Excerpts or Whole Work
If I Were Human
This poem originally appeared in Star*Line in 2022 and is a finalist for the Rhysling Award for best short poem! I thought it would be nice to put it here so you can all read it. 🙂 This is my Read more
Life
Attending a Book Festival
The Ohioana Book Festival this weekend was my first big book event. I had previously attended smaller, local versions for just Cleveland authors at Loganberry Books and the Bay Village Library, and so I thought I knew what I was Read more
Writing
Why I Hate Three Act Structure
A lot of books and blog posts I’ve read to understand plot and story structure talk about the Three Act Structure, and the thing is, the more I read … the more I’m convinced they don’t know what they mean. Read more
Writing
How to Be a Good Critique Partner
Most of us drop right into the setting of a writing workshop and we’re handed some sheets of someone else’s precious, undying prose, and set to work with no more guideline than “Tell us how you feel about this story.” Read more
Life
In Praise of the Projects
The first home I remember was the East 200th Street projects, in Euclid, Ohio. Before that, we lived in a brick apartment building which my older sister pointed out to me once, and said was much nicer. Our apartment had Read more
Announcement
Ji Zhu of Mecrob interviewed me!
Ji:Could you introduce ‘We Built This City’，which was nominated for the Nebula Award? Marie:I was raised by a single father, a construction worker, a laborer in the AFL-CIO. The very first short story I ever wrote, aside from school assignments and the Read more
Writing
To Pseudonym or Not to Pseudonym
This blog topic was suggested by Maura Yzmore. Specifically, she asked what I felt the pros and cons were of publishing everything under my real name, if I felt it interfered with my professional life? Pro: My Day Job is Read more