The Only One

Reader(s)!

Though I continue not to blog, due to both my innate reticence to blog and the management of two small children, a part-time job and the editing of a book manuscript, I come to you today with news of a recent story publication:

The Only One is now up at Propeller Magazine.

If you don't already know about Propeller Magazine, I'm happy to introduce you. They are art, film, books, music, fiction, poetry, essays and all of it will make you feel smart. I count myself very lucky to be among its writers.

I hope you like the story.

If you do, and if you live in Portland or nearby, come listen to me read The Only One:

Tuesday, March 24th
7:00 p.m.
Mother Foucault's Bookshop

 I'll be reading in support of Elizabeth Lopeman's new collection of stories TRANS EUROPE EXPRESS. If you want to read more about Elizabeth and her expat life and work, this interview is really great.

It would be nice to see you there.

Love,

Margaret

Atelier26 Books to publish my story collection People Like You

Dear Reader:

The most remarkable thing has happened - Portland press Atelier26 Books has announced it will be publishing my debut, a collection of fiction, PEOPLE LIKE YOU.

I am ecstatic, crazy happy, over the moon with joy to be counted among its authors.

M. Allen Cunningham, who owns and runs Atelier26, has turned out to be a person who takes great care and enthusiasm with his authors and their work. It is truly a dream come true to be working with someone who shows such consideration in all aspects of publication, from press release to editing to the profound importance of the look and feel of the book itself.

I'm sure I'll have loads more to say as this process goes on over the course of the next year or so, but for now know this: whoever you are, thank you. If you read this blog (and there are likely only a handful of you readers since, as noted in the name, I confessed right up front that I probably wouldn't be blogging much, if at all), then you are probably in some way part of making this happen. You might be a writer, a reader, a listener, a teacher, a stranger, a mentor, a friend; whoever you are, I think a little piece of this is because of you. So, thanks.

More as it happens...

Love,
Margaret
xo

"Sunday Night"

Make use of the things around you.
This light rain
Outside the window, for one.
This cigarette between my fingers,
These feet on the couch.
The faint sound of rock-and-roll,
The red Ferrari in my head.
The woman bumping
Drunkenly around in the kitchen...
Put it all in,
Make use.

                 - Raymond Carver

The Things We Know Nothing About on Nailed

Hi Reader:

I'm tickled to announce that Nailed Magazine has published my short story The Things We Know Nothing About on their site. Many thanks to all the folks at Nailed, Carrie and Matty and Colin. As always, I'm grateful to have my work out in the world.

I'd like to say something witty and charming now about writing and life and connecting with readers, but I am tired. I've been alone with my two tiny kids all day and it's all I can do to drink this beer before passing out in a haze of demented exhaustion.

Know this, I love you. And thank you for reading. Keep on!

M

The Anthology is here! And I'm reading at Powells!

Reader:

If you're a writer, what you really hope is that someday you can read your work at Powells City of Books, and I, lucky lady that I am, will get to do just that on Tuesday, May 6th, 2014 at 7:30 pm for the launch of a new anthology called The Night, and the Rain, and The River from Forest Avenue Press. Also reading that night are Joanna Rose, Scott Sparling, and Sage Cohen.

You can BUY THE BOOK and learn more about the reading HERE

Many thanks to all the hardworking folks who made this anthology possible, especially Laura Stanfill (the founder and head badass of the press), Liz Prato (the editor), and Gigi Little (who designed the cover). I am so proud to be included with you all in this project.

As always, thanks for reading and thanks for your support.
xo
m

I'm Back! - And a Reading, To Boot

Hello Reader:

You may have noticed, since I'm such a prodigious blogger, that I've been absent of writing posts for some time. Here's why:

Now that's she three months old, I'm going to attempt to return to my normal life (ha! - this will only be funny to you if you know how mercilessly children beat you into submission with their constant demands and ferociously big hearts - the combo results in you being willing to do anything they ask of you, even as you watch your formerly reasoned peaceful life drift away into the sunset while the old you pities new you from the deck of the yacht, waving goodbye with one hand, a mai tai in the other).

I'll be reading at Portland at Heart this Sunday, April 6th at 5pm at the Blue Monk alongside some of my favorite folks who write:

Kathleen Lane
Colin Farstad
Kevin Meyer
Charles Dye
Brad Rosen
Liz Greenhill
Edie Rylander
Matthew Robsinson
Michael Sage Ricci

Thanks to Colin Farstad, home from NYC for a few days, for putting this lovely event together.

I hope you can make it!

Sincerely,
Margaret
xo

THE WHOLE TRUTH - A Reading!

Hello loyal reader:

If you're in Portland (or will be next Saturday), I'd love it if you came to hear me read alongside some of my favorite local writers. We will all be baring our souls a little bit. If nothing else, it won't be boring.

THE WHOLE TRUTH: A Reading of Memoir & Non-fiction

Saturday, September 14th

7:00 p.m.

with:

Stacy Bolt

Robin Romm

Margaret Malone

Colin Farstad

Liz Scott

at

Writers' Dojo

7518 N. Chicago

Porltand, OR 97203

Here's the FB event page, if that's your thing.

I hope you can make it.

xoxo

Upcoming Workshop

Hi there:

I'm remiss because I should have posted this about seven months ago. But I didn't. I'm posting it now. (I did warn you about my lack of bloggingness.)

Next week I am teaching a two-day workshop at the magical and amazing Sitka Center for Art & Ecology called Give Yourself Completely: The Heart of Personal Narrative.

The workshop is full, but if all goes well I'll be teaching more of these workshops in the future. I'll keep you updated.

Thanks for reading.

Keep the faith,
Margaret

A Crooked Still Life

Oregon Humanities Magazine published my most recent essay in their Fall/Winter 2012 issue Next, and thanks to the brilliant Kathleen Holt some of my photos were published right along with it. Good to have them out in the light of day instead of huddled in the dark of a wooden chest. In opposition to The First Week of After, this one is about the end of everything instead of the beginning.

Thanks to Kathleen and everyone at OHm for making the piece look so beautiful.

Here's the link: A Crooked Still Life.

Thanks for reading.

This Is What Money Looks Like

Hi there loyal reader:

If you are looking for your work to get published in one of the best journals in the U.S., I encourage you to send your work in to The Missouri Review's annual Editor's Prize Competition. If your story wins (or is a finalist), THEY PAY YOU a lot of money! And if you don't win, your entry fee of $20 earns you a year's subscription to the magazine.

The deadline is October 1st.

This is not one of those magazines that only publishes the work of known writers. TMR really does publish, nourish and support writers at every stage of their careers. So why not let it be you?

Do it! Right now. Go ahead... I'll wait.

In case you forgot, this is what money looks like:

For more info, GO HERE to the site.

Thank you. Adieu.

P.S. In case you forgot, this is what love looks like:

Pay Attention

This is from last week's New York Times Book Review. The reviewer was writing about Christopher Hitchens' most recent book, Mortality, which was written mostly as he was dying. It says a thing I have been trying to say without ever actually saying it for years.

It's kind of hard to read, I know.

Here's what it says:

"If there is anybody known to you who might benefit from a letter or a visit, do not on any account postpone the writing or the making of it. The difference made will almost certainly be more than you have calculated."

                       - Christopher Hitchens (1949 - 2011)

This Is What I've Been Thinking About Lately...

Five Dollar Film Fan

My husband (filmmaker Brian Padian) has created (what could be) an ingenious way to raise the remaining $15,000+ of the production budget for his feature film The Black Sea:

Five dollar donations. Lots of them.

Here's how it works: someone here's about the site ---> goes to the site ----> hits the paypal button ----> donates five dollars ---> tells his/her friends about the site ---> goes on with day.

It can work. It really can.

He just needs your help spreading the word.

Here's the link:

http://fivedollarfilmfan.blogspot.com/

Thank you for listening.

Keep in touch.

mm

Late To the Party

Reader(s):

I have just finished the most extraordinary book. You may well have read this already because everybody else has (including the President) a few years ago. However, if you have not read:


NETHERLAND by the extraordinary Joseph O'Neill

PLEASE READ IT IMMEDIATELY.

 I know I love a book or a story when finish it and think, damn I wish I'd written that.

When I read the last sentence, my first thought was "breath-taking" and then I realized that I had been literally holding my breath for the last page and half.

That is all.

On with your day.

Love, Margaret

P.S. If you're looking for a way to support the arts, think about helping Brian Padian fund his feature film, the black sea - here.

Just this

And the point is, to live everything.

Live the questions now. Perhaps then, someday far in the future, you will gradually, without even noticing it, live your way into the answer.

Rilke (the 4th letter)

If you're looking for something to do on Saturday evening, I'd love if you could come to this reading for The Frozen Moment.

I'll be sharing the stage with some of my favorite folks:
Tom Spanbauer
Liz Prato
Brad Rosen
Charles Dye
Michael Sage Ricci

And there's music too!

If you can't make it, pretend you're there thinking how fabulous it is.
Thanks!

Forgive my absence

Dear Reader:

Sorry for my long absence, but I had a baby.
Caring for him will certainly cement my blogging tendencies to not blog.

Until I get ahold of this parenting/writing/blogging thing, I hope this photo will tide you over:

The End of Sitka

Only two days left of my time at Sitka.
My work here has been different than I expected, and I will be walking away with new stories I did not anticipate.
The land here is so beautiful it's both distracting and nourishing, which I think is the idea of a residency.
If it were all as simple as meeting your agenda, you might as well stay home.

So here's to Sitka and Cascade Head and the pygmy owl and the breaching whale and the bald eagles and the seals and sea lions and the herons on the river. This time has been unforgettable.

You Don't Miss Your Water

A Rag, A Bone, And A Hank Of Hair


I'm sitting alone with my father at the funeral parlor.
Viewing hours have just begun, but it's midday work
week, and for a few hours it'll be just me and him, the
first time I've laid eyes on him since the phone call
woke me up.

I'm doing what a son is supposed to do, or so I've
been told, but it's hard work, sitting with what used
to love and trouble you.

Of course, his body is a bright lie in its casket,
everything that has brought him here carefully
hidden or rearranged.

Is there something I want to tell him? Anything I
can forgive?

I can only sit and wait and listen to the gospel
music as it buzzes through the speakers. Jesus, Jesus,
Jesus. All his time, all his struggles that I still call life.

All his trials.


- Cornelius Eady