Mary Marcus's Blog
May 4, 2015
If you’re a musician, an artist, a writer… you know...
If you’re a musician, an artist, a writer… you know the “hum.”
Read the extended excerpt: http://bit.ly/lavina-excerpt http://ift.tt/1zIW8IQ
May 2, 2015
One of my favorite writers, the great Ruth Rendell a.k.a....
One of my favorite writers, the great Ruth Rendell a.k.a. Barbara Vine died today in London. I started reading her when I was a child. And I believe I’ve read every one of her 80? books. She wrote like an angel. And she must have had the best work habits of anyone. My favorite was “Harm Done,” staring Wexford, her wonderful detective who played favorites between his children, spouted poetry as though it was normal and loved his pretty wife Dora, while lusting for others and remaining faithful. His “Watson” the well-dressed, priggish Burden was also a magnificent creation. I’d read a Wexford novel any day. I was hoping she would live to a hundred and write twenty more! The remarkable Ruth Rendell. I don’t want to believe she’s gone. http://ift.tt/1GGCKt2
May 1, 2015
“According to this really chilling study in PLOS ONE I...
“According to this really chilling study in PLOS ONE I read about yesterday, while racism is very hard to measure, because of course, people lie about their racism, they are on the other hand, not so careful on their Google searches.”
Read more about terrible words on my blog today–> http://bit.ly/1GOna3X http://ift.tt/1bn2Wjy
April 29, 2015
April 28, 2015
Faulkner said it best: “the past is never dead. It’s not even...
Faulkner said it best: “the past is never dead. It’s not even past.”
It’s heartbreaking to me that Lavina, my novel about the bad old days of Jim Crow arrives today on a bad day in Baltimore. Like that other bad day in Ferguson some months ago. I have a big thing about remembering. Which is one of the reasons why I set out to write about my early childhood in the deep south. A south that I was hoping was over.
The question is not what we are doing wrong here in this country. But what we just aren’t doing at all. The race thing plays itself out in so many destructive ways: low wages, lack of educational opportunities, mass incarcerations, slums, the list of demons goes on and on.
And now because of those reasons and many more, another city burns. Again.
Who is responsible?
What happened to the dream?
What happened to the way things were supposed to be?
Here’s a free extended excerpt of Lavina, for anyone who is interested in my story of music, beauty, and murder, and of gender inequality, race inequality, and the deep Jim Crow south: http://bit.ly/lavina-excerpt
April 27, 2015
What I never understood to this day, to this very day, was...
What I never understood to this day, to this very day, was how
white people could have black people cook dinner for them, make
them meals, but wouldn’t let them sit down at the table with them.
How can you dislike someone so much and have them cook for you?
Shoot, if I don’t like someone, you ain’t cooking nothing for me, ever.
– Ray Charles
This is one of the quotes I chose for the beginning of ‘Lavina’. Read a free extended excerpt: http://ift.tt/1zhHbxr http://ift.tt/1Gr6KJe
How much have we really changed since the 1950’s?
Read...
How much have we really changed since the 1950’s?
Read the free extended excerpt of Lavina, set in the Jim Crow south –> http://bit.ly/lavina-excerpt
I’ve been advised to talk about the fact that my novel Lavina...
I’ve been advised to talk about the fact that my novel Lavina goes on sale April 28 and pitch the hell out of it. My natural response to such a daunting task is a resounding no f’king way! Even though I loved writing this novel. Even though it sometimes felt like I was writing the novel on a red-hot Ouiji Board. But, being me, a well brought person of the female persuasion, it’s nearly impossible to say with impunity please, whatever you do, run to your nearest independent bookstore—or click below and buy this stellar work of art by the great me.
Thanks, Library Journal!“Verdict: Marcus has written a...
Thanks, Library Journal!
“Verdict: Marcus has written a novel of weight and heart. Forthright in chronicling harrowing conditions of the era and Southern setting while not succumbing to stereotypes, she reveals the complexities of humanity and demonstrates a keen ear for the music of language in the individual voices of her characters. Lovers of The Help and civil rights–era literary fiction will enjoy this book.—Shannon Greene, Library Journal”
Lavina: http://www.amazon.com/Lavina-Mary-Marcus/dp/161188201X
