Christina Dalcher and Donna Hilbert talk with Marrie Stone on Writers on Writing, KUCI-FM

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 the quiet space necessary to produce work, art versus therapy, and the process of understanding what a poem is about. Donna also dissects one of her poems for the listening audience.

Download audio. 

(Broadcast date: October 3, 2018)

Novelist Tod Goldberg and literary agent Jennie Dunham with Barbara DeMarco-Barrett on Writers on Writing, KUCI-FM

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 Beach, CA   More at www.penonfire.com/speakerseries

Jo Ann Beard talks with Marrie Stone on Writers on Writing, KUCI-FM, Irvine

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 much more.

Download audio.

(Broadcast date: September 19, 2018)

Memoirist Leslie Schwartz talks with Barbara DeMarco-Barrett on Writers on Writing, KUCI-FM in Irvine

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)

Alexia Arthurs on Writers on Writing, KUCI-FM

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)

Sandra Gail Lambert on Writers on Writing, KUCI-FM

Novelist and memoirist Sandra Gail Lambert joins Marrie Stone to talk about her memoir in essays, A Certain Loneliness. She discusses how writing from the body avoids sentimentality, and how she can both protect her own privacy while exposing herself on the page. Sandra also discusses how one essay, when broken apart, became the backbone structure for the whole book.

Download audio.

(Broadcast date: September 5, 2018)

Glen David Gold with Barbara DeMarco-Barrett on Writers on Writing, KUCI-FM in Irvine, CA

Glen David Gold, author of I Will Be Complete (Knopf), is Barbara's guest for the entire hour. The show is a master class in writing memoir. If you're writing memoir, you won't want to miss this one.

Download audio.



(Broadcast date: August 29, 2018)

Avoid missing a show. Visit iTunes and subscribe, free of charge, to the Writers on Writing podcast. When a new show is uploaded, it will arrive in your podcast file.

Nancy Rommelmann talks with Barbara DeMarco-Barrett on Writers on Writing, KUCI-FM

Nancy Rommelmann, author of To the Bridge: A True Story of Motherhood and Murder (Little A) talks with Barbara DeMarco-Barrett about the book, from idea to publication, where stories originate,   how covering dark topics affects her as a writer and a mother, and more.

 Download audio.

 (Broadcast date: Aug. 22, 2019)

John McNally on Writers on Writing, KUCI-FM

Author John McNally joins Marrie Stone for the full hour to talk about his latest book, The Promise of Failure: One Writer's Perspective on Not Succeeding. John discusses the important (and very real) role of rejection in a writer's life and offers advice and encouragement for writers at every stage of their career. From revision to subtext, from the importance of writing each day to the value of taking risks, John's accessible style and extensive experience are invaluable to any new or established writer.

Download audio.

(Broadcast date: August 15, 2018)

Victoria Patterson on the Short Story on Writers on Writing, KUCI-FM

Novelist and short story writer Victoria Patterson joins Marrie Stone for the full hour to talk about her latest collection, The Secret Habit of Sorrow.Victoria talks about her love/hate relationship with Orange County, addiction, and the geographical terrain of her fiction. She also provides practical advice on the craft and living in the world as a writer.

As an added bonus, KUCI intern Kerry sits in on the show and they discuss the collection's cover art, which Kerry happens to have tattooed on her rib cage. A discussion of spirituality, mythology and religion ensures.

Download audio. 

(Broadcast date: August 8, 2018)

Memoirists Beck Dorey-Stein and Alliie Rowbottom on Writers on Writing, KUCI-FM

White House stenographer Beck Dorey-Stein joins Marrie Stone to talk about her memoir, In the Corner of the Oval. She talks about her time in the Obama White House and the lessons President Obama imparted about writing, storytelling, and the power of words. She shares her wisdom for being vulnerable on the page, her commitment to copious notes, and the benefits of writing in the immediate aftermath of an intense event.

In the second half, Allie Rowbottom joins to talk about her memoir, Jell-O Girls: A Family History. She discusses the urgency of telling her mother's story against the backdrop of feminism, and the weight of her family's inheritance of the Jell-O fortune. In part memoir, history, feminist philosophy and more, Allie talks about how she wove all those threads, avoided being didactic, and organized the massive amount of research she accumulated.

Download audio.

(Broadcast date: August 1, 2018)

Melissa Stephenson and Elizabeth Rosner on Writers on Writing, KUCI-FM

Memoirists Melissa Stephenson, author of Driven, and Elizabeth Rosner, author of Survivor Cafe, talk with Barbara DeMarco-Barrett about the art, craft, and business of writing their books.

Download audio.

 (Broadcast date: July 25, 2018)

Patt Morrison and Amy Wallen on Writers on Writing, KUCI-FM

Barbara DeMarco-Barrett talks with Patt Morrison, author of Don't Stop the Presses! and Amy Wallen, author of the memoir, When We Were Ghouls.

Download audio.


(Broadcast date: July 18, 2018)

Gabriel Houck and Caeli Wolfson Widger on Writers on Writing, KUCI-FM

Short story writer Gabriel Houck shares his debut collection, You or a Loved One. Gabe talks with Marrie about beginnings, endings and first sentences. He shares insights on how revealing ourselves through fiction, as opposed to essays, is often easier. He deconstructs a few of his stories from initial kernel of an idea, throughout the revision process, and all the artistic decisions he made along the way. He talks about weaknesses and overcoming them, literary influences, and so much more.

In the second half, Caeli Wolfson Widger joins to talk about her novel, Mother of Invention. Caeli talks about the origins of her ideas, how to construct (and adhere to) a coherent set of rules for novels set in alternate realities, as well as her research process. Caeli shares how she grapples with difficult characters, how to sustain a reader's intrigue, and much more.

Download audio.

(Broadcast date: July 11, 2018)

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.

Download audio.

(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.

Download audio.

(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.

Download audio.

(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.

 Download audio.

(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.

Download audio.

(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.

Download audio.



 (Broadcast date: May 30, 2018)