Writers on Writing

Barbara DeMarco-Barrett and Marrie Stone
  • 4.8 (119)
  • Books
  • Updated Daily

A weekly podcast hosted by Barbara DeMarco-Barrett and Marrie Stone on the art and business of writing.

  1. 1d ago

    Julie Orringer, author of LUNA, PHOENIX, QUEEN

    Julie Orringer is the author of four books of fiction: the NYT bestselling novel The Invisible Bridge; the story collection How to Breathe Underwater; The Flight Portfolio, the inspiration for the Netflix series Transatlantic, which aired in 2023; and, most recently, luna, phoenix, queen. Julie’s stories have appeared in numerous anthologies, including The Granta Book of the American Short Story and The Scribner Anthology of American Short Fiction. She is the winner of numerous prizes and fellowships including from the Guggenheim Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts. Julie joins Marrie to talk through so many issues and struggles that writers confront and how she works through them. From practical matters — like getting the work done — to craft techniques —like managing time in fiction and how she uses her famous notebooks (more of Julie’s notebook pages for this novel can be found on Facebook here) — they talk about it all. For more information on Writers on Writing and to become a supporter, visit our Patreon page. For a one-time donation, visit Ko-fi. You can help out the show and indie bookstores by buying books at our bookstore on bookshop.org. It’s stocked with titles by our guest authors, as well as our personal favorites. And on Spotify, you’ll find an album’s worth of typewriter music like what you hear on the show. It’s perfect for writing. Look for the artist, Just My Type. You can find hundreds of past interviews on our website. (Recorded on October 9, 2026) Host: Barbara DeMarco-Barrett Host: Marrie Stone Music: Travis Barrett (Stream his music on Spotify, Apple Music, etc.)

  2. Oct 13

    Literary Agent Matthew Carnicelli

    Matthew Carnicelli is president of Carnicelli Literary Management and specializes in idea-driven nonfiction and quality fiction. He began his publishing career at Dutton, where as an editor he worked with many great writers of fiction, history, and current events, including Vice President Al Gore. At Contemporary Books and McGraw-Hill, he became enthralled with strong health writing and business and sports books. He became an agent in 2004 to have more control over the depth of his work with clients and to focus only in areas that interested him intellectually and creatively. Over the past 15 years, he has represented many notable authors. Matthew is a graduate of Washington University, with a B.A. in English literature and political science, and received an M.A. from the University of Toronto in English literature. He has taught college-level nonfiction writing, and he’s quite simply one of my favorite people, and agents. For a more indepth bio, visit his website, Carnicellilit.com. Matthew joins Barbara DeMarco-Barrett to talk about changes in publishing since he began agenting in 2004, why he focuses mainly on nonfiction, ageism in publishing, AI, book covers, memoirs, developmental editors, agenting fiction, trends, what he’s looking for, and so much more. For more information on Writers on Writing and to become a supporter, visit our Patreon page. For a one-time donation, visit Ko-fi. You can help out the show and indie bookstores by buying books at our bookstore on bookshop.org. It’s stocked with titles by our guest authors, as well as our personal favorites. And on Spotify, you’ll find an album’s worth of typewriter music like the music you hear on the show. It’s perfect for writing. Look for the artist, Just My Type. You can find hundreds of past interviews on our website. (Recorded on July 10, 2026) Host: Barbara DeMarco-Barrett Host: Marrie Stone Music: Travis Barrett (Stream his music on Spotify, Apple Music, etc.)

  3. Oct 5

    Meg Mason, author of SOPHIE, STANDING THERE

    Sophie, Standing There is Meg Mason’s fourth published novel, out in the States just last week and already Reese Witherspoon’s October Book Club Pick. Her last novel, Sorrow and Bliss, became an international bestseller after it was published in 2020. It won the British Book Industry Book of the Year and was shortlisted for the Women’s Prize. She joins Marrie Stone to talk about her publication journey, her transition from journalism to fiction, and what she had to learn and unlearn. They also dissect how she expands and compresses time in a single paragraph, how she delivers backstory while maintaining forward momentum, how she gives us a deep dive into a character’s psyche with just little brush strokes of color, and how she creates tension and suspense in everyday experiences. There’s a lot for writers to study in this novel, and Meg does a deep dive into particular passages to show how it’s done. For more information on Writers on Writing and to become a supporter, visit our Patreon page. For a one-time donation, visit Ko-fi. You can help out the show and indie bookstores by buying books at our bookstore on bookshop.org. It’s stocked with titles by our guest authors, as well as our personal favorites. And on Spotify, you’ll find an album’s worth of typewriter music like what you hear on the show. It’s perfect for writing. Look for the artist, Just My Type. You can find hundreds of past interviews on our website. (Recorded on October 3, 2026) Host: Barbara DeMarco-Barrett Host: Marrie Stone Music: Travis Barrett (Stream his music on Spotify, Apple Music, etc.)

  4. Sep 29

    Rachel Khong, author of MY DEAR YOU

    Rachel Khong, author of My Dear You. Her debut novel, Goodbye, Vitamin, won the 2017 California Book Award for First Fiction, and was a Los Angeles Times Book Prize Finalist for First Fiction. Her second novel, Real Americans, was published by Knopf in April 2024, and was an instant New York Times bestseller. Her most recent book is a story collection, My Dear You, published by Knopf in April of this year. Rachel joins Barbara DeMarco-Barrett to talk about putting a story collection together, voice, writing speculative fiction, what comes first when she’s writing a story, rejection, her favorite story in the collection, and much more. For more information on Writers on Writing and to become a supporter, visit our Patreon page. For a one-time donation, visit Ko-fi. You can help out the show and indie bookstores by buying books at our bookstore on bookshop.org. It’s stocked with titles by our guest authors, as well as our personal favorites. And on Spotify, you’ll find an album’s worth of typewriter music like what you hear on the show. It’s perfect for writing. Look for the artist, Just My Type. You can find hundreds of past interview on our website. (Recorded on March 20, 2026) Host: Barbara DeMarco-Barrett Host: Marrie Stone Music: Travis Barrett (Stream his music on Spotify, Apple Music, etc.)

  5. Sep 21

    Virginia Evans, author of THE CORRESPONDENT

    Virginia Evans and the story behind the story of her runaway debut novel, The Correspondent, is one of those that helps us writers keep getting out of bed in the morning and back to the page. It’s an anomaly on every level. But it’s embedded with the lessons we talk about every day on this show — perseverance, resilience, and immunity from rejection, the importance of writing the story only you can tell and writing for writing’s sake and not publication’s sake. In many ways, The Correspondent breaks some conventional writing rules. But in its breaking, its tapped into something universal, relatable, and loved by well over 2 million readers and counting. When The Correspondent came out in April of 2025, it was not an instant NYT bestseller. It gained momentum by word-of-mouth, by wonderful booksellers, book clubs, and maybe some Ann Patchett pixie dust. The book had been out for eight months before hitting the NYT bestseller list, where it’s been for 41 weeks and counting. Usually it’s Oprah who boosts a book with her book club picks. This time, Oprah ran to catch up to The Correspondence success. It’s now being turned into a film starring Jane Fonda. It also won the 2026 Women's Prize for Fiction and the 2026 PEN/Hemingway Award for Debut Novel. Beyond the publication story is the book itself and what it has to teach us writers. This may be Virginia’s debut, but it’s hardly the first book she’s written. She joins Marrie Stone to talk about it. We find out what she’s learned – especially from some of the wonderful professors she’s had along the way like Claire Keegan. We talk about the pleasures and perils of the epistolary novel, tackling voice from a bunch of different and challenging perspectives, managing time in fiction, writing your fears, and more. For more information on Writers on Writing and to become a supporter, visit our Patreon page. For a one-time donation, visit Ko-fi. You can help out the show and indie bookstores by buying books at our bookstore on bookshop.org. It’s stocked with titles by our guest authors, as well as our personal favorites. And on Spotify, you’ll find an album’s worth of typewriter music like what you hear on the show. It’s perfect for writing. Look for the artist, Just My Type. You can find hundreds of past interview on our website. (Recorded on September 2, 2026) Host: Barbara DeMarco-Barrett Host: Marrie Stone Music: Travis Barrett (Stream his music on Spotify, Apple Music, etc.)

  6. Sep 15

    Ariel Delgado Dixon, author of SOURLAND

    Ariel Delgado Dixon. Ariel was born in Trenton, New Jersey and is the author of the novels Sourland and Don’t Say We Didn’t Warn You. She lives in Western Massachusetts where she teaches writing and works in farming. Ariel joins Barbara DeMarco-Barrett to talk about why she chose Humboldt County in Northern Calfornia for the setting of Sourland, writing side characters, naming characters, how much she knew before she started writing, what she does when she hits a wall, and how she comes up with her stellar verbs, because in my opinion, she presently is the the verb queen. For more information on Writers on Writing and to become a supporter, visit our Patreon page. For a one-time donation, visit Ko-fi. You can help out the show and indie bookstores by buying books at our bookstore on bookshop.org. It’s stocked with titles by our guest authors, as well as our personal favorites. And on Spotify, you’ll find an album’s worth of typewriter music like what you hear on the show. It’s perfect for writing. Look for the artist, Just My Type. You can find hundreds of past interview on our website. (Recorded on July 24, 2026) Host: Barbara DeMarco-Barrett Host: Marrie Stone Music: Travis Barrett (Stream his music on Spotify, Apple Music, etc.)

  7. Sep 10

    Daniel Mason, author of COUNTRY PEOPLE

    Daniel Mason is the author of six books of fiction, including The Piano Tuner, the story collection A Registry of My Passage Upon the Earth — which was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize — and North Woods, which was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award and the Dublin Literary Award. He’s also a physician and a professor in Stanford’s Psychiatry Department. His latest is Country People, published by Random House and out last month. It’s a Good Morning America summer book club pick and a NYT bestseller. It’s contemporary, it’s hilarious and, for us procrastinators who would rather fall down research rabbit holes than write, it’s very relatable. It also gives writers a bunch of craft lessons to sink our teeth into. How to use your text to teach readers how to read your novel. Embedding content into form (this novel is a master class in that). Using different textures and kinds of writing to enhance your storyline, and more. For more information on Writers on Writing and to become a supporter, visit our Patreon page. For a one-time donation, visit Ko-fi. You can help out the show and indie bookstores by buying books at our bookstore on bookshop.org. It’s stocked with titles by our guest authors, as well as our personal favorites. And on Spotify, you’ll find an album’s worth of typewriter music like what you hear on the show. It’s perfect for writing. Look for the artist, Just My Type. You can find hundreds of past interview on our website. (Recorded on August 13, 2026) Host: Barbara DeMarco-Barrett Host: Marrie Stone Music: Travis Barrett (Stream his music on Spotify, Apple Music, etc.)

  8. Sep 7

    Téa Obreht, author of SUNRISE

    Téa Obreht is the author of four works of fiction. Her debut novel, The Tiger’s Wife, won the 2011 Orange Prize for Fiction, and was a 2011 National Book Award finalist and an international bestseller. Inland was an instant New York Times bestseller, won the Ballard Prize and the BRLA Southwest Book Award. In 2024, The Morningside, was a finalist for the inaugural Climate Fiction Prize. She was on the show in 2024 when she did a deep dive into her unique childhood and how that informs her fiction. You can find that interview here. Her latest, Sunrise, came out last month by Random House. It’s complicated on every level. It bends and blends genre. It spans three different time frames. It raises philosophical questions about stories, myths, and legends while using the structure of stories, myths, and legends. All that with edge-of-your seat mysteries and propulsive narrative. Sunrise defies easy descriptions. And the origin story behind this novel is something I know you’re going to want to hear. For more information on Writers on Writing and to become a supporter, visit our Patreon page. For a one-time donation, visit Ko-fi. You can help out the show and indie bookstores by buying books at our bookstore on bookshop.org. It’s stocked with titles by our guest authors, as well as our personal favorites. And on Spotify, you’ll find an album’s worth of typewriter music like what you hear on the show. It’s perfect for writing. Look for the artist, Just My Type. You can find hundreds of past interviews on our website. (Recorded on August 25, 2026) Host: Barbara DeMarco-Barrett Host: Marrie Stone Music: Travis Barrett (Stream his music on Spotify, Apple Music, Etc.)

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4.8
out of 5
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About

A weekly podcast hosted by Barbara DeMarco-Barrett and Marrie Stone on the art and business of writing.

Information

  • Creator
    Barbara DeMarco-Barrett and Marrie Stone
  • Years Active
    2022 - 2026
  • Episodes
    100
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 622498
  • Show Website
    Writers on Writing

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