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Essays worth reading

Posted April 8 2009 by Barbara DeMarco-Barrett

I’m teaching a 10 week class at UC-Irvine and we’re spending time on a lifelong love: the essay. I gave an assignment to my students to find essays online and share them with classmates. One is on the short story, thanks to Kris. A bittersweet Modern Love piece–thanks Peggy. The beginning of a Sun piece called “The Fine Art Of Quitting,” thanks to Elaine. All good, all worth reading. If you have favorite essays that can be found online, I’d love to read them. Post here?

Snowy night

Posted April 8 2009 by Barbara DeMarco-Barrett

Spring break in the snow. We’re in Mammoth. It’s a blizzard out there. As Billy Collins says in “Snow Day,” when I stick my head out the slider and am happily pummeled by blowing snow, I’m aware of “the grandiose silence of the snow.” I love it.

Martha Lawrence

Posted April 3 2009 by Marrie Stone

Barbara DeMarco-Barrett interviews Martha Lawrence, author of Pisces Rising (Elizabeth Chase Mysteries).

Download audio.

(Broadcast date: September 28, 2000)

NPR’s Picture Show: Helen Levitt

Posted April 1 2009 by Barbara DeMarco-Barrett

I heard NPR commentator Melissa Block the other day talking about photographer Helen Levitt who just died at 95 years old. One of the few times I managed to write down an URL as I was driving and today I saw it in my book. You can listen, or read, here. And of course look at the photos. I love that one of the white girl and black boy dancing in a New York street.

Pen on Fire: A Speakers Series, with Merrill Markoe

Posted March 24 2009 by Barbara DeMarco-Barrett

First, thanks to all who attended the Marty Smith event a week ago Monday night at the Newport Beach Tennis Club. Everyone I talked with said they enjoyed the night–meeting and chatting with writers–and loved hearing Marty discuss the writing process, writing for Orange Coast magazine, and writing essays.

Our next event on April 14 will be quite fun, and the night before Tax Day don’t we all need a good laugh? Merrill Markoe will be our guest author. She’s an Emmy winning former producer and writer from the David Letterman show, and now writes novels–funny novels that I love. She and I will be in conversation, she’ll read from her work, and answer questions. And we’ll hang out a bit, have a sip and chat.

The setting will be a bit more casual than the tennis club. The event will take place at a friend’s spacious home in Corona del Mar, with easy free parking and view of the water. Seating is a bit more limited than it was at the Tennis Club, so don’t wait too long to register. Once you register, the address will be sent to you.

Time: 7 – 9 (but can hang out a bit longer)
Cost: $15, include snacks, libation and cake of course. Feel free to forward this email to your literary friends. ($16 via PayPal.)

Looking forward to seeing you again…

Palm Springs Noir, an anthology published by Akashic Books, edited by Barbara, also features her short story “The Water Holds You Still.” Order anywhere you buy books.
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“Pen on Fire has got a wonderful mix of the practical and the inspirational, which can only come from a writer who knows what she’s doing and what it takes to get things done. She understands that hard work is at the bottom of good writing, but she also points out that a certain lightness and sense of exploration and play are important, too. Pen on Fire helps them to see that writing, although difficult, can be fun.”

—T. Jefferson Parker

“We all know what it’s like to have that fierce drive to do something remarkable … and no idea where or how to start. Pen on Fire is a beginning writer’s dream cocktail of fortitude: equal parts compassion, inspiration, and fabulous limbering exercises. Want to be a writer? Drink deeply of Barbara DeMarco-Barrett’s hard-earned wisdom.”

—Jodi Picoult

“So many people have told me they are burning to write, but can’t seem to find a spare moment. I wish I could track them all down and hand each of them a copy of Pen on Fire. Barbara DeMarco-Barrett shows us how, even in our fast-paced, overscheduled, culture, we have more time than we realize to realize our creative dreams.”

—Gayle Brandeis