Novelist Christopher Castellani, author of Leading Men, and Susan Shapiro, author of The Byline Bible, join Barbara DeMarco-Barrett on the show to talk about the art, craft, and business of writing. Download audio. (Broadcast date: Feb. 13, 2019)By penonfire@earthlink.net (Barbara DeMarco-Barrett).

Tom Barbash, novelist and short story writer, joins Marrie Stone for the hour to discuss his latest novel, The Dakota Winters. Tom shares his research, his background in journalism, his secret to creating compelling short stories and more. We learn a little about John Lennon, and a lot about Tom, in this informative and fun 58 minutes. Download ...…

Pam Houston, author of Deep Creek: Finding Hope in the High Country, talks with Barbara DeMarco-Barrett about writing on airplanes, setting, balancing life with writing, finding structure, and more. Download audio (Jan. 30, 2019)By penonfire@earthlink.net (Barbara DeMarco-Barrett).

Iconic Vietnam War novelist and short story writer Tim O'Brien (author of The Things They Carried, In the Lake of the Woods, Going After Cacciato, and more) joins Marrie Stone for the hour to talk about memory, truth, storytelling, mortality and more. O'Brien shares his philosophy that the sound of the story—its cadence, rhythm, and music—shoul ...…

David R. Gillham, author of Annelies, a novel based on Anne Frank and who would she might have been had she lived, and Janet Clare, author of the novel, Time is the Longest Distance, about a woman who learns her father is an Aussie, and goes to find him, talk with Barbara DeMarco-Barrett on this latest episode of Writers on Writing. Download au ...…

Debut novelist Jenn Stroud Rossmann joins Marrie Stone to talk about her novel, The Place You're Supposed to Laugh. She shares her insights on how she unpacked the novel, writing from a young, black male's point of view, and how her work as a mechanical engineer and professor feeds her fiction. In the second half, June Casagrande shares her ins ...…

Bestselling author Liane Moriarty joins Marrie Stone to talk about her latest novel, Nine Perfect Strangers. She shares her process, her weaknesses, and her affinity for multiple points of view, among many other things. In the second half, Mark Russell Gelade joins to share his debut collection, Navigating by Stars: 24 Very Short Stories of Lov ...…

Actor Omid Abtahi, featured in American Gods, Boys of Abu Ghraib, Homeland, Argo, etcetera etcetera, spends the hour with Barbara DeMarco-Barrett. They talk about the creative process, his roles, and how it all begins with the word. Download audio. (Broadcast date: Jan. 2, 2019)By penonfire@earthlink.net (Barbara DeMarco-Barrett).

Memoirist Beth M. Howard, author of Hausfrau Honeymoon, talks with Barbara DeMarco-Barrett about her new memoir, a prequel to Making Piece, on KUCI-FM 88.9. The show is first broadcast from UC-Irvine Campus and later podcast on iTunes. Subscribe to the show on iTunes and when a new show is uploaded, you'll receive it in your podcast file. Downl ...…

Janet Fitch, author of The Revolution of Marina M, talks with Barbara about her newest novel, why she's a novelist and not a memoirist, composite characters, her undergraduate focus on Russia and her stay in Russia as a student, and so much more. Download audio. (Broadcast date: Dec. 19, 2018)By penonfire@earthlink.net (Barbara DeMarco-Barrett).

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)…