Tag: Margerumalia

Margerumalia – Local Author Fair

Eric Margerum

Newsletter – April 18, 2025

BOOK SIGNING

Tomorrow is the Local Author Fair at the Tippecanoe County Public Library and I’ve been practicing a short reading from Chapter 6 of MAMLA. It’s the part where Maria and her mom take an elevator up to the clouds and have quite the ride getting there!

I wrote in my January Margerumalia about a resolution to retrain myself to speak with the kind of clarity I’d developed as an actor, and I’m just a little nervous in spite of daily practice. I know I’ll be my own worst critic, but it’s because I used to be able to do this so easily.

I have a remarkable confidence about getting up before a group of people, and I’m continually surprised now when I stumble over my words. The words that I can hear so clearly in my head.

Please keep me in mind and send me good vibes so I can give my listeners an entertaining piece of the story.

If you’re nearby, the Local Author Fair is April 19th from 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM. I’ll be signing books, and giving away mazes and bookmarks. There ought to be many more interesting authors to meet and greet as well.

SOPHOMORE EFFORT

As a freshman in college everything is new, everyone seems to know so much, and it’s all you can do to find your place in the scheme of things. 

Returning as a sophomore you now know how all the pieces fit together, and you laugh with superiority at the foolish freshmen who are so hopelessly lost. 

By the time you hit your stride in your junior year, you’re working hard and have more than a little compassion for the new class of hapless frosh. 

Senior year brings the stunning reality that you’ll soon be leaving this safe haven, and have to earn a living in the big bad world. 

I’m reminded of this quotation of Dōgen, the 13th Century father of Zen Buddhism: 

“Before one studies Zen, mountains are mountains and waters are waters; after a first glimpse into the truth of Zen, mountains are no longer mountains and waters are no longer waters; after enlightenment, mountains are once again mountains and waters once again waters.”

In writing The Most Amazing Museum of Chicago, I’m suddenly aware of my sophomore effort. I want the sequel to be able to stand alone, but also bear a resemblance to the first book. I thought I knew how to proceed. “Hey, I’ve done this once already!” But now I’m starting to realize how much I don’t know about how I did it the first time. 

The mountains and the waters are so much more than merely mountains and waters. I’m on a journey to see them once more as just mountains and waters. 

My acting teacher used to remind me, “Anything can happen.” If I take that Zen-like approach without the loaded expectations, I can still forge ahead.

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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 – Hope Has Dirt On Her Face

Eric Margerum

Newsletter – March 14, 2025

“Hope has dirt on her face, blood on her knuckles, the grit of the cobblestones in her hair, and just spat out a tooth as she rises for another go.” (viral tweet from CrowsFault).

That quote is a gritty contrast to the gal in rose-colored glasses we’ve heard so much about. But it’s a picture worth carrying in our psychic wallets wherever we go, whatever we face. At a time when people are despairing of moving ahead, overcoming obstacles, or fighting for their right to exist, Hope is a fighter to have by our side.

I was struck to the core by a story on Podcastle—a fantasy podcast that produces weekly stories. The story is called “Kiki Hernandez Beats the Devil,” and was written by Samantha Mills, narrated by Sandra Espinoza. Mills offers up a kind of Mad Max post-apocalyptic vibe where rock and roll is the weapon that Kiki uses to defeat the devil (not Satan, but a supernatural creature that eats humans). Kiki digs deep to discover and employ her own dose of hope, but not without sacrifice.

You can find the story at podcastle.org, episode #880 (free of charge, they survive on voluntary donations). I highly recommend it.

As powerful as the story was, though, it was the commentary by host Matt Dovey that had me stopping in my tracks to say, “Yes, Yes.” Hope is not a pie-in-the-sky dreamscape populated by unicorns and rainbows. It is a fistfight, a sprint, and a muddy pit to climb out of—all at once. When someone tells you to put on your big girl pants and you feel taunted or ashamed, remember Hope spitting out her tooth to rise for another go. 

I realize, of course, that I’m talking to myself more than anyone else, but it’s only a solo fight if we make it so. Round up the rabble-rousers—the figurative and the literal—and count on Hope to fight the good fight. You’ll be glad you did. 

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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 – Winter at the Wellness Center

Eric Margerum

Newsletter – February 21, 2025

PHOTO: I took this photo at the Wellness Center on a cold January morning. The flags were still at half mast commemorating Jimmy Carter. The sun was trying its best to squeeze some light between the clouds, giving a feckless mood to the day.

BOOK NEWS: I was able to add The Best 10-Minute Plays 2024 to my author page on Amazon. Once they understood that there were, in fact, fifty authors (playwrights) featured in this volume, and that I was one of them, they promptly added this title to my name. Sometimes all you have to do is ask!

As I wrote before, I get nothing when this book is sold, but I do hold performance rights for my play. When I was a theatre professor at Carthage College I bought several such collections as a resource for my annual one-act play festival, faithfully paying for the rights to mount many short plays over seven years. Hopefully someone will want to send me money to perform “Just Book Club.”

WINTER AT THE WELLNESS CENTER

I’m doing a lot of indoor walking these days when the mornings are staying below 25 F (-3.89 C) striding around a three-lane oval that overlooks three basketball courts. It’s far less interesting than my daily hike through the woods, so I began creating labels for the other people I’m passing or getting passed by. 

The Thockers – These are the people playing pickleball—THOCK—in the first basketball court—THOCK, THOCK—below me. They come in all varieties—THOCK—but their paddles sure do make a noise when they hit that pickle. THOCK!

The Scofflaw – Meanwhile, above the Thockers, the sign for the oval track clearly labels the three lanes: inside lane for walkers, middle lane for joggers, outside lane for runners. The Scofflaw doesn’t give a damn about the rules and intentionally crosses lanes to suit his own impulses.

The Enforcer – This guy is running on the outside lane and comes up behind people to startle them with his shout, “Behind you!” Or to instruct them on the rules, “Walkers on the inside lane!” He may be getting an adrenaline rush from these righteous announcements, because he seems to run faster afterwards.

The Woo Girl – The third basketball court is mostly devoted to aerobics classes. The Woo Girl turns the music up to nine and sets her head mic at eleven, shouting out instructions and adding a “WOO” in her best soprano, cutting through the malaise of the morning like a pair of scissors in the hands of a running child.

The Zigzagger – Like The Enforcer, The Zigzagger is a serious athlete who runs with purpose. Unlike The Enforcer, he doesn’t worry about the locations of others on the track, he cuts between groups and around individuals with a dancer’s grace that would be the envy of any parkour competitor. 

The Reader – With a phone held in front of her, The Reader is a multitasker who walks AND reduces the size of her TBR pile at the same time. She gets very little exercise due to her slow pace, but at least she’s not doing it while driving. (I really hope she’s not!)

The BFF’s – It’s so nice that the Wellness Center provides a place for these middle-aged ladies to walk side-by-side or three abreast and discuss the state of the world, their families, and their grandchildren… “Oh, did I show you a picture? He’s the cutest thing! Just let me find it…!” The Enforcer began his vigilante ways after encountering too many BFF’s.

The Bro Crew – This is a pack of 30-somethings are desperately trying to outrun forty. With their glory days of team sports in the rearview mirror, the fraternal order of young professionals joke and jostle around the track, zigzagging as needed, and performing the occasional straightaway sprint to show they still can.

The Wild Child – One of the Bro Crew’s little girl who enjoyed the first time around the oval but soon grew weary of the tedium of it all. She’s camped out with her collection of stuffed animals at one of the rest stops, dashing out to tag daddy when her attention meter gets low. She’s a natural actor, speaking the dialogue of all her animals with all the enthusiasm of a true creative. Sign that kid up!

Grandpa Fred – He’s doing a very good job of keeping up the pace in spite of his age and he follows the rules like any good Boomer, but he has a weakness. No, not his belt which he keeps pulling tighter around his jeans and flannel shirt, his weakness is companionship. He’ll turn on anyone coming up behind him to mention the cold weather or say how noisy it is in there. Grandpa Fred is a good guy but doesn’t seem to have good timing. Once in a while someone will slow down and talk with him before moving on. That’s all he wants.

Strider – This is me. I can’t see myself as others see me so I visualize my upright posture, lengthen my stride, and imagine I’m on an adventurous trek around this labyrinth of humanity. I use the middle lane—because I’m a middle child—walk at a pace just short of a jog, and keep my eyes on the road because “The Road goes ever on and on…” (J.R.R. Tolkien)  

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.