Gail Godwin and Parnaz Foroutan on Writers on Writing

Barbara DeMarco-Barrett talks with Gail Godwin, novelist and memoirist, about her new memoir Publishing, and the changes she's seen in the industry, being a student in Kurt Vonnegut's workshop, and working with the same agent for 50 years. Then debut novelist Parnaz Foroutan, author of The Girl from the Garden, talks with Nicole Nelson about why she used an unreliable narrator, the responsibility that comes with telling a story inspired by family history, and the benefits of "talking to your demons"while writing, and letting them guide you to the good stuff.

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(Broadcast date: September 16, 2015)

Andrew Roe and Rebecca Makkai

Andrew Roe, author of Miracle Girl, joins co-host Marrie Stone to talk about generating ideas for material, writing from various points of view, and the importance of mentors.  In the second half, Rebecca Makkai returns to the show to talk about her short story collection, Music for Wartime.

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(Broadcast date: July 15, 2015)

Narrative nonfiction writer David Gessner, author of All the Wild that Remains and novelist Joshua Mohr, author of All This Life, discuss their books with Barbara DeMarco-Barrett.

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(Broadcast date: Sept. 5, 2015)

Julia Pierpont and Adam Johnson

Debut novelist Julia Pierpont, author of Among the Ten Thousand Things, joins Marrie Stone to talk about shifting points of view, new ways to approach old topics, and the virtue of MFAs.

In the second half, Pulitzer Prize winning novelist and short story writer Adam Johnson discusses his latest collection, Fortune Smiles.  Adam talks about his quirky childhood, his hands-on research process, what drives his curiosities, and much more.

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(Broadcast date: August 19, 2015)

Novelists Lisa Glatt, author of The Nakeds and Victoria Patterson, author of The Little Brother, discuss their books with B. DeMarco-Barrett. Victoria Patterson will be at the Pen on Fire Speaker Series on Tues., Aug. 18, and Lisa Glatt will be at the Series on Sept. 8. Visit www.penonfire.com/speakerseries for more information and to register.

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(Broadcast date: August 12, 2015)

Lidia Yuknavitch and Louisa Hall

Co-host Nicole Nelson talks to Lidia Yuknavitch, author of The Small Backs of Children, about exploring the fluidity of identity, the challenge and necessity of awareness of scripts in art and in life, and how she is influenced by photography and film. Then Louisa Hall, author of Speak, talks about creating a novel with the innovative structure combining court transcripts, a diary, letters, and a memoir, about finding the voice of Mary, the 17th-century young woman at the heart of the novel, and about postponing her poet's habit of cutting and perfecting when writing fiction.

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(Broadcast date: August 5, 2015)

Literary agent Felicia Eth on Writers on Writing with Barbara DeMarco-Barrett

Bay Area literary agent Felicia Eth joins author and host Barbara DeMarco-Barrett for an hour of conversation about the publishing industry and how to get an agent.

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 (Broadcast date: July 29, 2015)

Lisa Lutz and Emily Gould

Lisa Lutz, author of How to Start a Fire, joins co-host Nicole Nelson to talk about writing in multiple points of view, moving from screenplay writing to novel-writing, and also about being labeled with the category of "Women's Fiction." Her book was used as an example of how the label unacceptably labels fiction by and about women as a subcategory of the real thing in a column by the Chicago Tribune's John Warner. Then Emily Gould, author of Friendship, enters the conversation to discuss how exploring her own interiority as a blogger and essayist helped her develop compassion for her characters, how time is a luxury when revising, and also how finding a title (as well as naming a baby) is hard.

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(Broadcast date: July 22, 2015)

Ethan Rutherford and Barry Newman

Short story writer Ethan Rutherford, author of The Peripatetic Coffin and Other Stories, joins co-host Marrie Stone to discuss nerdy writer topics like commas and character names.  They also talk about titles, revision, and other elements of the short story.  In the second half, journalist Barry Newman joins to discuss News to Me: Finding and Writing Colorful Feature Stories.  Barry's experience in journalism is unparalleled.  He discusses what makes a compelling story, following your passions, and how the mundane can become the fascinating.

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 (Broadcast date: May 20, 2015)

Emily St. John Mandel and Diana Wagman on Writers on Writing

Emily St. John Mandel, author of Station Eleven and Diana Wagman, author of Life #6 join Barbara DeMarco-Barrett to talk about their current novels, revision, social media, agents, and more.

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(Broadcast date: July 8, 2015

William Joyce and Dan Santat

In a special episode devoted to children's literature, Academy Award winner William Joyce joins co-host Marrie Stone to discuss his latest children's book-cum-memoir, Billy's Booger.  He talks about rejection, perseverance, creativity, and his advice to young writers.  In the second half, Caldecott Medal winner Dan Santat joins to discuss his award-winning book, The Adventures of Beekle: The Unimaginary Friend.  He talks about the Caldecott process, inspiration, homage, and the balance of visuals against test in children's literature.

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(Broadcast date: June 24, 2015)

Dan Pope and John Mutter

Dan Pope, author of Housebreaking joins co-host Nicole Nelson to talk about the challenges of using shifting points of view with temporal overlaps, developing complex characters, and writing compelling dialogue. Then John Mutter, co-founder and editor-in-chief of Shelf Awareness, on the heels of that website's tenth birthday, explains the role of Shelf Awareness in the book-selling marketplace, shares the site's origin story, and talks about the process of deciding which books get reviewed and who reviews them.

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(Broadcast date: July 1, 2015)

Austin Bunn & Thomas Pierce

Short story writers Austin Bunn, The Brink, and Thomas Pierce, Hall of Small Mammals, join co-host Marrie Stone.  They discuss setting, character, titles, building the arc of a collection, and more.

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(Broadcast date: June 17, 2015)

Mary-Beth Hughes and Lauren Acampora

Mary-Beth Hughes, author of The Loved Ones talks to Nicole Nelson about finding her way into her novel, using sensory detail to further the narrative, and drawing from her earlier career as a modern dancer (with the Merce Cunningham studio in New York) to tell her stories. Then Lauren Acampora, author of The Wonder Garden, talks about how her false start with a novel led to this book of inter-connected short stories that she had a blast writing, how growing up in the suburbs and later choosing to live there as an adult has influenced the tales she is drawn to, and how she finds the humor in reactions from readers who don't read flap copy, thanks to a blog post by Rebecca Makkai about online reader reviews.

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(Broadcast date: June 10, 2015)

Vendela Vida and Samantha Harvey on Writers on Writing

Nicole Nelson talks to Vendela Vida, author of The Diver’s Clothes Lie Empty, about the challenges and fun of writing in the second person singular, why she doesn’t read her reviews, and the value of setting a daily word goal. Then SamanthaHarvey, author of Dear Thief, discusses how setting her novel in the form of a long letter allowed the protagonist to explore a wide territory, how her dissatisfaction with academic philosophy led to a realization that she could best explore philosophical questions through writing fiction, and how having real clarity of purpose when writing a novel, knowing what its “necessity” is, working in tandem with perseverance, is crucial.

Vendela will be at Skylight Books in Los Angeles on June 15, 2015 at 7:30P.M.                                                                                                                                                       

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(Broadcast date: June 3, 2015)

Mystery Author Noreen Ayres and Hummingbird Rescuer Terry Masear

Noreen Ayres, author of The Juan Doe Murders, and Terry Masear, author of Fastest Things on Wings, talk with Barbara DeMarco-Barrett about their new books.

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 (Broadcast date: May 27, 2015)

Michael Paterniti and Marian Palaia on Writers on Writing

Essayist Michael Paterniti, author of Love and Other Ways of Dying, joins Marrie Stone to discuss writing tragedy, how he finds doors into human emotion, what makes a compelling essay, and creating the narrative voice in nonfiction.  In the second half, Marian Palaia discusses her novel, The Given World.   She discusses Vietnam, creating fictional characters from real people, the common pitfalls of new writers, and how her MFA transformed her work.

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(Broadcast date: April 29, 2015)

Nayomi Munaweera and Aline Ohanesian on Writers on Writing

Debut novelists Nayomi Munaweera, author of Island of a Thousand Mirrors, and Aline Ohanesian, author of Orhan's Inheritance, join Marrie Stone to discuss writing as an exhile, the power of personal history, the effects of war and genocide on future generations, and how to make the political stories personal. 

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(Broadcast date: April 22, 2015)

Seth Greenland on Writers on Writing

Seth Greenland, author of I Regret Everything: A Love Story, published by Europa, talks with Barbara DeMarco-Barrett about his new novel, writing in the opposite gender's point of view, living twice (through your characters) and much more.

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 (Broadcast date: May 13, 2015)

Peter Heller and Rebecca Scherm on Writers on Writing

Novelist Peter Heller, author of The Painter, joins Marrie Stone to talk about the power of place, the importance of art, and how to create compelling characters.  In the second half, debut novelist Rebecca Scherm discusses her book, Unbecoming.

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(Broadcast date: March 18, 2015)