Blathering
Helium Hand
Volunteering. When I see a call for volunteers, there’s a near physical pain if I don’t answer it. Why is that? Why do I feel like a rude bastard if I don’t agree to do EVERYTHING? I’m not even just Read more…
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…