigious awards, getting picked up by Knopf in the United States, and garnering praise in the press.

    Roffey joins Marrie Stone to talk about the novel's unlikely journey, from her decision to launch a crowdfunding campaign in 2019 to the book's ultimate award-winning success. She also discusses writing compelling sex scenes, how Jungian analysis changed the trajectory of her writing, using television-style treatments for her manuscripts, why she needs 20 strong scenes before she begins writing, and so much more.  

    For more information about the show, as well as additional writing tips, prompts, and perks, visit our Patreon page here.

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    (Recorded on July 29, 2022)
    (Broadcast date: August 1, 2022) 

    Music and sound design by Travis Barrett
    Barbara DeMarco-Barrett: www.penonfire.com
    Marrie Stone: www.marriestone.com
    Travis Barrett: https://travisbarrett.mykajabi.com

     

  • Memoirist Tad Friend

    Memoirist Tad Friend

    · Writers on Writing

    Memoirist Tad Friend, author of In the Early Times, and Barbara DeMarco-Barrett discuss getting to the truth in memoir, what to do when you're asked to record your own audio book (and don't want to), revision, backstory vs. front story, and so much more.
    Tad Friend has been a New Yorker staff writer since 1998. An excerpt of this book was published in an April issue, which is when we became aware of the memoir and knew we had to have Tad on the show. 
    Download audio. 
    (Recorded via Zoom on July 7, 2022) 
    Music and sound design by Travis Barrett. More typewriter music on Spotify: Just My Type
    Consider becoming a Patreon supporter. Now that we're no longer at the station, it's a bit more complicated producing shows so every donation helps more than you know. Here's the link. 
    Barbara DeMarco-Barrett: www.penonfire.com Marrie Stone: www.marriestone.com Travis Barrett: https://travisbarrett.mykajabi.com

  • Debut crime writer Dwyer Murphy, author of

    Debut crime writer Dwyer Murphy, author of "An Honest Living"

    · Writers on Writing

    Dwyer Murphy is the editor-in-chief of CrimeReads, Literary Hub‘s crime fiction vertical and a popular destination for thriller readers. A former litigator, Murphy is the author of the debut novel An Honest Living (publishing on July 26, 2022 by Viking). 

    Murphy joins Marrie Stone to talk about writing crime fiction and what he's learned about crime writing in his years working in the industry. He gives insights into New York in the early 2000s and setting a novel before the social media and technology boom. He also talks about creating recurring characters, how to maintain suspense, and other aspects of creating compelling crime fiction. 

    For additional writing tips, prompts, and perks, visit our Patreon page here.

    Download audio.  

    (Recorded on July 7, 2022)
    (Broadcast date: July 18, 2022) 

    Music and sound design by Travis Barrett
    Barbara DeMarco-Barrett: www.penonfire.com
    Marrie Stone: www.marriestone.com
    Travis Barrett: https://travisbarrett.mykajabi.com

  • Novelist Julie Clark

    Novelist Julie Clark

    · Writers on Writing

    Julie Clark, author of the new novel, The Lies I Tell, talks with Barbara DeMarco-Barrett about how she found her way to the domestic thriller genre, why she finds female con artists fascinating, her revision process, how she finds time to teach full-time and get her writing done, and so much more. 
    Julie Clark is the New York Times bestselling author of The Last Flight. It has earned starred reviews from Kirkus, Publishers Weekly, and Library Journal, and the New York Times has called it “thoroughly absorbing.” It’s been named an Indie Next Pick, a Library Reads Pick, and a Best Book of 2020 by Amazon Editors and Apple Books. Her debut, The Ones We Choose, was published in 2018 and has been optioned for television by Lionsgate. She lives in Los Angeles with her two sons and a golden doodle with poor impulse control.

    Download audio.  
     (Recorded in June, 2022) 
    Support the show on Patreon.com/WritersonWriting!
     Music and sound design by Travis Barrett 
     Barbara DeMarco-Barrett: www.penonfire.com Marrie Stone: www.marriestone.com Travis Barrett: https://travisbarrett.mykajabi.com

  • Eric Nguyen, author of

    Eric Nguyen, author of "Things We Lost to the Water"

    · Writers on Writing

    Eric Nguyen's debut novel, Things We Lost to the Water, was one of President Obama's favorite books of 2021. It's recently out in paperback.

    Eric joined Marrie Stone to talk about understanding his own history through the lens of fiction, how he came to know his characters, writing about a well-known city in a new light, how bilingualism serves his fiction, and so much more.

    If you're a regular listener or like this episode, check out our new Patreon page, where we offer weekly writing tips and prompts, as well as other goodies for our listeners.

    Thanks for listening!

    Download audio.  

    (Recorded on June 24, 2022) 

     
    Music and sound design by Travis Barrett
    Barbara DeMarco-Barrett: www.penonfire.com
    Marrie Stone: www.marriestone.com
    Travis Barrett: https://travisbarrett.mykajabi.com

  • Novelist Erica Ferencik, Girl in Ice

    Novelist Erica Ferencik, Girl in Ice

    · Writers on Writing

    Erica Ferencik, author of Girl in Ice, talks with Barbara DeMarco-Barrett about her new novel, creatures that can freeze and thaw out alive, why she's a plotter, writing the book she wished existed, and more. 
    Erica Ferencik is an award-winning novelist who writes adventure novels featuring women who brave not only internal struggles but face extreme challenges in their environment: remote forests, steaming jungles, and desolated ice scapes. To research GIRL IN ICE, (Scout Press, an imprint of Simon & Schuster), she explored the desolate iceberg-packed fjords of Greenland.
    Download audio. 
    (Recorded in June 2022) 
    Music and sound design by Travis Barrett 
    Barbara DeMarco-Barrett: www.penonfire.com Marrie Stone: www.marriestone.com Travis Barrett: https://travisbarrett.mykajabi.com
    Visit our Patreon page at www.patreon.com/writersonwriting

  • Alexis Schaitkin, author of

    Alexis Schaitkin, author of "Elsewhere"

    · Writers on Writing

    Alexis Schaitkin joins Marrie Stone to talk about her latest novel, Elsewhere (to be published by Celadon on June 28, 2022).

     The speculative fiction story explores the perils and pleasures of motherhood, how mothers judge one another, how women can often disappear into motherhood — and into aging — and how sometimes they can find themselves again. The setting is evocative and the issues are profound.

    Schaitkin shares several backstories behind the novel, including the inspiration for this hauting fictional village, her many attempts to find her way into the story, how she let go of her expectations for the novel, and how she once again managed a large cast of characters. For novelists, there's mounds of advice for character development and structure. For speculative fiction writers, there are insights for creating effective rules for your world. For Schaitkin's fans, there's fun backstories on how she constructs her novels and the themes she remains interested in exploring. 

    Schaitkin's first novel, Saint X, was a NYT Notable Book of 2020 and is being adapted into a miniseries by Hulu. 

    Download audio. (Recorded on June 9, 2022)

    Music and sound design by Travis Barrett
    Barbara DeMarco-Barrett: www.penonfire.com
    Marrie Stone: www.marriestone.com
    Travis Barrett: https://travisbarrett.mykajabi.com

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