Guest with author Marni L.B. Troop

When I was in elementary school, we had a newsletter. I don’t remember why, or how it started, but in that newsletter, I published a serial called, “The Hidden Door.” I wrote exactly two episodes of that serial, but it was published and I felt very proud of that.

I’d like to say that I was inspired to be a storyteller when I saw “Star Wars” for the first time. That was it for lots of writers who were kids in the 70s. That just didn’t happen to me. All I know is that for as long as I can remember, I’ve told stories. Most of the time, I don’t think anyone was listening to me, and I was told by one of my college professors, whom I looked up to, that I wasn’t one of his choices for what he called “talented” writers, but I kept writing or telling stories.

I wrote lots of short stories I studied acting in high school and I loved that. I acted throughout college and I even joined a relatively popular improvisational theatre in Los Angeles after I move out there in pursuit of a career telling stories for film and television. I had a knack for dialogue, both writing it and delivering the lines myself, but I didn’t have the look of a Hollywood star, so I just kept writing. One day, I started getting work as a ghostwriter, which meant that I wrote the story and someone else got the credit. As frustrating as it was, I was happy to be writing a story, so I did it some more and I started helping other people to improve their own stories and although I never got “big,” break, I was getting paid to write and that was really, really cool!

I left Los Angeles for Arizona after I was married (to another writer) and had our first child, but the need to tell stories remained. Understanding that the “big” break would not come until I stepped away from screenplays and turned toward novelizing my story ideas, I did what I always did… I kept writing stories.

So, what or who inspired me to write? The Universe, I suppose. Karma. Reincarnation. Genetics. Darwin! I was born a storyteller. I speak stories at night to my children before bed. I act stories on occasion for audiences. I write stories whenever I have a moment. A need inspired me to write. A desire to entertain people inspired me to write. No one person or idea or moment did it for me. Sure, I want everybody to read my books and I want some big Hollywood executive to look at them and say, “Hey, that should be a TV show! Here’s some money!” However, that’s not what keeps me writing. I write because that’s what I do, whenever I can, because I like to do it, because it’s always been this way. I inspired me to write.

After all, inspiration is only the beginning. You can’t be a writer unless you have it within yourself to keep going.

Marni will be giving away a copy of Brian Froud's and John Matthew's How to See Faeries. Marni said, "Brian Froud's artwork is one of my inspirations, so it's very appropriate. Plus, it's a cool book!" 

The tour dates can be found here: http://goddessfishpromotions.blogspot.com/2012/07/nbtm-tour-marni-troop.html

About the Author: 

Marni grew up in a suburb of Washington, D.C., where she worked at and attended many sci-fi/fantasy conventions and bought several Tarot decks before going off to college. After college, she moved to Los Angeles to work as a story analyst, editor, ghostwriter and just about any film or television job she could find. After earning a Master of Professional Writing in Cinema/TV-Drama from the University of Southern California, Marni started teaching others how to write. Marni currently lives in Glendale, Arizona, with her spouse, two brilliant children and six crazy pets (11 if you count the fish).

Link: www.tirnanogsaga.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Heart-of-Ireland-Saga-Marni-L-B-Troop/131388060226272
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TirNanOgSaga
Buy Link: http://www.amazon.com/Tir-Na-nOg-Journal-One/dp/1453606033/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1341692281&sr=8-2&keywords=tir+na+nog