Susan Straight, author of the novel, Mecca, which Michael Connelly called “a masterpiece,” and I talked about her new novel and how it came to be. Susan Straight was born in Riverside, CA, and still lives there with her family. She’s passionate about home, California, the Santa Ana River, the foothills and the deserts, and has been writing about southern California and the inland area for forty years. From her kitchen window, she can see the hospital where she was born, which her three daughters find kind of hilarious and pathetic; most days, she walks her dog Angel beside the Santa Ana River as she has since childhood, and then past the classrooms at Riverside City College, where she wrote her first short story, at 16, which is also kind of hilarious, but hopeful. She has written about the people of California for her new memoir, In the Country of Women, based on women’s stories told for five generations to Straight and her daughters, in driveways and trucks, at parks and funerals. She’s published that memoir, eight novels, and two books for children. Her short stories and essays have been published everywhere from The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, and The Guardian to Alta, The Believer, McSweeneys, Zoetrope, Reader’s Digest, Real Simple, and Family Circle. She’s been awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship, the Lannan Prize for Fiction, a California Gold Medal for Fiction, and the Kirsch Award for Lifetime Achievement from the Los Angeles Times Book Prizes. 

Julie Clark, author of The Lies I Tell, and I talk about how she found her way to the domestic thriller genre, why she finds female con artists fascinating, her revision process, how she finds time to teach full-time and get her writing done, and so much more.

Erica Ferencik, author of Girl in Ice, and I talk about her new novel, creatures that can freeze and thaw out alive, why she’s a plotter, writing the book she wished existed, and more. 

Steve Almond, author of All the Secrets of the World (Zando, 2022) joins me to discuss his new novel and why he wanted to write a social novel, how it took him five tries to get it right, and much more on the process of writing. Steve is the author of twelve books of fiction and nonfiction, including the New York Times bestsellers Candyfreak and Against Football. His recent books include William Stoner and the Battle for the Inner Life, which is about reading and writing and the struggle to pay attention to our lives, and Bad Stories, a literary investigation of the 2016 election. For four years, Steve hosted the New York Times Dear Sugars podcast with Cheryl Strayed. His short stories have been anthologized widely, in the Best American Short Stories, The Pushcart Prize, Best American Erotica, and Best American Mysteries series. His new book is a novel called All the Secrets of the World. 

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(Recorded on May 27, 2022, via Zoom audio)

Music and sound design by Travis Barrett

Check out his typewriter compositions at Just My Type on Spotify

Barbara DeMarco-Barrett: www.penonfire.com

Marrie Stone: www.marriestone.com

Travis Barrett: https://travisbarrett.mykajabi.com

Jeffrey Fleishman, author of the brand new novel, Good Night, Forever (Blackstone), and I talk about setting your book where you live, side characters, crime fiction and social issues, and so much more.