Today, the microphone turns on Writers on Writing founder and host Barbara DeMarco-Barrett. She joins Marrie Stone to talk about her latest story collection, Pool Fishing. Barbara’s venture into noir fiction began with the short story, “Crazy for You,” originally published in Akashic Book’s, Orange County Noir, later included in USA Noir: Best of the Akashic Noir Series. She’s also the editor and contributor to Palm Springs Noir (Akashic) and was nominated for a Pushcart Prize for her short story, “R...
Today, the microphone turns on Writers on Writing founder and host Barbara DeMarco-Barrett. She joins Marrie Stone to talk about her latest story collection, Pool Fishing. Barbara’s venture into noir fiction began with the short story, “Crazy for You,” originally published in Akashic Book’s, Orange County Noir, later included in USA Noir: Best of the Akashic Noir Series. She’s also the editor and contributor to Palm Springs Noir (Akashic) and was nominated for a Pushcart Prize for her short story, “Rowboat,” in Kelp Journal (Dec. 2023). Both “Crazy for You” and “Rowboat” appear in her latest collection.
Barbara’s fiction and poetry have been published extensively, including in Coolest American Stories 2022, CrimeReads, Dark City Crime & Magazine and elsewhere. Her first book, Pen on Fire: A Busy Woman’s Guide to Igniting the Writer Within, was a Los Angeles Times best-seller and honored with an American Society of Journalists and Authors Outstanding Book Award. She’s taught creative writing at various colleges for decades. All that means she has much to teach us, and tell us, about the creative process.
She joins Marrie to talk about the creative germ for many of these 15 stories, why setting is so critical in noir, the attributes she believes necessary to make a successful writer, why she’s such an advocate for small presses, and so much more.
Barbara will be appearing at Arvida Books in Tustin on Friday, September 19th, at 6pm (with Maddie Margarita) and Knoll’s in Laguna Niguel on Sunday, September 21, at 7pm (with Marrie Stone). For more information, check out her website here.
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 find hundreds of past interviews on our website. 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. Email the show at writersonwritingpodcast@gmail.com. We love to hear from our listeners!
(Recorded on September 1, 2025)
Host: Barbara DeMarco-Barrett
Host: Marrie Stone
Music: Travis Barrett (Stream his music on Spotify, Apple Music, Etc.)
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