Novelist and short story writer Karen Bender joins Marrie Stone to talk about her latest collection, The New Order. Bender discusses her writerly instinct to create order from chaos, and how events in the real world shape her art. She shares her "octopus theory" for creating scope in short stories, as well as her "container theory" for stories. ...…

Los Angeles-based literary agent Betsy Amster talks with Barbara DeMarco-Barrett about the state of publishing, self-publishing, query letters, what she's looking for, and more. Download audio. (Broadcast date: Dec. 5, 2018)By penonfire@earthlink.net (Barbara DeMarco-Barrett).

Louie Pérez, founding member of the American rock band Los Lobos, and Grant Hier join Marrie Stone for a round-table discussion of poetry, lyric-writing, prose, visual arts, music and more. Hier and Pérez collaborated on the double CD Joyride: Friends Take the Wheel, a compilation of various artists (including George Saunders) interpreting the ...…

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)By penonfire@earthlink.net (Barbara DeMarco-Barrett).

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 j ...…

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)By penonfire@earthlink.net (Barbara DeMarco-Barrett).

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)By penonfire@earthlink.net (Barbara DeMarco-Barrett).

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, ...…

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)By penonfire@earthlink.net (Barbara DeMarco-Barrett).

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 t ...…

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 ...…

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 mu ...…

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)By penonfire@earthlink.net (Barbara DeMarco-Barrett).

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 struct ...…

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 podc ...…

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)…

Short story writer Gabriel Houck shares his debut collection, You or a Loved One. Gabe talks with Marrie about beginnings, endings and first sentences. He shares insights on how revealing ourselves through fiction, as opposed to essays, is often easier. He deconstructs a few of his stories from initial kernel of an idea, throughout the revision ...…

Novelist and short story writer Victoria Patterson joins Marrie Stone for the full hour to talk about her latest collection, The Secret Habit of Sorrow.Victoria talks about her love/hate relationship with Orange County, addiction, and the geographical terrain of her fiction. She also provides practical advice on the craft and living in the worl ...…

White House stenographer Beck Dorey-Stein joins Marrie Stone to talk about her memoir, In the Corner of the Oval. She talks about her time in the Obama White House and the lessons President Obama imparted about writing, storytelling, and the power of words. She shares her wisdom for being vulnerable on the page, her commitment to copious notes, ...…

Memoirists Melissa Stephenson, author of Driven, and Elizabeth Rosner, author of Survivor Cafe, talk with Barbara DeMarco-Barrett about the art, craft, and business of writing their books. Download audio. (Broadcast date: July 25, 2018)By penonfire@earthlink.net (Barbara DeMarco-Barrett).

Barbara DeMarco-Barrett talks with Patt Morrison, author of Don't Stop the Presses! and Amy Wallen, author of the memoir, When We Were Ghouls. Download audio. (Broadcast date: July 18, 2018)By penonfire@earthlink.net (Barbara DeMarco-Barrett).

Editor and Bloomsbury Press publisher Peter Ginna, author of What Editors Do: The Art, Craft, and Business of Editing, talks about what goes into the acquisition of a title, what editors look for, the changes in publishing, and more. Download audio. (Broadcast date: July 4, 2018)By penonfire@earthlink.net (Barbara DeMarco-Barrett).