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I’m now an editor!

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Hi everyone,

I’ve been quiet lately, but it’s been because life and writing related matters have had me buried under! My oldest son is graduating high school next week, I’ll be shipping him off to Penn State soon and I’m still interning with The Agency Who Must Not Be Named, lol. And, as if that’s not all, I’m planning a book launch for early October! More on that later.

For now, I’m very excited to announce I’ve joined the editing team at Chimera Editing! Jami Nord and KT Hanna are both fabulous editors who care about books and stories as much as I do, and I’m honored that I’ll be working with them.

Here’s a link if you want to check out the services we offer:

Editing Services

I promise, my shameless plugs will be few (only when we’re having a sale) but I wanted to let you all know we’re running a summer special right now: Book a deep crit review of any length and receive a query critique & $30 off.

I’m very excited to be taking this next step in my publishing career 🙂

*fist pump*

All best,

~Marlo

What is an OUT OF BODY EXPERIENCE?

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My latest book, tentatively titled THE SECRETS WE KEEP, deals with a girl who has an out-of-body-experience, or OBE. During this OBE Lyndsay, my main character, sees old Mr. Jenkins, her neighbor and head janitor at her high school, moving a dead body. The next morning she gets proof what she witnessed wasn’t a dream. And thus begins the mystery – did he or didn’t he commit murder? And if he did, can she prove it? So I thought it would be fun to do a post on what an out of body experience actually is.

An out-of-body-experience typically involves the sensation of floating outside of one’s body and, in most cases, being able to perceive this separation from the physical body. Stories of out-of-body-experiences, also called astral projections or bi-location, have been around for centuries. Events of bi-location involving several Saints and other religious figures have even been recognized by the Catholic Church. OBEs have been reported across all cultures, belief systems and social classes.

Scientists estimate one in ten people has an out-of-body-experience once, or more commonly, several times in his or her life. The perceived phenomenon can occur spontaneously as a result of physical or mental trauma, dehydration, sensory deprivation, sensory overload, sleep deprivation, or the use of dissociative drugs to induce an OBE. Some scientists believe an OBE may be a natural defense mechanism of our bodies, designed to deal with turmoil, the threat of physical harm, or even death. In addition, some researchers believe this defense mechanism may also be triggered accidentally for any of the reasons I just listed above. For example, a large percentage of reported OBE cases occur in situations where sleep was not particularly deep due to illness, over-tiredness, emotional stress, or noises in other rooms. Other cases seem to be experienced when the person has been near-death, such as during a drowning, heart attack, coma, major surgery, or some similar physical peril.

Whether it is our mind, our energy, or our ‘soul’ that detaches from our physical body has been the subject of serious debate. No matter what your belief on the matter though, the perceived phenomenon is quite fascinating and was even the subject of the recent book and movie, If I Stay.

So are they fact or fiction? Can they be proven scientifically? While the scientific jury is still out on a definitive answer, the research they’ve uncovered may astound you. I’ve included two recent articles below that you may find intriguing.

https://www.yahoo.com/health/can-science-shed-light-on-films-out-of-body-plot-95423099557.html?soc_src=mags&soc_trk=tw

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/scientists-scanned-womans-brain-during-232752794.html?soc_src=mediacontentstory

In addition, it is interesting to note that our own US government spent more than twenty million dollars between the 1970’s and 1995 to investigate the possibility of using OBEs for both domestic and military applications. The project, conducted by the CIA and US Defense Intelligence Agency, was called Stargate, a Remote Viewing Military Intelligence Program. The theory being that if we could induce an out-of-body-experience in a subject, we might be able to use them to remote view, events, sites, or information, from a great distance. In other words, use it as a spy technique.

Still think it’s a lot of baloney? Well, consider this. Synesthesia — the condition in which people hear colors or smell sounds — which was once thought of as “out there” has become widely accepted in the last few decades.

Who knows, what we think of as science fiction may one day be recognized as science fact. So, do you think you’ve ever had an out-of-body-experience? And if so, what did you see?

The Intangible Valentine

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It begins in mid-January. On the radio, television, and internet. From every direction, we’re assaulted by ads for flowers, candy, cards, perfume, lingerie, furs, and jewelry (particularly the diamond variety). Want to show your love?  Well, you better open your wallet, pull out your credit card and buy, buy, buy.

Wait. Not so fast, love buns. According to a recent study conducted by Laurie Puhn Communications, that may not actually be what your significant other wants for Valentine’s Day at all.

The results of the study showed that what most women (ages 30-49) want for Valentine’s Day is simply rest and relaxation. Yup, a little R&R.

According to the survey:

• 72% of women want a day off from housework and/or childcare
• 14% of women want a special plan for dinner
• 9% of women want a gift
• 5% of women want ‘the horizontal tango’

And what about everyone else? Well, women over 50 or under 30, and men as a group, also rejected the usual store-bought gifts. The majority of respondents in those groups preferred a special plan for dinner. What, you say, men preferred dinner over the horizontal tango? Just goes to show, the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. Making his favorite recipe of chicken and dumplings might be all you need to do.

It seems money can’t buy you love after all. Imagine that. Valentine’s Day can come without ribbons. It can come without tags. It can come without packages, boxes or bags. Maybe love doesn’t come from the store. Maybe Valentine’s Day, perhaps, means a little bit more.

In light of those findings, I’d like to put forth the idea of the Intangible Valentine. Instead of buying a gift from the store, why not try doing something nice for your mate instead? Let them put their feet up, while you do the vacuuming for once. Play with the kids for a while and let them take a nice, hot bath or read a book. Help them with a project they could use a hand with and have been dying to finish. Get something done on the honey-do list that they’ve been nagging you about. Take some errands off their hands. Cook their favorite dinner and dessert. Let them pick the movie for once, even if it means sitting through that “action” flick, or that ten-tissue, tearjerker of a romance movie. Chances are, giving them a little attention, appreciation and recognition for all their hard work, love and support, might go farther than that bouquet or box of chocolates anyway.

So, what are you getting your significant other for Valentine’s Day?

Don’t Judge Villains By Their Cover

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The idea for the villain in my latest young adult novel emerged from two real-life stories that have had an impact on me and the way I think about the world. The first was something that happened back when I was a young teenager. I forget exactly what year, but I was thirteen or fourteen. At the time, my father taught fourth grade at an elementary school in NJ. One of his fellow teachers and the principal of his school decided it might be a good idea to start a program where seniors, such as grandparents or other retired members of the community, would assist in the schools a few days a week. Paying aids to work in the classroom was not the norm then that it is now, so there was definitely a need. So, the plan seemed like it would benefit both the school and the elderly, who might enjoy working with the young children. They named it the R.O.B.I.N. program for Retired Old Buddy Is Needed.

For a while, the program ran smoothly. Teachers some got some much needed help in the classroom and grandparents and elderly from the community had some fun interaction with children to keep them busy. The R.O.B.I.N. helper in my father’s classroom was a man named Mr. LoSchaivo. (My father couldn’t recall the exact spelling of his name, but it’s largely irrelevant to my story.) He was five eight, slight build with white hair. The saintly picture of an old man and grandfather. I met him. He had a charming, soft-spoken way about him. Since I attended Catholic school, I had days off that my father’s school did not. I would go to my dad’s school on those occasions and help in the classroom. Many times, right alongside sweet, old saintly Mr. LoSchaivo.

The only problem? Mr. LoSchaivo turned out to be anything but a saint. About halfway through the year, a fourth grader (not from my father’s classroom but from one of the other fourth grade classes) came forward that LoSchaivo had lured him back to his apartment after school under the guise of showing him war memorabilia. Once LoSchaivo established trust with the child after multiple visits, LoSchaivo and his roommate, another elderly man, began to molest and take pictures of the child. To make matters worse, after the one child came forward, it was discovered LoSchaivo had committed these horrible crimes with a few other boys.

I’ll never forget the day my father came home to tell us what happened. He was in tears, shocked and devastated Mr. LoSchaivo had used his position in the school and done this to these innocent children practically right under his nose. And he was terrified that, since I had also come in contact with Mr. LoSchaivo, he might’ve done something inappropriate with me too. Luckily he had not, but judging by how my father was shaking, I think it was one of the hardest things he ever had to ask me. The fact that there had even been potential for harm to his daughter frightened the hell out of him.

The second story that influenced my book was unfortunately much worse. It was the tragic murder of Krista DiFrancesco, an acquaintance of my little sister’s. I won’t go into details, only that the tragedy of what happened to Krista both touched and affected me. The man responsible for Krista’s murder, Christopher Kornberger, turned out to be an 18 yr old youth with the face of a choir boy. In the press, his family and friends described him as “helpful”, “a good kid”, and a typical kid, involved in sports and cub scouts. In truth, Kornberger was a monster. A monster no one recognized as such.

The perpetrators in both of these terrible incidents merged in my mind to create the villain in my latest book and the theme of the book – Don’t Judge Villains by Their Cover. The scary truth is that many times sociopaths like LoSchaivo and Kornberger hide amongst us in plain sight. It is my hope that my book will raise awareness among teens and older readers who may need a reminder – never trust a person by how they look, how they act, or how you think you know them. Don’t be afraid to speak up if you see something suspicious or suspect someone might be up to no good…no matter who the person is – even if that person is a trusted teacher, favorite coach, member of the clergy or a friendly neighbor. If you see something, say something.

Another good idea is to be proactive about your safety. I would strongly recommend taking advantage of some of the safety technology apps now available for smart phones, such as bsafe, Circle of 6, Yo, Kitestring, and others, most of which are free. If this technology had been available back then, Krista might still be alive today. These apps can do things like alerting your friends that you’re overdue at your arrival point, whistle to get bystanders’ attention, lead people to your location using GPS trackers, and create automatic video recordings to capture proof of a crime, etc. Safety technology apps can be a valuable tool in alerting your friends, family and authorities that you need help. You can read more about these apps in this article:

http://www.elle.com/news/lifestyle/womens-safety-apps

Be safe, be wise, and protect yourself. And always remember, a villain may not look like a villain.

How Walter Matthau Asked Me to Marry Him

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I’ve never really told too many people this story, so I thought I’d share it today. It goes a little something like this…a funny thing happened on the way to the dorm…

Walter in Hello Dolly!

In spring 1991, I was a senior at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. (I’m sure I’m dating myself, but who cares. For the record, my internal age is perpetually seventeen anyway.) At the time, I was already engaged (with a sparkly rock on my finger to prove it), only a few weeks from graduation, and looking forward to moving to Houston with my fiancee at the end of May. I was walking back from class and starving. (When isn’t a college student starving?) Ahead of me, I noticed one of the campus thoroughfares, Margaret Morrison St., had been blocked off with trailers, canopies, and equipment. I didn’t think too much about why – things out of the ordinary were always happening on campus. I guess I thought someone was selling something or setting up for a rally or concert.

As I got closer, I noticed a table full of snacks – crackers, cheese, bagels, donuts, pitchers of water, that kind of thing. I remember thinking, “Oh cool, free food.” So, I strolled over and grabbed a plateful of snacks. In my haste to scarf free grub, I started choking madly on a dry cracker. Next thing I know, a deep voice I sort of recognized was at my side. “Looks like you could use a glass of water, young lady.” With cracker bits falling out of my now crimson face, I looked up to see who was speaking – it was none other than Walter Matthau dressed in an old dark brown suit and vest. He smiled, poured a cup of water and handed it to me. I awkwardly gulped it down because I was still half choking to death, embarrassed as hell, and struck speechless.

For those of you who might not know, Walter Matthau was an Academy Award winning

Walter in The Odd Couple

actor best known for his role as Oscar Madison in The Odd Couple and his frequent movie collaborations with Odd Couple star Jack Lemmon, as well as his role as Coach Buttermaker in the 1976 comedy, The Bad News Bears. He also starred as Max Goldman in the 1993 comedy, Grumpy Old Men, and its 1995 sequel, Grumpier Old Men. As a young girl, I grew up watching his old movies and TV shows with my dad.

When I could finally speak again, I asked the obvious but daft question, “Ummm, what are you doing here?”

“We’re filming a movie,” Walter said. (I was mortified as I realized I must’ve stolen the snacks meant for the actors and crew.) “Would you care to walk me to the set?” He then offered me his bent elbow to hook my arm around and off we strolled towards the building CMU’ers affectionately refer to as Maggie Mo (for Margaret Morrison Hall which sits on Margaret Morrison St.)

At this point, the breeze created by a feather could’ve knocked me over. Here I was, meandering around with Walter Matthau on my arm as if it was the most natural, everyday occurrence in the world.

It gets better.

Harry Morgan in M*A*S*H

As we walked along making small talk (he asked me my name, what I was majoring in, when I was graduating, all the usual stuff), we passed one of the trailers. And who should walk out, but Harry Morgan, another TV and film star, probably best known for his role as Colonel Potter in the long-running TV series, M*A*S*H – another popular TV series that, unless you had been raised by wolves in the deep woods of Montana, had become a household name.

Now, truth be told, I had watched nearly every episode of M*A*S*H mostly as reruns (I was young when the show first began). M*A*S*H was the pop culture hit of its time and one of my faves. So I’m sure you can imagine my surprise as Harry Morgan said to Walter, “Who’s this beautiful redhead?” At this point, I’m sure I blushed red as a tomato to match my hair color.

“Her name’s Marlo, like Marlo Thomas,” Walter said with a charming smile. “I saved her life and now she’s walking me to the set.”

“Well, we can’t have you stealing all the pretty girls, so she’s taking me too,” Harry replied with a winning smile of his own and he took my other arm.

“I’m not stealing her,” Walter said mischievously, almost as if he had to one-up Harry on the charm meter. He turned to me and said the most shocking thing imaginable. “Will you marry me?”

Now, I’m sure he meant it in jest since he was married at the time, but it still left me speechless.

Then Harry chimed in with, “She doesn’t want to marry you, you old fool…she wants to marry me.”

At this point, all I could think to do was wiggle my engagement ring hand in front of them and say politely, “Sorry, I can’t marry anyone, I’m already engaged.”

“Oh, too bad,” Harry said, shaking his head. “The best ones are always taken.”

“Isn’t that always the way?” Walter added while patting my arm.

Turns out, Walter and Harry were filming the first of three made for TV movies called The Incident. Walter Matthau was playing the role of lawyer Harmon Cobb alongside Harry Morgan as Judge Stoddard Bell. They would later go on to film two sequels as these characters, namely Against Her Will: An Incident in Baltimore and Incident in a Small Town.

A moment later we got to the set and I saw that Maggie Mo had been transformed into an old courthouse, complete with a streetlamp and a sign to cover over the building’s real name. Multiple cameras dotted the sidewalk and actors dressed in old-fashioned suits milled about waiting to begin filming. Walter asked me if I wanted to be an extra for the day, but unfortunately I was already going to be late for work. When I said I couldn’t, he thanked me for “taking good care of him”, said it was a pleasure meeting me and shook my hand as he wished me luck in the future. Harry did the same and I stood off to the side for a few minutes watching them get ready to shoot the scene.

All in all, Walter and Harry were both charming and funny and it was like being between two sweet, old grandfathers. I walked the rest of the way to my dorm utterly stunned that I had met Walter Matthau and Harry Morgan. When my roommate asked me why I was late, I told her “because Walter Matthau asked me to marry him.” Of course, she didn’t believe me.

Anyone else have an interesting story about meeting someone famous? If so, please share it with us in the comments below!