Richard Lange is the author of the story collections, Dead Boys and Sweet Nothing, and the novels, This Wicked World, Angel Baby, The Smack, Rovers, and Joe Hustle. He is the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, the International Association of Crime Writers’ Hammett Prize, The Short Story Dagger from Great Britain’s Crime Writers Association, and the Rosenthal Family Foundation Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He lives in Los Angeles.

Richard joins Barbara DeMarco-Barrett to talk about his most recent novel, Joe Hustle, and topics they touch on include avoiding backstory that pulls down a story, structure devices, not being a one-genre writer, finding your voice, rejections, road trip stories, naming characters after friends, and more.

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(Recorded January 23, 2026)

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