Patrick Ryan and Ottessa Moshfegh

Short story writer and editor Patrick Ryan, author of The Dream Life of Astronauts, talks with Marrie Stone about the short story form, writing from the space of childhood, how being an editor impacts his writing, how stories reveal themselves over time, and more.

In the second half, Ottessa Moshfegh joins to talk about her novel, Eileen.  Moshfegh creates psychologically complex and challenging characters, and talks about her intense relationship with the people she creates, what fuels her, what satisfies her, and why her novel will leave a lasting and important impression.

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(Broadcast date: August 10, 2016)

Molly Antopol & Brad Watson

Short story writer Molly Antopol, author of The UnAmericans, returns to talk with Marrie Stone about craft, inspiration, family history, and the role of art and fiction in an uncertain and unstable world.

In the second half, Brad Watson joins to share his latest novel, Miss Jane.  He talks about the power of inhabiting another POV, writing from a different time and place, how relationships and intersections between characters can create powerful plot, and more.

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(Broadcast date: July 27, 2016)

Poetry Panel with Kim Dower, Dean Rader & Tess Taylor

Marrie Stone hosts a poetry panel with poets Kim Dower, Last Train to the Missing Planet; Tess Taylor, Work and Days; and Dean Rader, Self-Portrait as a Wikipedia Entry (forthcoming).

The panel discusses poetry as both fiction and nonfiction, why everyone should be reading poems, why you shouldn't be scared of poetry, what a good poem can do for your soul, how to teach poetry, and much more.

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(Broadcast date: June 1, 2016)

Novelists J.J. Amaworo Wilson and Edan Lepucki on with Barbara DeMarco-Barrett

Novelists JJ Amaworo Wilson, author of Damnificados, and Edan Lepucki, author of California, talk with author/host Barbara DeMarco-Barrett about getting the setting just right, flashbacks, alternating points of view, keeping a journal, cliffhangers, sequels, and more.
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(Broadcast date: August 3, 2016)

Daniel Calvisi, author of Story Maps: TV Drama, and memoirist George Hodgman, author of Bettyville talk with Barbara about writing for TV and why if you want to be a screenwriter, TV is the way to go, while George talks about leaving NYC to move to Missouri, his hometown, to care for his mother. One of my favorite memoirs of all time.

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(Broadcast date: July 6, 2016)

Playwright Dan duling and scriptwriter William Rabkin

Dan Duling, playwright and scriptwriter (for the last 36 years) at Pageant of the Masters, Laguna Beach, and William Rabkin, author of Writing the Pilot.

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 (Broadcast date: July 20, 2016)

Rick Bass & Mary Roach

Short story legend Rick Bass joins co-host Marrie Stone to talk about his latest collection, For a Little While.  The conversation underscores how difficult it is to talk about the writing process, the elusive nature of good fiction, the feral qualities of the short story, and why most rules so often don't apply.

In the second half, the hilarious and irreverent science writer Mary Roach joins to talk about her latest, Grunt: The Curious Science of Humans at War.   She talks about keeping her voice and humor in the face of serious subject matter, the value of a strong editor, what makes a subject matter "Roach worthy," and more.

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(Broadcast date: June 29, 2016)

Zora O'Neill and Chris McCormick on with Barbara DeMarco-Barrett

Travel writer and memoirist Zora O'Neill, author of All Strangers are Kin, and fiction writer Chris McCormick, author of the story collection Desert Boys talk with Barbara about--what else?--writing.

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 (Broadcast date: July 6, 2016)

Rebecca Schiff and Molly Prentiss with Nicole Nelson

Rebecca Schiff, author of The Bed Moved, talks to co-host Nicole Nelson about finding her voice, revision being the place where much of her characteristic sparseness and humor get sharpened, and her advice to write from a place of being excited rather than to be attached to what you have written.

In the second half, Molly Prentiss, author of Tuesday Nights in 1980, talks about the feelings of doubt that artists face, the conflicts in her story and how they evolved over time, and the value of coincidence in drama.

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(Broadcast date: June 22, 2016)

Asali Solomon and Tracy Barone with Nicole Nelson

Asali Solomon, author of Disgruntled, talks to co-host Nicole Nelson about writing a young protagonist, developing characters from plot, taking an episodic approach to novel writing, and more.

In the second half, debut novelist Tracy Barone, author of Happy Family, talks about pacing the novel, drawing from her experience as a screenwriter and playwright, and writing toward an end that she envisioned early on.

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(Broadcast date: June 8, 2016)

Karan Bajaj and Christopher LeGras

Karan Bajaj joins Marrie Stone to talk about his latest novel, The Yoga of Max's Discontent.  Karan discusses the importance of showing character through action instead of reflection, how yoga and meditation have improved his writing, the value of living a bold life, and more.

In the second half, Chris LeGras shares his debut novel in stories, Weather to Fly.  Chris talks about writing the book you want to write, instead of the book you think the world wants.  He argues that living a rich life of varied experiences produces rich books of interest.  Story, he says, is more important than fancy words.   Click below to hear many more words of writerly wisdom.

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(Broadcast date: June 15, 2016)

Charles Bock

Charles Bock joins Marrie Stone to talk about his latest novel, Alice and Oliver.  Charles shares his insights on fictionalizing real life events, his process of finding character, capturing New York in the 1990s, and his own emotional account of living with -- and in the aftermath of -- cancer.

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(Broadcast date: May 11, 2016)

Novelists Dana Spiotta & Jung Yun

Dana Spiotta, author of Innocents and Others, and Jung Yun, author of Shelter talk with Barbara about outlines or the lack thereof, POV, tense, film, home invasions, where stories come from, and much more.

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(Broadcast date: May 25, 2016)

Arna Bontemps Hemenway and Patricia Engel with Nicole Nelson

Arna Bontemps Hemenway, author of the short story collection Elegy on Kinderklavier, joins co-host Nicole Nelson to discuss writing about loss, inhabiting his characters emotionally, overcoming a challenging period in his own writing life post-MFA, and how the most important thing you can make a story isn't clever or topical, or anything else besides making it meaningful to you.

In the second half, Patricia Engel, author of The Veins of the Ocean, talks about the origins of this novel as a short story, her strategy for handling plot, doing research as needed, using dialogue sparingly, letting her life by the ocean influence the story, and more.

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[Note: Audio begins immediately with the interview with Arna, without a show introduction, due to technical difficulties.]

(Broadcast date: May 18, 2016)

Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni and Boris Fishman

Bestselling novelist Chitra Divakaruni joins Marrie Stone to talk about her latest novel in stories, Before We Visit the Goddess.   She talks about the importance of writers' groups, the revision process, the distance necessary to write about place, the immigrant experience, how her characters have grown with her, and what subjects retain her focus and interest.

In the second half, Boris Fishman joins to talk about his novel, Don't Let My Baby Do Rodeo.  He shares his rules for writing authentic sex scenes, writing from a woman's point of view, the importance of stepping outside your comfort zone as a writer, how Montana has captured his heart, and more.

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(Broadcast date: April 27, 2016)

Memoirists Wendy Lawless and Rob Roberge

Wendy Lawless, author of Heart of Glass, and Rob Roberge, author of Liar, join Barbara DeMarco-Barrett to discuss the art and craft of writing memoir. Both will be featured authors at the Pen on Fire Speaker Series on May 17, 2016. More here.

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 (Broadcast date: May 4, 2016)

Ayelet Tsabari and Markus Zusak

Israeli author Ayelet Tsabari joins Marrie Stone to talk about her short story collection, The Best Place on Earth. She talks about writing in her second language, creating a compelling setting, the unique Israeli perspective on the world and how it impacts her writing, and much more.

In the second half, international bestselling author Markus Zusak talks about the re-release of his highly acclaimed novel, The Book Thief.  He shares many insights into his writing process, his writing notebooks, how he arrived at the novel's unique point of view, his favorite characters, and more.

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(Broadcast date: April 13, 2016)

Jarett Kobek and John D'Agata with Nicole Nelson

Jarett Kobek, author of I Hate the Internet, joins Nicole Nelson to talk about developing a POV that was influenced by Kurt Vonnegut's Breakfast of Champions, his attempt to try to mirror the jagged way information comes at you on the internet, and his advice to writers: learn to enjoy suffering.

Then John D'Agata, editor of The Making of the American Essay talks about his twenty years working on this three-volume series of anthologies on essays that concludes with this work. He also shares thoughts on what makes an essay a challenging form to write, but one that when done right has the potential to capture and share a piece of humanity.

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(Broadcast date: April 20, 2016)

Markus Zusak

Marrie Stone interviews Markus Zusak.

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(Broadcast date: April 13, 2016)

Novelists Dawn Tripp and Christopher Sorrentino

Dawn Tripp, author of Georgia, a novel about Georgia O'Keeffe, and Christopher Sorrentino, author of The Fugitives join Barbara DeMarco-Barrett to talk about their new novels, author photos, writing about real people and real situations, the publishing industry, and more.

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(Broadcast date: April 6, 2016)