About Marjorie Kaye Noble:
My childhood zigzagged. I was born in California. My parents moved to Tennessee, then Kentucky and returned to California when I was fourteen. I graduated from UCLA (theater major), was an actress for a split second then moved to Reno and raised children. In Reno, I started a locations casting company, moved back to LA, worked as a casting director, then I became an English teacher, the biggest challenge yet. Seeing donated boxes of YA novels, I decided to give writing a try. How hard can it be? Incredibly hard. Still, I started with a story about one of my great uncles, a prisoner in 1930's Ohio. He escaped right before the prison burned down, killing almost all the inmates. My story ends on Christmas Eve in 2004 as mall rats fight demons in a burning shopping mall. Now I live in Northern California with Arthur, a tuxedo cat, Henry, a fierce chihuahua and Daniel Oldis, also a writer. I'm finishing my second sci fi novel. a sequel to Babylon Dreams which takes place in an after- death VR world
What inspires you to write?
Something will spark my curiosity and on occasion, a what-if question arises, and a story begins. In the case of my great uncle and the prison fire–who or what caused it? I thought of mind-uploading and VR paradises and wondered if the technology is successful, what could go wrong? Quite a lot.
What authors do you read when you aren’t writing?
Elena Ferrante's My Brilliant Friend novels, Jeff Vandermeer's Southern Reach Trilogy are two. Science fiction that explores what it means to be human. When I was younger, I read Charles Dickens. I love his humor and insight.
Tell us about your writing process.
I'm definitely a seat of the pants writer, but I always know where the story ends. Sometimes I get lost and then I see a way forward. My process is telling the story, describing the scenery along the way and discovering the truth of each character. Then there's the challenge of bringing it all into focus.
For Fiction Writers: Do you listen (or talk to) to your characters?
I listen to them, especially when I write in first person. My characters are real to me. I know what they will and won't say. I know what motivates them, what they fear. Gunter Holden is the protagonist of Babylon Dreams. He's a visionary, a narcissist and a murderer who escapes by mind-uploading into his custom VR Eden. His character is written entirely in first person. As he describes the beauty of Bali Hai, the VR world he inhabits and brags about his role in creating it, I wanted to hear his disappointment. After sixty years, he's bored but still arrogant, claiming to own his world.
What advice would you give other writers?
Be open and curious. Write for the pleasure of it. Read. Social media is necessary.
How did you decide how to publish your books?
If you're just beginning and you're not part of an author workshop/program, it's difficult to know the most effective ways of getting your books noticed. I learned by making tons of mistakes when I self-published. It's important to believe in your work. I do and I'll keep writing.
What do you think about the future of book publishing?
I wish I knew. When I started, it seemed like the wild west, unfamiliar and with few hard rules. Writers who have mastered the art of social media have an advantage. It seems that the established world of publishing is limited in extending opportunities to writers outside their contact lists. Let's hope it evolves.
What genres do you write?: science fiction
What formats are your books in?: Both eBook and Print
Website(s)
Link To Marjorie Kaye Noble Page On Amazon
Your Social Media Links
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All information in this post is presented “as is” supplied by the author. We don’t edit to allow you the reader to hear the author in their own voice.
