Literary Agent Jane Dystel on Writers on Writing

Literary Agent Jane Dystel, founder and president of Dystel & Goderich Literary Management, joins Marrie Stone to talk about what makes an effective agent, what to look for in an agent, how to query an agent, what's selling and what's not, how the industry has changed, the importance of platform, how ebooks are saving fiction, and more. 

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(Broadcast date: January 7, 2015)

Meghan Daum and Siri Hustvedt with Nicole Nelson

Meghan Daum, author of The Unspeakable: And Other Subjects of Discussion, talks with co-host Nicole Nelson about the advantages of going unseen in Los Angeles, her favorite essayists, and writing with humor--including, and perhaps especially--while talking about serious and upsetting things. 

Then novelist Siri Hustvedt, author of The Blazing World, discusses the crucial work of an author to find the emotional truth, the potential benefits of automatic writing, and starting a novel with only a glimmer or "smell" for the story.

Her PEN America workshop is titled "Why One Story and Not Another."

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(Broadcast date: January 21, 2015)

Assaf Gavron & Chris Baty on Writers on Writing

Israeli novelist Assaf Gavron joins Marrie Stone to talk about his latest novel, The Hilltop.  In the second half, Chris Baty, founder of National Novel Writing Month, talks about his book No Plot, No Problem. 

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(Broadcast date: December 17, 2014)

Lisa Cron, Wired for Story, on Writers on Writing

Lisa Cron author of Wired for Story, talks with Barbara DeMarco-Barrett about hooking the reader from the start, regardless of genre.

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(Broadcast date: Dec. 31, 2014

Kim Fay with Marrie Stone and Steven Pinker with Nicole Nelson

Kim Fay, Edgar Award Finalist and author of The Map of Lost Memories talks to Marrie Stone about her passion for Southeast Asia, sustaining momentum over fourteen years of work on a project, and the value of belonging to a writing group.

Then cognitive scientist and author of the new book The Sense of Style: The Thinking Person's Guide to Writing in the 21st Century Steven Pinker talks to Nicole Nelson about the importance of using examples in non-fiction, the shortcomings and value of the green wiggly line in MS Word, and how he earned his rank as one of the journal Science's top 50 stars of Twitter.

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(Broadcast date: December 10, 2014)

Miriam Toews and Josh Kornbluth with Nicole Nelson

Miriam Toews talks to Nicole Nelson about her new book ALL MY PUNY SORROWS. She talks about writing the hard stuff, gaining control over life through writing, and the importance of bleeding on the page. Then monologuist Josh Kornbluth talks about his influences, how he develops a show, and the comedic gold in failure. His current monologue-in-progress is Reports from the Zen Hospice: Improvs, which will run Thursdays at 8 p.m. at the Berkeley Marsh through the end of December.

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(Broadcast date: December 3, 2014)

Azar Nafisi & Lydia Millet

Azar Nafisi, bestselling author of Reading Lolita in Tehran and The Republic of Imagination: America in Three Books, joins Marrie Stone to talk about the importance of fiction and how it's a guardian of memory, what is unique about American fiction, and the necessity for a public discourse about literature.

In the second half, Lydia Millet joins to talk about her latest novel, Mermaids in Paradise.  She discusses inspiration, landscape, and how connecting two disparate concepts in fiction can lead to intriguing plot lines.

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(Broadcast date: November 19, 2014)

Robert Olen Butler & Caitlin Doughty

Pulitzer Prize winning author Robert Olen Butler joins Marrie Stone to talk about his latest Christopher Marlow Cobb novel, The Empire of Night, and how to utilize the "compost of the imagination" to create art. 

Licensed mortician Caitlin Doughty joins in the second half to discuss her memoir, Smoke Gets in Your Eyes and Other Lessons from the Crematory.  Caitlin gives advice on how to talk to children about death, what attracted her to mortuary science, and options for after-life care most people don't know exist. 

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(Broadcast date: November 12, 2014)

Meg Wolitzer & Thrity Umrigar

New York Times bestselling author Meg Wolitzer joins Marrie Stone to talk about her latest young adult novel, Belzhar, her attraction to young adult fiction, Sylvia Plath, and what makes a compelling character.  Thrity Umrigar joins in the second half to discuss her latest novel,  The Story Hour, and how the power of narrative has the ability to alter our world view.  

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(Broadcast date: October 15, 2014)

Jayne Anne Phillips & Matthew Thomas

Jayne Anne Phillips, author of Quiet Dell, and Matthew Thomas, author of We Are Not Ourselves, join Marrie Stone to talk about inspiration, craft, endurance, and their revision process.

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(Broadcast date: August 27, 2014)

Lit agent Laurie Fox on with Barbara DeMarco-Barrett

Literary agent Laurie Fox spent the entire hour on the show talking about what she looks for in potential clients, query letters, and more.

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 (Broadcast date: Nov. 5, 2014)

Smith Henderson, James Ellroy & KUCI Fund Drive

Smith Henderson, author of Fourth of July Creek, joins co-host Marrie Stone to talk about marrying two separate stories together, the importance of plot, writing across genres, and how being steeped in the mountains of Montana and a dismal life of social work gave rise to a beautiful novel.  In the second half, James Ellroy, author of Perfidia,  talks about the definition of noir, immersing oneself in story and the past, living without technology, and how stories are born in his brain.

It's KUCI's semiannual Fund Drive.  For the next week and a half, your donations will support our podcasts, our station, and our show.  If you--or someone you know--has benefited from our show, now is your chance to show your support.  Someone once described "Writers on Writing" as a free and convenient MFA program.  Stellar authors bring their wisdom and advice into your home each week.  We have some awesome premiums, including gift certificates, tickets to Long Beach Confidential: An Evening of Noir, books, t-shirts, CDs, etc., which are all available for your donation. 

Call us at (949) 824-5824 or donate online at www.kuci.org, and be sure to mention our show. Thank you!

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(Broadcast date: October 29, 2014)

Michael Datcher and Leni Zumas on the show with Nicole Nelson, co-host

Michael Datcher, author of the New York Times bestselling memoir RAISING FENCES, talks with Nicole Nelson about his new novel AMERICUS and about writing dialogue, layering conflict, and getting from draft number one to draft number 19. Then Leni Zumas, author of the story collection FAREWELL NAVIGATOR and the novel THE LISTENERS discusses her work and the value of defamiliarization, learning to use autobiographical elements discerningly, and tips on writing past clichés.
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(Broadcast date: October 22, 2014)

T. Jefferson Parker on Writers on Writing with Barbara DeMarco-Barrett

T. Jefferson Parker, author of the new mainstream literary novel, Full Measure, talks with Barbara DeMarco-Barrett about his book, writing, the books he re-reads and much more.

Jeff will be the featured author, in conversation with Barbara, at the Pen on Fire Speaker Series in Corona del Mar, CA, on Tuesday night, Oct. 14. If you'd like to attend, click here for more information.

Download audio. (Broadcast date: Oct. 8, 2014

Courtney Moreno and Cindy Muchnick

Courtney Moreno, author of the debut novel IN CASE OF EMERGENCY talks to guest host Nicole Nelson about incorporating setting in the story, developing her characters, and balancing the daily chaos and trauma that is a part of life for her EMT protagonist with quieter moments on the page. Then Orange County writer Cindy Muchnick, author of WRITING SUCCESSFUL COLLEGE APPLICATIONS, talks about ways in which she enjoys the publicity and marketing side of being an author, her experience collaborating with her teenage son on one of her nine books, and her advice to fellow writers to "just write it."

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(Broadcast date: October 1, 2014)

Novelist Scott Spencer talks with Barbara DeMarco-Barrett on Writers on Writing

Novelist Scott Spencer, author of Endless Love, Willing, Man in the Woods, A Ship Made of Paper, and more, was my guest for the entire hour.  I've loved his work for so long so it was a major treat to talk with him.

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 (Broadcast date: Sept. 24, 2014)

Rebecca Makkai and Stuart Rojstaczer

Rebecca Makkai, author of The Hundred-Year House, talks with Nicole Nelson about telling a story backwards, writing humor, and the Google problem for fiction. We also talked about her Ploughshares blog, where she covers everything from an alternative MFA program she envisions and why it's prudent to steer clear of movie quotes and song lyrics in fiction. Stuart Rojstaczer, author of The Mathematician's Shiva, talks about balancing tragedy with comedy, the similarities between writing an academic paper and writing a novel, and how the third time, novel-writingwise, can be the charm.

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(Broadcast date: September 17, 2014)

Elinor Lipman, novelist and essayist.

Elinor Lipman, the author of the novel, The View from Penthouse B, and the essay collection, I Can't Complain, spent an hour on the show talking about her work and writing and so much else with Barbara DeMarco-Barrett.

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(Broadcast date: May 15, 2012)

Novelist Bret Anthony Johnston

Bret Anthony Johnston, author of Remember Me Like This (Random House, 2014) joins Barbara for an hour of literary talk about his new novel, how it began, revising, and much more.

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(Broadcast date: Aug. 20, 2014)

Alex Tizon and Carl Phillips

Alex Tizon, the author of Big Little Man: In Search of My Asian Self, is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist. He joins Nicole Nelson for a conversation about stereotypes in fiction and other art, journaling, and writing about identity. Then Carl Phillips, the author of The Art of Daring: Risk, Restlessness, Imagination and a distinguished poet with awards from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, The Pushcart Prize, and the Thom Gunn Award for Gay Male Poetry, talks about intentional and unintentional daring, life as a form of revision, and why we read poetry. 

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(Broadcast date: August 13, 2014)