Tag: LocalAuthor

Margerumalia – Best 10-Minute Plays 2024

Eric Margerum

Newsletter – January 31, 2025

I was thrilled to open a package that arrived in the mail a couple days ago to discover my copy of The Best 10-Minute Plays 2024*. My short play “Just Book Club” was chosen for this publication among hundreds of submissions and I’m so proud to see it in book form.

Originally due to be released in October of 2024, the editor had to delay publication due to the death of her husband after a prolonged illness. I felt so bad for her I sent a letter of support and understanding. She didn’t need a bunch of selfish writers complaining about the delay. 

Life has priorities. 

On my website I offer this description of “Just Book Club” — Originally produced by the Greater Lafayette Civic Theatre in May 2023, this play shows a pivotal moment in the lives of four people who only know each other by the name of the author whose book they are carrying. Lives are at stake. Trust is hard to come by.

Intriguing, right?

I had performed in a 10-Minute Play the previous year and remember telling my wife that I could never write something that short and have it be any good. I’ve tried my hand at flash fiction, 500 words, and micro fiction, 100 words, without much success, but the challenge stayed with me until the concept hit me and I wrote this short play. 

It reminds me of Sean Connery, who played James Bond in the first six movies, when he told his wife he would never play 007 again. He still held the rights to Ian Fleming’s novel, Thunderball, Connery’s fourth film as Bond, and decided to make one more appearance as 007 with a new script based on the same plot. 

When he needed a title for that screenplay he chose his wife’s response when he told her he would be portraying James Bond one more time. Twelve years after the release of Diamonds Are Forever, Sean Connery could be seen in theatres once more as the British super spy in Never Say Never Again.

Say what you want about your limitations, complain as much as you need to, but never dismiss the possibilities of what you can accomplish. It seems that a little tickle of the neocortex can stimulate all kinds of creativity. Follow that inspiration—a word which literally means, to breathe, by the way—and get out of your own way. 

Maybe I’ll give flash fiction another try. How about you?

TTFN

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*The book contains fifty 10-Minute Plays. To order, you can go to: SmithAndKraus.com OR Amazon.com, and search for “The Best Ten-Minute Plays 2024.”

[I don’t earn money from the sale of this book, but I do hold the rights to performance of my play.]

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My middle grade novel, The Most Amazing Museum of Los Angeles, is available through The BookBaby Bookshop at https://store.bookbaby.com/book/the-most-amazing-museum-of-los-angeles

Margerumalia – A Movie Trailer for MAMCHI

Eric Margerum

Newsletter – January 24, 2025

PHOTO CREDIT: KeyifaDesign on Etsy

A few years ago when I was reviewing the edits for The Most Amazing Museum of Los Angeles I had a little daydream of a movie trailer for its sequel, The Most Amazing Museum of Chicago. I wrote up that daydream and I thought you might like to see the way ideas germinate in my writer’s mind.

I have my wife to thank for reminding me, “Write them down!” when I describe such visions. She knows that in a few short days those ideas will wash away like a sand castle at high tide. (It’s so good to be with someone who knows you that well!) 

Lately little snippets of ideas have been knocking at my mental door and I’m starting to take note of them, so I’ll share more in the weeks ahead. 

MAMCHI TRAILER

We see five young teens exploring the Museum of Science and Industry, sketch pads and pencils in hand, shouting with excitement at each new discovery. Their young teacher—who we only see from behind—hushes the loudest of them but seems tolerant of their enthusiasm. Suddenly one student, Brock (the jock) shoves another student, Jennae, into the bar of a door that should set off a fire alarm. Instead it swings open and we hear glorious harp music from the darkness beyond. Brock, Jennae, and the three other students are drawn irresistibly into the darkness. Their teacher rushes after them before the door can close.

When the door slams shut, pinpoint beams of colored light stream through the darkness. The students step into or wave their arms through the light and discover that they are plucking the sounds of the notes they represent. Each note reverberates on top of the next, pleasantly at first, but soon becoming discordant and loud, one continuing to play as another is added.

The noise level increases and the young teens try to avoid the random beams by jumping, pivoting, rolling, and practically dancing in an effort to avoid adding to the noise. They eventually retreat around their teacher in the middle of the room, the eye of the hurricane, where the lights and sounds keep their distance.

“What gives, Teach?” asks Brock breathlessly.  

“What’s going on?” says Jennae, pulling her hands from her ears. 

“Yeah,” says another student. “What is this?” 

“I think,” says the teacher as the camera circles the group and reveals her to be Vanessa Shafer. “I think this is the part where everything will become…” She breaks into a smile… “amazing.”

TITLES: The Most Amazing Museum of Chicago, coming to theatres this summer.

BLACKOUT

Fun, huh? I liked that it was similar to the Howl of Mirrors in MAMLA but different enough to still be unique. I also enjoyed the reveal of the actress playing Vanessa, perhaps three years older than she was in the first movie, but instantly recognizable. 

No one is knocking on my door to make a movie of the first book but I sure see one in my head, so writing this up as a movie trailer feels apt. 

TTFN 

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If you received this email because it was forwarded to you by a subscriber, welcome. You can subscribe as well by following the link on my website: ericmargerum.com. A free story awaits you there.

Margerumalia – The Museum of Ordinary People

Eric Margerum

Newsletter – January 17, 2025

The Museum of Ordinary People – by Mike Gayle

I begin most mornings with a walk through the woods and last fall I decided to listen to Gayle’s book that I discovered on Chirp when it was on sale.

Since my book bears the title of The Most Amazing Museum of Los Angeles this title jumped out at me like a complete opposite from mine. An antithesis, if you will. For a few bucks I could download it and get a good look at the opposite end of the museum spectrum. I’m glad I did. 

The narrator, Jess, has mixed feelings about disposing of an old set of encyclopedias her mother had bought her as a child. The process of clearing out her mother’s home after her death left her with new appreciation for possessions and their meanings to people who owned them.

Jess learns of The Museum of Ordinary People and decides to cart the box of books to the museum rather than send them off to the tip (what Brits call the dump). There she learns of an uncurated collection of items that had been donated over the years and suddenly a fire is lit within her. She had always aspired to work as a museum curator and asked the owner for permission to inventory these items, working after hours and on weekends to set up and open the museum to the public.

The novel includes a love story but I wouldn’t say the book should be called a romance. I’ve read thrillers, sf, and historical fiction with love stories and wouldn’t call them romances either. Women’s Fiction is fairly accurate but I’d rather refer to it as general fiction…with a love story. And the first person narration on the audiobook is charmingly performed by Whitney White who lends a sincere authenticity to Jess’ story. 

There’s a kind of cozy mystery quality to the story with ordinary people experiencing a moment in time that alters their life perspectives. No murder needs to be solved, but there is an engagement to be broken (not a big spoiler), a mother’s illness and death to be processed, and a life to be rediscovered and lived. All in all, a rather good formula for a successful story. 

The supporting cast of characters are well fleshed out and equally engaging, as are the side stories of items in the museum that have their own histories, including that set of encyclopedias that began the whole tale. Hitchcock would have called those books a MacGuffin—“an object, event, or character in a film or story that serves to set and keep the plot in motion despite usually lacking intrinsic importance” (Merriam-Webster Dictionary). 

Unlike my story of the Shafer family and their adventures in MAMLA, these characters don’t take an elevator up to the clouds, nor adventure in the antediluvian era of Southern California, nor even step into a work of art, but I was wholly engaged with what would happen next and whether the Museum of Ordinary People would finally get the opening it deserved. 

The novel also made me consider the many possessions that my parents left behind, especially the ordinary ones. Does the badly mangled book that my mother received from a beloved teacher, signed and dated inside the cover, have any value to me or my family? What about my Dad’s high school yearbook with one picture of him, and a love note from a girl who would be “thinking about him every day” next year? My older brother counseled me to be ruthless, but that was someone’s life. The Museum of Ordinary People brings those questions into meaningful focus. 

You can learn more about Mike Gayle and his many books at mikegayle.co.uk. Oddly this novel is not included in his list of books but it’s easy to find on Amazon. I recommend it and plan to read more.

TTFN

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My middle grade novel, The Most Amazing Museum of Los Angeles, is available through The BookBaby Bookshop at https://store.bookbaby.com/book/the-most-amazing-museum-of-los-angeles

Margerumalia – A New Year’s Resolution, Part 2

Eric Margerum

Newsletter – January 10, 2025

Part 1 RECAP: 

Infected teeth seem to have played a role in the speech impediment I’ve developed over the past several years. And because they refused to leave a bad taste in my mouth [rim shot] the infection was draining into my bloodstream. The teeth were extracted, I got some new choppers, and it’s time to retrain my brain.

Part 2 RETRAINING

I’ve never worked with a speech therapist but a few of my family members did. 

When my wife was a little girl she had a lisp—that must’ve been adorable—and she was taught to say her S’s by hissing like an angry snake.

My dad was a twin and, together, the brothers had to learn how to say their R’s. It’s a myth that twins have their own language, they just share mispronunciations. Instead of choo-choo trains, they said choo-choo twains—again, adorable.

Dad would tell a story of he and his brother telling the speech therapist about their dog, Wags.

“Rags,” she corrected them. “Your dog’s name is Rrrags.” 

“No, his name is Wags,” they corrected her. “Because he likes to wag his tail!” 

So I’ve begun working on re-training myself. I have an MFA in Theatre and have taught enunciation as a Theatre Professor, so I decided to use my knowledge and apply it to a collection of poems by Robert Frost. The book was an opening night gift from a very special stage manager and it challenges me as I read the poetry aloud. 

I sometimes read a stanza out loud five or six times to conquer the tripping points or the mushy places my mouth wants to go. 

Try saying “more loitering” out loud. Go ahead. I’ll wait…

If you’re like me, you just said “more lortering.”

The “or” of the first word sits in the middle of your mouth with a cupped tongue, while the “oi” of the second word fits further back in your mouth with a flatter tongue and more open passage. Your tongue needs to do a bit of a dance to get from point OR to point OI. Subtle but significant dance steps.

You can find those particular words in the fourth stanza of Frost’s “The Trial By Existence.” 

My goal is to tackle a poem or stanza every day and say it repeatedly until it flows easily—“trippingly on the tongue” as Hamlet put it—and not too emphatically. 

My book sells for $13.99 and I don’t want to sound like I’m tearing off a chunk of raw meat while saying ninety nine. In fact, most of us tend to soften the T into a D and say nine-dee-nine. 

A couple other phrases I’ve stumbled over lately include “toxic masculinity” and “I was being facetious.” I’ll let you try to work out the mechanics on your own. 

You can also repeat “The Most Amazing Museum of Los Angeles” over and over again. Preferably in a bookstore. Just saying. 

TTFN 

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If you received this email because it was forwarded to you by a subscriber, welcome. You can subscribe as well by following the link on my website: ericmargerum.com. A free story awaits you there.

Margerumalia – A New Year’s Resolution, Part 1

Eric Margerum

Newsletter – January 3, 2025

As I said last week, I don’t usually make resolutions. But this year I have a specific goal: retraining myself to speak. 

Me—actor, singer, director, teacher, public speaker—with a speech impediment? What gives?

Over the past few years I’ve noticed that my ability to say certain phrases has left me tongue-tied, and it got worse in 2024. Of course, this escalated during the period when I was scheduling multiple book signings, but I soldiered on through, and people patiently waited for me as I corrected my words. Bless them. But I wasn’t satisfied. 

I got new insight into how it feels to have a disability. Suddenly I required people’s tolerance as I saw weariness creep across their faces, maybe they even had the urge to complete my sentences for me. I’ve been told by several people that they didn’t notice, so it could have been my projection. My own impatience with myself, however, made me want to avoid lengthy conversations, and I became a little bit reclusive. I also found myself tiring more easily while directing plays.

I’d had enough. 

Over the summer, my wife and I made an appointment with a Doctor of Functional Medicine, each for different reasons. We had blood drawn at a lab where it was analyzed according to the instructions of the doctor. She then reviewed the entire blood panel with each of us, identifying levels of everything from glucose to magnesium, uric acid, iron, and much more. She also drew comparisons between certain items and discussed the implications of their levels.

Near the end of my appointment she said that certain indicators told her I was fighting off an infection. Nonsense, I thought, I never get sick and my only bout with COVID was over a year earlier. I had no idea what kind of infection she might be referring to. She prescribed a few different supplements to help my body fight off this unknown infection.

Two or three weeks into taking those supplements I had a revelation. My tooth! 

Remember a few weeks ago I described my tooth extraction experience in the dentist’s office? (November 29, 2024 – Christmas Lights and Dental Blights) My previous dentist had been “watching” that tooth for about two years, poking around at the pustule in my gums. That was the infection! And because the pustule hadn’t opened and leaked into my mouth, that meant I had a constant flow of infection going into my bloodstream. 

There had also been a previous tooth on the bottom row that we had “watched” for a couple of years before that. It had the same kind of pustule that was also draining into my bloodstream for a couple of years before it started hurting and had to be extracted.

These infections were all near my tools for articulation, and close to my brain, the control center for speaking. 

I admit to being complicit in the decision to “watch” each tooth. Shall we put off for tomorrow what I don’t want to experience today? Sure, let’s do that!

When I added up the timeline of those two teeth, one after the other, it matched the time period in which my speech had started to change.

I know the expression that correlation is not causation, but with a lack of any other known infection in my body it makes for pretty strong circumstantial evidence. (Yes, I do watch The Lincoln Lawyer AND read the books, why do you ask?)

I have another blood draw in a couple of days followed by another analysis and consultation. I have high hopes for closure on this issue. 

I’d estimate that my speech is about 50% better than it was a few months ago, but that’s not good enough for me. Next week I’ll tell you about my personal speech therapy using poetry.

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PSA: Part of the reason I’ve described this situation in detail is to prompt you or your loved ones to seek medical treatment when you need it. A former student of mine just posted a similar PSA about his recent surgery for skin cancer. Early detection and treatment is so much less expensive than what may develop. Please take care of yourselves.

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My middle grade novel, The Most Amazing Museum of Los Angeles is available through The BookBaby Bookshop at https://store.bookbaby.com/book/the-most-amazing-museum-of-los-angeles

Margerumalia – Standing on the Shoulders of Suffragists 

Eric Margerum

Newsletter – December 27, 2024

Last week I mentioned going to see Suffs on Broadway as our early Christmas present to the whole family. Years ago, my sister-in-law had suggested that experiences were great gifts for the holidays because of the special memories they created. She was so right! 

The title of the musical comes from the suffragists—not suffragettes, which has a diminutive suffix meaning “lesser.”  These women fought long and hard for women’s right to vote, enduring everything from simple political posturing to outright torture in the form of forced feeding. These heroes include familiar names, like Carrie Chapman Catt and Ida B. Wells, as well as many other women that deserve equal recognition. They get that in this musical.

Suffs won Tony Awards this year for “Best Book of a Musical” and “Best Original Score” and, like Hamilton, it was steeped in historical accuracy, an epic scope, and dynamic characters. It closes on Broadway at the beginning of January to prepare for the national tour. I urge you to see it when it arrives in your neck of the woods. Learn more about it at suffsmusical.com. (National tour not yet posted.)

So what about that campaign button at the top of the newsletter? That was from my mom’s first run for mayor and was given to me recently by someone who’d worked on her early campaigns. Mayor Margerum was inaugurated in January of 1980 and would go on to serve six terms before retiring in 2004. 

It’s incredible to think that my mother was born only ten years after women were granted the right to vote in the US. She earned her Master’s Degree in Political Science in 1979 and became the first woman mayor of my home town within a year. Today the City Hall is named after her. I wish she could have seen Suffs, I think it would have meant a lot to her. 

My mother also donned the costume of Helen Gouger, a local suffragist and member of the temperance movement who sued the county for denying her the right to vote. My mother would visit schools in character and talk to the students about the 19th Amendment and women’s suffrage. 

My daughter later portrayed her grandmother in a short one woman play she created in grad school. My mother would have liked to see that, too.

It’s just a few days until New Years Eve and I usually don’t bother with resolutions, but this time I have a very specific goal—retraining myself to speak. I’ll tell you about it next week. 

TTFN

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If you received this email because it was forwarded to you by a subscriber, welcome. You can subscribe as well by following the link on my website: ericmargerum.com. A free story awaits you there.

Margerumalia – A Christmas Story in PA

Eric Margerum

Newsletter – December 20, 2024

This year for Christmas, Debbie and I drove to the Millbrook Playhouse in Pennsylvania to see our daughter perform in The Christmas Story. She played the mother of Ralphie who desperately wants a BB gun for Christmas. You know the one: “An Official Red Ryder carbine action two-hundred shot range model air rifle with a compass in the stock and this thing that tells time.”

I think we heard that wish expressed rapid fire at least two dozen times throughout the play by the time the narrator—the grown up Ralphie—says it for the last time. That actor lingered over the words with such heart and nostalgia that it brought a lump to my throat. Oh, the things that mean so much to us at that tender age, even in the face of friends and family who repeatedly exclaim, “You’ll put your eye out!”

I remember when I bought a cassette player for my car, complete with AM/FM stereo, for the drive across country to start grad school at USC, my dad said “It’ll get stolen!” He was right, of course, but like our daughter’s performance of Mother in the play, he showed compassion and practicality when I phoned home to ask for help. Ralphie didn’t put his eye out, thankfully, but the kindness showed to the son who has to learn his own lesson felt very familiar. 

The live play performance had a lot to recommend it over and above the movie. The comedic moments played out in Ralphie’s mind by the actors in the play were spot on, with heightened drama that bordered on the absurd and drew appreciative laughter from the audience. 

Now I’m going to brag on my daughter. Indulge me, Her portrayal of Mother was honest, genuine, and, when needed, charmingly playful. She also showed us how entirely capable this woman was, and intelligent, and good-hearted. A few days later, when we took her and her fiancé back to New York we all went to see the Broadway musical Suffs, about the women who fought for the right to vote. I told my wife afterwards that women like the mother in A Christmas Story would do a much better job of running the country than The Old Man (Ralphie’s father) ever could. 

I’ll tell you more about Suffs and my mother the mayor next week. Stay tuned.

Meanwhile, I hope your holidays are jam-packed with wonderful experiences that you get to share with family and friends. 

TTFN 


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My middle grade novel, The Most Amazing Museum of Los Angeles is available through The BookBaby Bookshop at https://store.bookbaby.com/book/the-most-amazing-museum-of-los-angeles

Margerumalia – Christmas from Japan 

Eric Margerum

Newsletter – December 13, 2024

Last year I got an unexpected gift for the holidays. It was a Christmas card (pictured above) handed to me by a woman from Japan.

Every morning I take a walk after breakfast, enjoying nature as I wind my way through the ravines that lead to Happy Hollow Park. The abundance of trees, squirrels, deer, and humans starts off each day with joy, especially when those humans are walking their dogs because I get to indulge in some puppy love. Some of those dogs recognize me from a distance and run full tilt to greet me like a long lost friend. Because, of course, I am. 

I also greet many other morning walkers who return my smile with a shared “Good Morning!” One of those walkers in Happy Hollow was a Japanese woman named Junko. At first she was quite shy about returning my smile and she clearly didn’t speak much English. The local university has many foreign students and visiting professors so that wasn’t uncommon. After several weeks she made eye contact more readily and shared a “Good morning” each day. 

In December Junko approached me with a Christmas card that she was carrying in hopes of seeing me again. That’s when I learned her name and that she was from Kyoto. Using the translation app on her phone, we exchanged several written messages and got to know each other a bit more.

At home, Junko had spoken Japanese into her phone and copied the English translation letter by letter on her card. This is what she wrote:

I have been here for three months and will be returning to Japan this weekend.

I was happy to be able to greet you every morning. Thank you greet.

To you it may ordinary, but to me it was special.

I’m sorry for the sudden, but I would like to tell you you that.

It’s getting colder. I hope you and yourfamily have a wonderful Christmas season.

12/6 / 2023

Junko Hotta

Years ago, when I was living in Los Angeles, I would drive my VW Rabbit across the desert for eight hours to see my grandparents who had retired in Sun City. On one visit my grandfather and I talked about greeting strangers and I was pleased to discover that he and I had the same habit of wanting to bring a smile to the faces of cashiers, wait staff, and passing strangers. He had been a lawyer in Iowa, very stoic and socially cautious, and I was an actor in LA, very outgoing and creative, but we shared the same impulse to brighten someone’s day.

I think Grandpa would have nodded amiably and approved of my card from Junko. I hold it dear in my heart and hope she’s happy and healthy in Kyoto.

I wish you all the joy of the holiday season and hope you get to share a piece of it with someone you don’t know. 

TTFN

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If you received this email because it was forwarded to you by a subscriber, welcome. You can subscribe as well by following the link on my website: ericmargerum.com. A free story awaits you there.

Margerumalia – You May Be A Boomer

Eric Margerum

Newsletter – December 6, 2024

Photo Credit: jefffoxworthy.com

Do you remember Jeff Foxworthy’s comedy routine that had a series of instances in which “You May Be A Redneck”? Recently I was thinking about things that Baby Boomers have in common and developed a few of those instances. I thought I’d share a few of them with you here.

If you use a pill box with separate compartments for each day of the week… 

You May Be A Boomer

If you send text messages with correct punctuation and end them with a period…

You May Be A Boomer

If you know the difference between a 33 and a 45…

You May Be A Boomer

If your childhood phone number began with a word instead of a number…

You May Be A Boomer

If your appreciation of classical music is entirely derived from Looney Toons cartoons…

You May Be A Boomer

If you still know all the words to “The Ballad of Gilligan’s Isle”—both the opening credits AND the end credits—but you can’t remember what aisle the mayonnaise is on…

You May Be A Boomer

TTFN!

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My middle grade novel, The Most Amazing Museum of Los Angeles is available through The BookBaby Bookshop at https://store.bookbaby.com/book/the-most-amazing-museum-of-los-angeles

Margerumalia – Small Business Saturday

Eric Margerum

Newsletter November 30, 2024

PHOTO CREDIT: marekuliasz | Getty Images

One of the readers of this newsletter told me he not only bought a copy of The Most Amazing Museum of Los Angeles, he bought two more and placed them in little libraries where he lives. Thanks again, Dave!

It’s been said that being an indie author is to be the owner of a small business. That’s true. It’s also been said that the biggest mistake of people in sales is not to make the ask. So I’m asking…

My mother used to read Paddington stories to our daughter. A cherished memory to this day. Do you have someone on your gift list who might enjoy getting a copy of MAMLA? Or a parent or grandparent who would like to read this book to them? The links to purchase the book are at the bottom of this newsletter.

I also have some bonus items to add to your purchase.

BONUS ITEMS

1. I have a sheet of four mazes that I give away at my book signings. 

2. I also created a page of my three humorous short poems from this newsletter. 

PDF’s

If you reply to this email or send me an email using eric@ericmargerum.com and tell me you purchased a copy (or two, or three) I’ll send you the PDF’s of these bonus items to add to your gift or enjoy for yourself. 

By the way, if you bought the book six months ago and want the bonus items, I’m happy to send them to you.

SIGNED COPIES 

$19.99 with SHIPPING

If you’d like me to send out a signed copy of my book with the bonus items already inside—I’ll throw in a MAMLA bookmark, too—drop me a line at eric@ericmargerum.com and I can provide a QR Code for either Venmo or PayPal.

I’d need to have your payment by December 10th to make sure it’s received by the 25th. 

COFFEE MUGS

$24.99 with SHIPPING

A coffee mug is also a nice gift, reminding your loved one of Doris Weatherton’s sage advice as the Shafer Family steps into the Howls of Mirrors.

REVIEWS & LINKS

Another way you could help this small business without spending money is to contribute a review of my book to one or more of the platforms below. A woman at my Barnes & Noble book signing took a few minutes to look up reviews of my book and then returned to buy a copy, thanks to what she had read. 

Here are several links to buy or review The Most Amazing Museum of Los Angeles: 

https://store.bookbaby.com/book/the-most-amazing-museum-of-los-angeles

https://www.amazon.com

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

https://www.booksamillion.com

https://www.kobo.com

I hope you’re having a wonderful Thanksgiving Weekend. 

TTFN!