My Road to Publication
By
Marlene Wagman-Geller
Like other bibliophiles, since age twelve, I have always had a desire to write, but desire only translated into fact in 2007. I had heard that Gwyneth Paltrow was going to star in a biography of Grace Meltalious, the author of Peyton Place and, looking for a novel, decided to read the 1950s classic. When I finished, through happenstance, I happened to glance once more at Metalious’ dedication page: To George for all the reasons he knows so well. My interest was immediately piqued: who was George? And what were the reasons he knew so well? Research revealed that George was Grace’s long-suffering husband. He was the principal of the high school in their small New England town, and, after a long day of work, he would come home to his children unattended, no dinner, and his wife busy typing on her Remington Rand typewriter. On one occasion, when she reluctantly agreed to clean up when a visitor was expected, she grabbed a Brillo pad to scrub the table-only to discover it was a dead mouse. When Peyton Place debuted, the resultant scandal caused her husband to lose his job. These were some of the reasons that George knew so well.
I had enjoyed unearthing the story behind the dedication, and started investigating others as well. I decided as this was an overlooked aspect of literary works, I decided to see if I could write a book exclusively on this topic: Once Again to Zelda: The Stories Behind Literature’s Most Intriguing Dedications was born.
Its date of publication, by Penguin/Perigree was November 4th, 2008, and it was truly the gift that kept on giving. My second book, Eureka: The Surprising Stories Behind the Ideas that Shaped the World was released on July 8th, 2010 and my third book, And the Rest is History, will be out on January 26th, 2011.
Writing and publishing my books has brought more joy than anything else, a true labor of love. Please feel free to contact me at: onceagaintozelda@hotmail.com.
Marlene Wagman
Author of:
Marlene's Bio
Marlene grew up in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, where the severity of its winters, among other things, turned her into a lifelong bibliophile. She received her B.A. in English from York University and a teaching degree from the University of Toronto. She taught at North Toronto Collegiate and Eastern High School of Commerce before making the extreme sacrifice of moving to Southern California. Currently, she teaches high school English and history in San Diego. She lives with her husband, Joel, her daughter, Jordanna, (Jordi) and her cat, Moe.
Below are Marlene's books.
Once Again to Zelda - |
Eureka! - |
You can contact Marlene at:
onceagaintozelda@hotmail.com
