Writers on Writing

Novelist John Boyne, A Traveler at the Gates of Wisdom and Heart's Invisible Furies, joins Barbara DeMarco-Barrett to discuss the art, craft, and business of writing.   Download audio.   (Broadcast date: September 16, 2020)

While sharing a drink at a literary pub in New York, Steph Kent & Logan Smalley mused about their favorite first lines in novels. Settling on Moby Dick's notorious "Call Me Ishmael," they wondered what would happen if Ishmael had a phone number that book lovers could call. It didn't take long for Ishmael to have his own number. Voicemails began pouring in from around the country as callers shared their most memorable reading experiences, favorite titles, books that changed and shaped their lives, and even one special copy of Beloved that cost a friendship.  Steph and Logan join Marrie Stone to talk about The Call Me Ishmael Phone Book, which includes not only their favorite voicemail messages about books and authors, but interviews with independent bookstores around the United States, literary museums, author grave sites, and so much more. They talk about how the idea began, and how it grew. They share some of their favorite stories, and how the project is still evolving. They invite you to call Ishmael at (774) 325-0503 to share your own reading experiences or listen to the experiences of others. Visit their website for more information, or follow them on Instagram and Twitter.  Download audio.  (Record date: October 12, 2020)

Debut author Susan Buttenwieser joins Marrie Stone to talk about her collection, We Were Lucky With the Rain. Named one of Poets & Writers 5 Debut Authors Over 50, Susan shares fantastic advice for writers publishing without agents. She discusses how to seek out strategic literary journals for publication, the advantages of small presses (and Four Way Books in particular), and knowing when to let your work go. She also provides insights into how to shape an effective short story, her revision process, her attraction to adolescent narrators, and much more.    Finally, Susan talks about her work in women's prisons, helping those silenced voices tell their stories.  Download audio.     (Record date: October 8, 2020)

As Smith Henderson and Jon Marc Smith prove, not all novelists are loners. The two decided to collaborate while partaking of a few substances at Tim O'Brien's wedding back in the early 2000s. Fifteen years, one screenplay, and two books later their first novel, Make Them Cry, debuted in September. This literary joyride through a Mexican drug cartel has a rich cast of characters—a compromised DEA agent, a bookish sicario, a cartel fugitive, crooked cops, CIA agents, former military operatives and more, each with fascinating backstories and motivations. Smith Henderson (author of Fourth of July Creek) and Jon Marc Smith join Marrie Stone to talk about how the book came to be, the extensive research it required, the intricacies of how their collaboration works, why they had to throw the first draft of the novel away and begin again, the importance of routine, and so much more. They also share that mind-bending story of Tim O'Brien's wedding. Download audio.   (Record date: October 6, 2020)

To many of us, it might feel like the world has lost its way. The very nature of truth seems up for grabs. Eric Weiner returns readers to the teachings of both the ancient and modern philosophers. How do we know what we know? How do we get out of bed each morning? How should we fight? How do we cope? How can we show kindness? How to age and, finally, how to die.   Weiner, a former NPR foreign correspondent and prolific travel writer, joins Marrie Stone to talk about his latest book, The Socrates Express: In Search of LIfe Lessons from Dead Philosophers. They hash through philosophy, philosophers, and how old wisdom applies to your daily life and your writing life. Their conversation touches on stoicism, the nature of knowledge and wisdom, the benefits of aging, and how to remain creative in a noise-filled world. It’s also filled with insights for writers: the advantages of walking, the simplicity of making lists, the benefits of aging, and more.   Download audio.   (Broadcast date: October 7, 2020) (Recording date: September 24, 2020)

Deborah Gaal, author of The Dream Stitcher, joins Marrie Stone to talk about her latest novel, Synchronicities on the Avenue of the Saints. While watching a family member struggle with bipolar disorder after exhausting all remedies offered by western medicine, Gaal discovered another way to interpret the condition. This became the foundation for her second novel.  She talks about the role of magical realism in her everyday life, and how she incorporates some mystical aspects into her own writing practice. Gaal also shares the process that went behind her decision to self publish, how her first novel went on to receive various awards and recognition, and how her background in corporate America, as well as the theater, informs her writing. Download audio.   (Recording date: September 29, 2020)

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Caroline Leavitt, who has penned 12 published novels to date, joins Marrie Stone to talk about her latest, With or Without You. She also talks about the many important lessons she’s learned about writing along the way (often the hard way).  Hear how “Humans of New York” inspires her characters’ looks, how her own demons creep into her novels, and why she invests so much time and energy in promoting the work of other writers. She also discusses the importance of John Truby's Anatomy of a Story and its impact on her work. Listeners can contact Marrie Stone to access Caroline's private worksheets for story structure and plotting their own novels. Visit Marrie's website for more information on how to contact her for those documents.  Download audio.   (Broadcast date: September 23, 2020)

Ivy Pochoda, author of the novel, These Women, talks with Barbara DeMarco-Barrett about writing a serial killer novel from the victims' point of view. Ivy began as a literary fiction writer and her writing continues to be literary, but it's also categorized as crime fiction. She talks about that as well as the art, craft, and business of writing.  Download audio.  (Broadcast date: Sept. 2, 2020)

Sue Miller is the bestselling author of While I Was Gone (an Oprah Book Club selection), The Distinguished Guest, For Love, Family Pictures (nominated for a National Book Critics Circle Award), Inventing the Abbotts, and The Good Mother (a major motion picture starring Diane Keaton and Liam Neeson). She joins Marrie Stone to talk about her latest novel, Monogamy.  Miller's skill at depicting marriage, domestic intimacies, grief, and loss are well known in the literary world. She talks about her inspirations, recurring themes across her novels, the role of memory and recovered memories in her work, and much more. She also provides significant craft advice for writers, including the benefits of writing her novels in longhand, how to work with minor characters, keeping deceased characters alive on the page, and much more. Download audio.   (Broadcast date: September 9, 2020)

In 2011, Sebastian Matthews and his family were in a devastating car accident. When Sebastian emerged from his recovery, several years later, the world had changed around him. Not only was he navigating the trauma of his accident, but the trauma his nation was now suffering.  Beyond Repair: Living in a Fractured State is a series of essays that attempt to make sense of Sebastian's experience living in the south as a white, liberal, middle-aged, middle income man in Trump's America. Sebastian confronts race, class, privilege, fatherhood, and his personal struggles with trauma and terror. Sebastian's recommended writing exercise: Take a walk in a new neighborhood in your town/city. Take it slow, engage people, stop in a shop (even in these pandemic days). Then, when you get back to your own home, sit down and write about the experience. Try to capture what you saw, what you felt, and how your encounters played out.  Download audio.   (Recording Date: August 21, 2020)