Eric Puchner is the author of two story collections — Music Through the Floor and Last Day on Earth. His first novel, Model Home, was a finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award in Fiction. His latest novel, Dream State, publishes February 18. He joins Marrie Stone to talk about it.

They discuss controlling time in a novel, since the book takes place over generations and moves not linearly but fluidly through time. They also talk about anticipating the future, because the novel projects ahead in time. They discuss point of view, bringing real world issues like climate change and environmentalism into your work in non-moralizing ways, and what he advises his students about writer’s block. They also discuss the current world of agents and editors and what he's learned in his decades of publishing, and so much more.   

As a bonus, Eric and his wife, novelist Katherine Noel, collaborated on an essay entitled I Married a Novelist, a fun, funny, and delightful read.

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(Recorded on February 5, 2025)

Host: Barbara DeMarco-Barrett
Host: Marrie Stone
Music: Travis Barrett (Stream his music on Spotify, Apple Music, Etc.)