Blog
The German Spoons—War and Homecoming
I have been preoccupied with war lately. Front of mind: the on-again, off-again senseless hostilities with Iran, and the interminable deadly stalemate in Ukraine. (VOTE, people, VOTE: it's the least you can do!) Other conflicts continuing in Gaza, Lebanon, Sudan,...
Silver Beeches: escaping into cozy
I enjoy the annual NYCMidnight short story competition. Writers are assigned a genre, a subject and a character, and have 2,500 words and a week to craft their effort. Only once have I been assigned a genre I'm comfortable with—historical fiction—but that's the point....
Sisu Stories
Sisu is the Finnish word for grit, resilience, and determination in facing difficulty. According to a Seattle Times story in January, the concept has its origins in Finland's resistance to the Soviet Union during the Second World War. It continues today in a Finnish...
How Did That Happen?
My sixth novel, Loners, will be published on October 13. Whaaat?! How did that happen?! I remember the thrill of holding my first book baby, A Slippery Slope, in 2012: "Now I can die happy!" I'd self-published the mystery, and when I say "self-published," I mean I did...
Love Scenes and Other Crimes—
Romance with a side of eye-roll. For several years, along with thousands of other writers worldwide, I have entered the NYC Midnight short story competition. I love the challenge of writing 2,500 words in a randomly-assigned genre within a week. Stretching outside my...
A New Mystery Coming Soon: Loners
"John had great big waterproof boots on…" So begins a children's poem written by A.A. Milne, the creator of Winnie the Pooh. These are also the first words of my new mystery, Loners, to be published by The Wild Rose Press on October 13, 2025. The novel continues:...
Riga in Real Life
Last month, I finally made it to Riga. After more than a decade researching the Latvian capital remotely, I became surprisingly emotional when I stood in front of the iconic House of the Blackheads where Nellie and Dani are pictured on the cover of Daughters of Riga....
A Creative Community in a Beautiful Valley
A hawk wheeled up into the sky above the crowd gathered for my friend Mary’s memorial service in Twisp. Acknowledging its significance, our eyes followed the bird as it rose over the forested bluffs surrounding the small town: Mary was a naturalist and photographer,...
Finally! Listen to this….
If you read my last blog, you will know that publishing an audiobook is complicated. Finally, the Daughters of Riga audiobook has made it onto some retail sites: Spotify, Libro FM, and Google Play. Others, including Amazon/Audible will follow in the next week or so....
Listen to this—the Daughters of Riga audiobook
My usual reading mode is old-fashioned, involving printed paper, pages that must be turned manually, and a card-stock bookmark inserted to indicate where I leave off. Yes, I load up the Kindle for convenience when traveling overseas. Audiobooks are restricted to long...
So Much Depends Upon…
About fifteen years ago, I walked nervously into an Irish pub in Bellingham to attend my first meeting of the Red Wheelbarrow Writers, "a loose affiliation of working writers who produce independently, and who join together to support, encourage, and sustain one...
Christmas Past
In a few days, we're flying off to spend the holidays in Brazil. For the first time in forever, the family will not be subjected to the bizarre (to them) Christmas traditions of my English upbringing. Before I leave, I'm casting a long look back to tell a childhood...
Six Characters In Search Of A Plot
What started as a writing exercise during the COVID lockdown culminates in the release of my new mystery Six Degrees of Death on Monday, November 25. COVID Creativity Challenge The uncertainty and isolation that beset us in 2020 made writing difficult for me. Sure, I...
Left on the Shore
I visited the Titanic exhibition in Seattle recently. The story of the maritime tragedy is told in its entirety through photographs, artifacts, and re-creations. The audio guide explains the construction of the world's largest ocean liner from conception through...
SIX DEGREES OF DEATH — a return to mystery
Daughters of Riga, my novel about World War II Latvia, and the long shadow that the war cast over two young women who survived it, was the story I felt compelled to write. Since its release last February, I have been so gratified with how the novel has resonated with...
The Elgin Letters
E-book free on Amazon “It is my painful duty to inform you that E.R. Elgin, Esq., Lieutenant and Instructor of Musketry, 42nd Royal Highlanders, died of Cholera on Sunday the 28th of July at one o’clock A.M.” So began the letter from a military chaplain in Agra,...
Untold Stories
“My father never spoke about the war.” As I researched the World War II background for Daughters of Riga, I heard this statement several times: from the daughter of one of the U.S. soldiers who liberated the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp; from an English friend...
Meet Me At The Winthrop Library
"The only thing you absolutely have to know is the location of the library.” Albert Einstein. When I first arrived in the US (Atlanta) and introduced myself to strangers, I often received the response, “Marian the Librarian?” Unfamiliar with The Music Man show in...
A Long And Winding Road
February 28: Publication Day! When, last summer, the Wild Rose Press told me Daughters of Riga would be released on February 28, 2024, the date seemed impossibly distant. Until I remembered how long it had been since this writing journey began: I completed the first...
A Life of Crime
I am addicted to British TV crime series, with an occasional seasoning of Scandinavian noir or French série policière. But my latest binge was American: The Killing (four seasons streaming now on Prime Video.) Oops, now I read the small print, The Killing is based on...
An interview with Linda Lambert
https://youtu.be/mlrELDa4ln0?si=_RUzcr3L6LXcALr4
Storytellers
Stories are a gift from the older generation to the next, if only we will take the time to unwrap them.
Where are you from?
“Where are you from?” When they hear my accent, as I place my order at the coffee shop or call the dog at the park, strangers often ask me this question. I try to deflect by saying, “I live here,” but inevitably a monologue ensues about the fabulous holiday in...
The Consul’s Daughter
Edith Zwartendijk was twelve years old in 1939 when her father Jan Zwartendijk reluctantly accepted the post of Dutch Consul in Kaunas, Lithuania. She remembers him working late into the night to issue over 2,300 visas to Curaçao, a Dutch colony in the Caribbean,...
The Aftermath
Lazy days with extended family; watching the cows in the meadow lumber down to the river; browsing local village markets…
An award in the time of COVID
After publishing A Splintered Step, the third book in the Sarah McKinney Mystery series, in late 2018, I became absorbed in my current project, a World War 2 novel that requires far more research and revision than the mysteries. However, before submerging...
A Quick Read
Flash Fiction I have no problem writing short. Writer friends who bemoan having to trim their 250,000 word drafts to an acceptable 150,000 get no sympathy from me. My first drafts read like outlines. They require filling out with several rounds of revision...
Hindsight
WHATCOM WRITES is a writing competition held in connection with our annual county-wide book club. This year's book, Timothy Egan's The Big Burn, inspired the theme of hindsight. Some writers wrote with regret of questions not asked, paths not taken. Others...
Gratitude Blog
Thanks to friend and blogger Dawn Landau (Tales From The Motherland) for the idea of making a list of all the things I'm grateful for, starting off the New Year with intention. Setting the timer for 15 minutes, and flexing my typing fingers (both of them) . . . Snow,...
Get in Touch
To schedule Marian to speak to your group or book club, in person or via Zoom, please send a request to: info@marianexall.com.