Writers on Writing

Tatjana Soli and lit agent Erin Harris on Writers on Writing

Posted February 17 2015 by Barbara DeMarco-Barrett

Tatjana Soli, author of The Last Good Paradise, talks to Nicole Nelson about the importance of setting in developing a novel, the art of revision, and the writing benefits of a good hike. Then Erin Harris, NYC agent with Folio Lit talks about what kind of work she represents, what catches her eye in a query, and what agents want to see in those all-important first pages.

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[Note: In the Harris interview, there are a couple of very brief phone line blips that resolve quickly.]

(Broadcast date: February 11, 2015)

Podcast now avail. w/novelists Miranda July and Adam Langer

Posted February 6 2015 by Barbara DeMarco-Barrett

If you missed Wednesday’s show, you can now listen to the podcast of Barbara DeMarco-Barrett and novelists Miranda July, author of The First Bad Man and Adam Langer, author of The Salinger Contract . They discuss their novels and talk about first drafts, revision, metafiction, and more.

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(Broadcast date: Feb. 4, 2015)

Meghan Daum and Siri Hustvedt on Writers on Writing

Posted January 23 2015 by Barbara DeMarco-Barrett

Meghan Daum, author of The Unspeakable: And Other Subjects of Discussion, talks with co-host Nicole Nelson about the advantages of going unseen in Los Angeles, her favorite essayists, and writing with humor–including, and perhaps especially–while talking about serious and upsetting things. 


Then novelist Siri Hustvedt, author of The Blazing World, discusses the crucial work of an author to find the emotional truth, the potential benefits of automatic writing, and starting a novel with only a glimmer or “smell” for the story.


Her PEN America workshop is titled “Why One Story and Not Another.”



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(Broadcast date: January 21, 2015)

Literary agent Jane Dystel on Writers on Writing

Posted January 7 2015 by Barbara DeMarco-Barrett

Literary Agent Jane Dystel, founder and president of Dystel & Goderich Literary Management, joins Marrie to talk about what makes an effective agent, what to look for in an agent, how to query an agent, what’s selling and what’s not, how the industry has changed, the importance of platform, how ebooks are saving fiction, and more. 

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(Broadcast date: January 7, 2015)

Kim Fay and Steven Pinker on Writers on Writing

Posted December 20 2014 by Barbara DeMarco-Barrett

Kim Fay, Edgar Award finalist and author of The Map of Lost Memories, talks to Marrie Stone about her passion for Southeast Asia, sustaining momentum over fourteen years of work on a project, and the value of belonging to a writing group.

Then cognitive scientist and author of  The Sense of Style: The Thinking Person’s Guide to Writing in the 21st Century Steven Pinker talks to Nicole Nelson about the importance of using examples in nonfiction, the shortcomings and value of the green wiggly line in MS Word, and how he earned his rank as one of Science‘s Top 50 stars of Twitter.

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(Broadcast date: December 10, 2014)