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.

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(Broadcast date: July 4, 2018)

Alexander Chee on Writers On Writing, KUCI-FM

Novelist and essayist Alexander Chee joins Marrie Stone for the hour to talk about his latest collection of essays, How to Write an Autobiographical Novel. He discusses the important distinction between writing for therapy versus writing for publication. He discusses the pitfalls of readers' interest in what is "true" and autobiographical about a writer's work. And he deconstructs a few essays from point of origin to completion.

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(Broadcast date: June 27, 2018)

Abbi Waxman and Kirstin Chen on Writers on Writing, KUCI-FM

Marrie Stone chats with the very funny Abbi Waxman, author of Other People's Houses. They talk about the differences between British and American humor and values, and the ways in which problems in other people's marriages can affect our own. Abbi shares how her prior career in copywriting and advertising helps her fiction, and how life experiences can be fodder for her books.

In the second half, Kirstin Chen joins to discuss her latest novel, Bury What We Cannot Take. She discusses writing about a time and place not her own, working with unsympathetic characters, the lessons we can take from history, and more.

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(Broadcast date: June 13, 2018)

Rebecca Makkai on Writers on Writing, KUCI-FM

Rebecca Makkai, author of The Great Believers, joins Marrie Stone for the full hour to talk about her pull towards the AIDS epidemic in 1980s Chicago. She talks about the unexpected origins of the novel, her massive amount of research, and the ways empathy can only take a writer so far. She shares techniques for getting inside a character's skin, managing momentum, and more.

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(Broadcast date: June 20, 2018)

Sue Halpern and Curtis Sittenfeld on Writers on Writing, KUCI-FM

Sue Halpern, author of Summer Hours at the Robbers Library, joins Marrie Stone to talk about the healing power of libraries and the unlikely friendships made there. They chat about the importance of telling the story only you can tell, allowing the story to tell the writer what it needs, and working with different voices inside a single novel.

In the second half of the show, guest host Nicole Nelson talks to Curtis Sittenfeld, author of the new story collection You Think It, I'll Say It about the appeal of characters who are "smart but wrong," letting plot drive characterization, treating endings as an opportunity to open another door, and more.

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(Broadcast date: June 6, 2018)

Christina Lynch and Alexandria Marzano-Lesnevich on Writers on Writing, KUCI-FM

Christina Lynch, author of The Italian Party and memoirist Alexandria Marzano-Lesnevich, author of The Fact of a Body: A Murder and a Memoir, spend this penultimate day of May talking about their work with Barbara DeMarco-Barrett on Writers on Writing, which celebrates its 20th anniversary this year.

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 (Broadcast date: May 30, 2018)

Richard Bausch on Writers on Writing, KUCI-FM

Novelist and short story master Richard Bausch spends the full hour with Marrie Stone talking about his latest collection, Living in the Weather of the World. He talks about his early influences in writing, his connection to poetry, and his approach to the short story. Along the way, he dissects some of the stories in his collection, from first spark to final edit. All the while, he shares his wisdom, recites a little poetry, and even renders the last few stanzas of a song.

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(Broadcast date: May 23, 2018)

Claire Fuller and Mark Sarvas on Writers on Writing, KUCI-FM

Claire Fuller, author of Swimming Lessons, joins Marrie Stone to chat about her novel, her later-in-life journey to writing, her process and advice. She discusses ways writers can survive the first draft, her revision process, and the intimacy of tucking memorabilia away inside books.

Mark Sarvas joins in the second half to discuss his novel, Memento Park. He talks about his research process, how some ideas are made to wait until the right time, dealing with elusive characters, and his love of playing with time in a novel's structure. More information can be found about Mark at his website. He's also on Twitter and Facebook.

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(Broadcast date: May 16, 2018)

The Leisure Seeker author Michael Zadoorian on Writers on Writing, KUCI-FM

Novelist Michael Zadoorian, author of The Leisure Seeker talks with Barbara DeMarco-Barrett about his novel (recently made into a film with Helen Mirren and Donald Sutherland).

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(Original broadcast date: March 31, 2010)

Novelist Lisa See on Writers on Writing, KUCI-FM in Irvine

Novelist Lisa See, author of the novel, The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane, talks with Barbara DeMarco-Barrett for the entire hour about her book, how it came to be, Pu'er tea, and the Akha culture. They also discuss her mother, the late great writer, Carolyn See.

The station is in the midst of their annual fund drive. If you've enjoyed the show and listen to it or to the podcast, consider donating. Any amount will do. You can donate online at KUCI.org or call 949 824 5824 if you'd like a premium. Remember to say Writers on Writing is the show you listen to. This year the show is 20 years old and all that time we have volunteered. Thanks so much for helping out.

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(Broadcast date: May 9, 2018)

Novelists Rachel Khong and Julia Fierro on Writers on Writing, KUCI-FM

Rachel Khong, author of Goodbye, Vitamin, and Julia Fierro, author of The Gypsy Moth Summer join Barbara DeMarco-Barrett to discuss their novels and the art, craft, and business of writing.

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 (Broadcast date: April 11, 2018)

Luis Alberto Urrea on Writers on Writing with Barbara DeMarco-Barrett

Luis Alberto Urrea, author of The House of Broken Angels, talks with Barbara DeMarco-Barrett about his current wondrous novel, as well as the art, craft, and business of writing.

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(Broadcast date: April 25, 2018)

Joan Silber on Writers on Writing, KUCI-FM

Joan Silber, author of Improvement, joins Marrie Stone for the full hour. Improvement recently won the 2018 PEN/Faulkner Award for fiction, as well as the National Book Critics Circle Award for fiction.

Silber discusses the importance of travel on her work, cultural appropriation in fiction, finding one's voice, humor, the "kaleidoscopic story cycles" of her novels, metaphor, revision and more.

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(Broadcast date: April 18, 2018)

Erica Garza and Jennifer Haupt on Writers on Writing, KUCI-FM

Erica Garza, author of the memoir Getting Off: One Woman's Journey Through Sex and Porn Addiction, talks with Marrie Stone about her reasons for writing the memoir, the incredible reception it has received since publication, and the obvious need to bring buried issues to light. She discusses how to tackle painful scenes, overcoming shame, where and how to begin one's story, and more.

In the second half, Jennifer Haupt joins to discuss her debut novel, In the Shadow of 10,000 Hills. She discusses thorny issues surrounding cultural appropriation, how her work in journalism impacted her work as a fiction writer, the importance of travel, the difficulties of writing a novel over the course of years, revision, and more.

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(Broadcast date: April 4, 2018)

Jasmin Darznik and Tara Westover on Writers on Writing, KUCI-FM

Memoirist and novelist Jasmin Darznik joins Marrie Stone to talk about her novel, Song of a Captive Bird. She talks about her pull toward Iran, toward silenced women, poetry, and more. She discusses the difficult path she took to find the structure of her novel, research, point of view, and more.

In the second half, memoirist Tara Westover joins to talk about her debut memoir, Educated. Tara grew up in Idaho, under the care of a father who didn't trust the government. That meant no birth certificate, no medical care, and no school. Tara shares her journey to Harvard and Cambridge, and her journey to writing the memoir. She talks about teaching herself to write by using the New Yorker Fiction podcasts, discovering what her book was really about, and finding the embedded metaphors inside her life.

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(Broadcast date: March 21, 2018)

John Dufresne and Susan Henderson on Writers on Writing, KUCI-FM

John Dufresne, author of Flash! Writing the Very Short Story and Susan Henderson, author of The Flicker of Old Dreams talk with Barbara DeMarco-Barrett about their new books.

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(Broadcast date: March 28, 2018)

Dennis Palumbo and Veera Hiranandani on Writers on Writing, KUCI-FM

Novelist, essayist and psychotherapist Dennis Palumbo joins Marrie Stone to talk about his latest Daniel Rinaldi thriller, Head Wounds. He discusses the role of technology in crime fiction, the ways in which crime fiction can reflect society, and the many challenges posed when writing brilliant characters. Dennis also shares his many words of wisdom to writers regarding teh creative process and challenges he sees from his therapist's chair.

In the second half, Veera Hiranandani joins to discuss her debut young adult novel, The Night Diary.  She talks about the pleasures and limitations from the diary format, writing from a distant place and distant time, teaching history without being didactic, and more.

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(Broadcast date: March 14, 2018)

John Freeman and Jensen Beach on Writers on Writing, KUCI-FM

Literary critic, writer and poet John Freeman joins Marrie to talk about his collection, Maps. John brings all his insights, wisdom and pitch-perfect ear to the discussion of poetry, and treats the listener with a few readings.

In the second half, Jensen Beach talks about his collection, Swallowed by the Cold.  These interlocking stories, set in Sweden, provide the groundwork for a discussion of setting, character,  pacing and plot in the short story form.

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(Broadcast date: November 1, 2017)

Leni Zumas on Writers on Writing, KUCI-FM, with Nicole Nelson

Novelist Leni Zumas, author of Red Clocks, talks to guest host Nicole Nelson about how attention to language can help foster authenticity, how she learned to put more pressure on story threads and "stick with the trouble," and how she developed a style that insists that readers "keep up."

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(Broadcast date: March 07, 2018)

Kristin Hannah discusses "The Great Alone" on Writers on Writing, KUCI-FM

New York Times bestselling novelist Kristin Hannah joins Marrie Stone for the hour to discuss her latest novel, The Great Alone. Kristin shares her fascination with Alaska and living off the grid. She discusses writing dark characters and dark themes, against the backdrop of an oppressive setting. Kristin talks about writing in the aftermath of success, throwing away failed novels, creating suspense, and her long fascination with writing about strong women.

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(Broadcast date: February 28, 2018)