I came across this draft of a post today–near the end of the year–of a moment during the middle. July 9. This was after I was interviewed by Brooke MacBeth at The Philosophical Research Society in Los Angeles. It was one of the best nights of my life, and when Karen Seeberg (friend pictured here) asked why, I said that it was the kind of conversation I had dreamed about having with readers since writing it. Intimate and open. Respectful and playful. Curious and magical. It was Karen who introduced me to this society, this soothing place. I have no photos of the interior of the alchemical library, where we sat, in a space visited by so many thinkers, dreamers, peacemakers over the many decades it has existed, and surrounded by books of the same soul and spirit, speaking more intimately than I ever have about the novel and what inspired it. In these days of social media, technology, and so much sharing, it feels exquisite to know the memory of those hours are with each person and in the place, but no where else.
The way I felt when I first visited PRS, invited by Karen (who I met in Spain on a shoot for a car commercial for France in the early ’90s) , and while listening to its president, Dr. Greg Salyer, in January of 2019, is part of what drew me to Los Angeles to live.
The year is ending. The curiosity continues. Magic, too.
The second book whichI am currently revising, is delighting me as it unfurls and I do with it. The audiobook files of Lucy, go see. will soon be delivered to me. My narration experience deepens. I have not written much on this blog since I arrived here. When I ask myself why it seems to be about a drawing into myself, a cocooning of sorts.
I am also very excited to start the year at the Key West Literary Seminar in Key West, Florida. The girl from Key West, Iowa, is now a grown-up woman headed to Key West, Florida, to listen and talk to Francine Prose, a writer she greatly admires, talk about reading as a writer. I am honored and grateful to the seminar as a recipient of one of their coveted scholarships.
More soon. Happy New Year, Bonne Année, y Feliz Año Nuevo!
Marianne
Marianne Maili 