Melissa Broder is the author of the novels, Death Valley, Milk Fed, and The Pisces, the essay collection So Sad Today, and five poetry collections, including Superdoom. Her books are translated in ten languages. She has written for the New York Times, Elle.com, and New York Magazine’s The Cut. She lives in Los Angeles.

Melissa chats with Barbara DeMarco-Barrett about her new novel, Death Valley. She talks about how when the first line came to her, she put aside what she was working on because she knew this was the book she needed to focus on. They discuss making tragedy funny, the Best Western hotel chain, magic cacti, process, plotting, and externalizing the internal life of characters.

For more information on Writers on Writing and extra writing perks, visit our Patreon page. To listen to past interviews, visit our website. We also have an affiliate bookstore on bookshop.org. We’ve stocked it with titles from our guests, as well as some of our own personal favorites. By purchasing through the store, you’ll support both independent bookstores and our show. New titles will be added all the time (it’s a work in progress). Finally, on Spotify you can listen to an album’s worth of typewriter music like what you hear on the show. Look for the artist, Just My Type. Email the show at [email protected]. We love to hear from our listeners.

(Recorded on December January 5, 2023) 

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