Marrie Stone talks with short story writer David James Poissant (Jamie), author of the debut collection The Heaven of Animals about collections based around a theme, finding the point of entry into a story, experimental fiction, and much more.  In the second half, novelist Emma Straub, author of The Vacationers, talks about coming from a legacy of writing, the importance of place, and how her novel came together in four short months.

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(Broadcast date: June 25, 2014)

Nicole Nelson talks to writer and performer Sandra Tsing Loh about her latest memoir The Madwoman in the Volvo: My Year of Raging Hormones, discovering that her voice was better suited to personal stories rather than fiction, and the differences between writing for radio compared to print. Then debut fiction author Courtney Maum discusses her novel I Am Having So Much Fun Here Without You and its circuitous journey to publication, how work experience as a corporate namer drove her to change the book’s title from its original, The Blue Bear, and how writers are sometimes better off stepping away from the computer and social media.  

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(Broadcast date: July 9, 2014)

Nicole talks to novelist and short story writer John Brandon about his new collection Further Joy, experimenting with form and re-thinking what makes a short story work. Non-fiction author Daniel James Brown discusses how he found his way into the story of The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, the value of thorough research and the importance of conflict throughout a narrative. His book is out now in paperback.

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(Broadcast date: June 18, 2014)

Marrie Stone talks with David Fuller, author of Sundance, about enduring characters, generating ideas, and knowing when to pull the plug on ideas that don’t work.  In the second half, Boris Fishman, author of A Replacement Life, talks about characters, craft, and revision. 

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(Broadcast date: June 11, 2014)

Romance novelist Jane Porter (with too many novels to mention) and Andrea Portes, author of Bury This, talk about the art and craft–and business–of writing fiction.

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(Broadcast date: March 26, 2014)

Jill Amadio, author of Digging Too Deep, and Sheila Lowe, handwriting analyst and author of The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Handwriting Analysis and What She Saw, talk about their novels and nonfiction, writing suspense, and the mystery and suspense genre.

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(Broadcast date: Weds., April 26, 2014)