Benjamin Ludwig joins Marrie Stone to talk about his debut novel, Ginny Moon. Benjamin shares his personal experiences raising an adopted autistic daughter, the ways in which being immersed in this world gave birth to Ginny Moon, how to establish an effective voice of an autistic narrator, and more.

In the second half, young adult writer Melissa de la Cruz joins Marrie to talk about her novel, Alex & Eliza. She talks about writing historical fiction, managing minor characters, balancing history against the love story, writing historical dialogue, and more.

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(Broadcast date: July 26, 2017)

Novelist Maile Meloy, author of Do Not Become Alarmed joins Nicole Nelson to talk about what she learned about plot from having written for kids, learning to push through scenes, and how writing is a muscle that we need to work as much as possible, to improve.

In the second half of the show, literary agent Sarah Bowlin of Aevitas Creative Management talks about her switch from editor to agent, her new home as a Los Angeles-based agent with Aevitas Creative Management, and advice about querying, first pages, synopses and more.

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(Broadcast date: July 5, 2017)

Ahkil Sharma, author of the short story collection, A Life of Adventure and Delight, and Scott Spencer, author of River Under the Road talk with Barbara about their current projects, and the art and business of writing.

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(Broadcast date: July 12, 2017)

Novelist Thrity Umrigar, author of Everybody’s Son, joins Marrie Stone to talk about issues of race, class, authority to tell another person’s story, and the somewhat magical way this book came to her.

In the second half, Elizabeth Kostova joins to talk about her novel, The Shadow Land. She discusses her connection to Bulgaria, what her research revealed, why this novel has gained importance in our political climate, and more.

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(KUCI-FM broadcast date: June 28, 2017)

This year, the Edinburgh Book Festival paired five Scottish writers with five writers across North and South America and sent them on a quest for truth. Two of those Outriders, Jenni Fagan and Bonnie Jo Campbell, joined Marrie Stone to talk about their journey, their observations and their findings as they traveled from New York, across the Rust Belt, to the Silicon Valley.

Drawing from their unique perspectives and their individual talents, these Outriders discuss politics, landscape, the people they met, the architecture they observed (with all its cultural implications), dogs, blueberry pancakes and more. Fagan shares selections from her truth poem. Both authors have films in the making, and blogs chronicling their adventure. Check them out here:

Jenni Fagan
Bonnie Jo Campbell
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(Broadcast date: June 21, 2017)