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Mary Mackey

Goodreads Author

Born

Indianapolis, The United States

Website

http://www.marymackey.com/

Twitter

MMackeyAuthor

Genre

Historical Fiction, Poetry, Science Fiction

Member Since

September 2009

URL

https://www.goodreads.com/goodreadscommarymackey

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"New York Times" bestselling author Mary Mackey's published works include 13 novels, and 7 books of poetry including "Sugar Zone" which won the 2012 PEN Oakland Award for Literary Excellence. They have sold over a million and a half copies and been translated into twelve foreign languages including Japanese, Hebrew, and Finnish.

Mary is related through her father's family to Mark Twain. She graduated magna cum laude from Harvard and received her Ph.D. in Comparative Literature from the University of Michigan. During the early 1970s she lived in the rain forests of Costa Rica. For the last twenty-five years, she has been traveling to Brazil with her husband Angus Wright. The rainforests of the Amazon and the people of Brazil have been a major "New York Times" bestselling author Mary Mackey's published works include 13 novels, and 7 books of poetry including "Sugar Zone" which won the 2012 PEN Oakland Award for Literary Excellence. They have sold over a million and a half copies and been translated into twelve foreign languages including Japanese, Hebrew, and Finnish.

Mary is related through her father's family to Mark Twain. She graduated magna cum laude from Harvard and received her Ph.D. in Comparative Literature from the University of Michigan. During the early 1970s she lived in the rain forests of Costa Rica. For the last twenty-five years, she has been traveling to Brazil with her husband Angus Wright. The rainforests of the Amazon and the people of Brazil have been a major influence on two of her collections of poetry, "Sugar Zone" and "Travelers With No Ticket Home", and on two of her novels: "The Widow's War," and "The Village of Bones," which is a prequel to her bestselling Earthsong Serious about Prehistoric Europe.

From 1989 to 1992 she served as Chair of PEN American Center, West. Currently, she is Emeritus Professor of English at California State University, Sacramento.

While her poetry has mainly centered around the traditional lyric themes of love, death, and nature, her novels have ranged from the Midwestern United States to the Goddess-worshiping cultures of Neolithic Europe. A screenwriter as well as a novelist, she has sold feature scripts to Warner Brothers as well as to various independent film companies.

Mary has lectured at many places including Harvard and the Smithsonian. Additionally, she has contributed to such diverse print and on-line publications as The Chiron Review, Redbook, and Salon. She occasionally writes comedy under the pen name "Kate Clemens".

Her popular "People Who Make Books Happen" interview series can be found on her Blog http://marymackey.com/the-writers-jou.... A free resource for writers and readers, it contains interviews with experts on various topics including "How To Get An Agent," and "Helping Independent Bookstores Survive and Thrive." You are invited to ask Mary questions about these interviews and other topics by going to the Goodreads "Ask The Author" section of this profile page or by visiting her website at http://marymackey.com/.

The photograph of Mary Mackey was taken by Irene Young. ...more

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Popular Answered Questions

How do you deal with writer’s block?

Mary Mackey As a university professor who teaches creative writing, I've counseled a lot of students about how to deal with writer's block. This is such a common …moreAs a university professor who teaches creative writing, I've counseled a lot of students about how to deal with writer's block. This is such a common question, that I've posted detailed answers to it on my website at www.marymackey.com. The short answer is that you need to forget the outside word: forget about that critic who sits on your shoulder and tell him to take a hike; forget about whether what you are writing will be published or not published; forget about what members of your family or people you care about will think when they read what you've written; even forget about grammar, spelling, and making sense. Just write. Write fast, write without thinking too much. Once you have something down on paper, you can always revise it. There's nothing that can't be fixed. For a longer, more detailed discussion the secrets for dealing with writer's block plus additional tips, please see:

The First Secret To Overcoming Writer's Block
http://marymackey.com/the-first-secre...

The Second Secret To Overcoming Writer's Block
http://marymackey.com/the-second-secr...

The Third Secret To Overcoming Writer's Block
http://marymackey.com/the-third-secre...

You are warmly invited to ask questions on my website about specific posts or to offer comments. I'm always happy to share my knowledge with other writers.(less)

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What’s the best thing about being a writer?

Mary Mackey The best thing about being a writer is writing. At least that's the best part of it for me. I love to write. I've loved to write since I was a small c…moreThe best thing about being a writer is writing. At least that's the best part of it for me. I love to write. I've loved to write since I was a small child. I'm never so happy as when I am sitting quietly in my study writing, creating something, moving into the world of imagination and possibility. My imagination takes me all over the world, through different times, to places possible and impossible. My great joy is offering you a chance to come with me by writing it all down.(less)

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Mary Mackey’s books

Average rating: 3.91 · 2,258 ratings · 193 reviews · 40 distinct works • Similar authors

	The Year the Horses Came (Earthsong #1) 3.94 avg rating — 751 ratings — published 1993 — 16 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Horses at the Gate (Earthsong #2) 4.09 avg rating — 350 ratings — published 1996 — 10 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Fires of Spring (Earthsong #3) 4.15 avg rating — 248 ratings — published 1998 — 8 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Notorious Mrs. Winston 3.68 avg rating — 222 ratings — published 2007 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Widow's War 3.51 avg rating — 187 ratings — published 2009 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	THE LAST WARRIOR QUEEN 3.75 avg rating — 175 ratings — published 1983 — 12 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	A Grand Passion 3.88 avg rating — 104 ratings — published 1986 — 14 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Village of Bones: Sabalah's Tale (Earthsong #0.5) 4.13 avg rating — 84 ratings — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Season of Shadows really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 25 ratings — published 1991 — 6 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Kindness of Strangers 3.73 avg rating — 15 ratings — published 1988 — 11 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by Mary Mackey…

3 posts
Mary Mackey's Blog: Mary Mackey's Goodreads Blog

Helping Independed Bookstores Survive and Thrive

This interview with Independent Bookstore Owner Amy Thomas is part of my monthly People Who Make Books Happen Interview Series. You can read the original interview with images on my Blog at http://marymackey.com

This month I’m interviewing Amy Thomas, owner and in her own words “President for Life” of Pegasus Books, who is going to tell us what independent bookstores do for us and what we can do fo Read more of this blog post »

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Published on August 13, 2014 12:49 • Tags: berkeley-ca, e-books, independent-bookstores, pegasus-books, the-book-business

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Series by Mary Mackey

Earthsong (3 books)
by

Mary Mackey (Goodreads Author)

4.02 avg rating — 1,433 ratings

Quotes by Mary Mackey (?)

“No real man would take something as sweet as his penis and turn it into a club.”
― Mary Mackey, The Year the Horses Came

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