Barbara DeMarco-Barrett’s first book, Pen on Fire: A Busy Woman’s Guide to Igniting the Writer Within (Harcourt, 2004; 11th printing; reissued by Mars Street Press), made the Los Angeles Times best-seller list and in 2005 was honored with an American Society of Journalists and Authors Outstanding Book Award. Her short story, “Crazy for You,” originally published in Orange County Noir (Akashic, 2010) was anthologized in USA noir: Best of the Akashic Noir Series” 2013. Currently editor of the upcoming Palm Springs Noir (Akashic), TBP late 2020/early 2021. In March, 2014, “Message in a Bottle” was published in The Big Click Magazine and in June “Pink Aviary” was published by Radius. She has worked as an auto parts runner, baker, waitress, crisis intervention counselor, semiconductor inspector, and housecleaner. Her essays and articles have seen print in anthologies such as The ASJA Guide to Freelance Writing, Knitting Through It, and in magazines such as The Writer, Writer’s Digest, Poets & Writers, The Toronto Sun, Orange Coast Magazine, Westways, The Los Angeles Times, Sunset, and more. She teaches “Jumpstart Your Writing” for Gotham Writers Workshop and hosts “Writers on Writing,” broadcasting from UC-Irvine and streaming at www.kuci.org and iTunes / college radio. Barbara was recognized with a Distinguished Instructor Award in at UC-Irvine Extension and awarded with Literary Magnet #1, on Orange Coast Magazine’s Best of Orange County list. In 2015 she was awarded the Extraordinary Service award by ASJA, which comes with lifetime membership. She regularly sits on panels at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, Literary Orange, and other writers events. She is founder of the Pen on Fire Speaker Series. She was editor of The ASJA Monthly from Sept. 2012 to December 2014.