Avatar for mvw888

mvw888

rank: 809

Last week's position: 811

first registered 25.03.10

last online 1 day ago

report abuse
about me

I'm an author and mother of four living in southern California.

The Qualities of Wood ebook is now available for purchase, and the print version will be here in July, 2013! I'm very proud to have the first book released under the authonomy imprint.

I've uploaded portions of Fortress for One, a novel which is finished, and Human Stories, a collection of stories which is not. I truly value critiques and insights from my authonomy friends.

Please visit my website at maryvenselwhite.com for more information.

My favorite reads on authonomy (some of which have been published and I urge you to seek them out):

Pascual's Birthday - Diana Henderson
undo redo - David Breitling
Daisychains of Silence - Catherine MacLeod
A Shirtful of Frogs - Shalini Boland
Master of the Miracles - bunderful
The Doctor of Summitville - Bill Carrigan
The Bosphorus Dreams - Nicole Ellis
Nothing You Can Do - G E Fordson
Last Days of the Transitional Objects Institute - Andrea Levin
Last Things - John Squires
Notes on an Orange Burial - Greg Levin
Walk to Paradise Garden - John B. Campbell
Luminous Dark - Ross Clark
Death and the Tango in Madeira - Jim Williams

favourite books

Lolita, Anna Karenina, Out Stealing Horses, The Remains of the Day, The Book Thief, The Cave, Gilead, Winesburg, Ohio, The Time Traveler's Wife, The Great Gatsby, Plainsong, The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, The Sea

my websites

http://maryvenselwhite.com    

HarperCollins is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

my books

The Qualities of Wood

Mary Vensel White

A girl is found in the woods and a tangle of secrets unravels.
Can Vivian trust her impressions? Can she trust anyone?


When Vivian and her husband Nowell are enlisted to prepare his late grandmother’s house for sale, they decide to take a break from city life. Nowell leaves before his wife to begin work on his second mystery novel, and by the time Vivian joins him in the country, a real mystery has begun. A local girl has died in the woods behind the house. Nowell’s brother, a shiftless and rough sort, arrives with his new wife, and details begin to emerge about the girl. Vivian is enmeshed, even after the death is ruled an accident. She can't forget it, can't ignore the strange behavior of the lonely bachelor who lives nearby. Meanwhile, her marriage is unraveling as Nowell loses himself in his work and Vivian seeks purpose and truth.

The Qualities of Wood is about the things we tell and sell ourselves to get by. It’s about impressions about the past and present, and whether they can be trusted. And it’s about the difficulty of relationships and the subjectivity that makes us uniquely human.

 

Human Stories

Mary Vensel White

Three families cross paths in sprawling southern California, where forces of fate and nature can alter the destination and the heart as well.


“There are only two or three human stories, and they go on repeating themselves as fiercely as if they had never happened before.” –Willa Cather


A man searches for love in the wrong places, a boy risks life to gain his father’s approval, a young woman leaves a sleepy town for better horizons. All stories we may think we’ve heard. But stories, like life, have a way of going against plan and expectation. This collection focuses on three extended families living the American dream in the ideal climate of southern California. Their lives intersected, dissected, and resurrected. What is life, if not recovering from the unexpected?

 

Fortress for One

Mary Vensel White

Gina H. lives alone. She has her comforts, her routines. What happens one rainy weekend when the outside world intrudes, forcing Gina out?


Gina H. is middle-aged, orderly, living an unremarkable life. She rides the train from her suburb to downtown Chicago, where she works in an office building. On the weekends, she watches movies and follows her routines. A simple life, until one rainy weekend in March, when various forces invade. Her nosy neighbor won’t leave her alone, a coworker has planned a dinner to introduce Gina to an eligible suitor, and a mysterious manila envelope arrives. When her brother leaves a halting voicemail, it’s the final impetus driving Gina out of her rut and into a brave new world, where life isn’t really much like movies at all.

 

my friends

Wussyboy
Wussyboy
last online 37 mins ago
Anthony Brady
Anthony Brady
last online 3 hours ago
SPW
SPW
last online 3 hours ago
Janet/Helen
Janet/Helen
last online 4 hours ago
David1970
David1970
last online 6 hours ago
Casimir Greenfield
Casimir Greenfield
last online 10 hours ago

leave me a message

click here to leave a message

latest

view all

my comments

latest

I wrote 61 days ago

A unique premise for YA, I think, not that I know much about YA. My qualm with it would be to expect some type of progress for Bryan, even though he's deceased from the start...either something going forward in the afterlife or some effect he's left, maybe he's influenced someone or changed someone.... view book

I wrote 61 days ago

Stumbled upon this and read a few chapters before realizing it's already been chosen as One to Watch. I agree. Excellent. Instantly gripping and masterfully written. Loved the portion I read. Mary view book

I wrote 61 days ago

Fabulous beginning. The set-up is perfectly paced and instantly engaging. I love the homespun touches thrown in, especially humorous bits of dialogue. Although she has passed, I think readers will look forward to getting to know the grandmother, and the sisters (one who stayed and one who moved away... view book

I wrote 86 days ago

I really enjoyed the first three of these (all I read). From the impressionistic first story, I felt the tie between the stories--the land, nature, inevitability, it seemed--and I liked the metaphor of virga, as though all of life, really, could be quite an illusion and fleeting. The stark terrain o... view book

I wrote 103 days ago

Where have you gone, Rebecca Jameson? This is lovely writing, just beautiful. So many moments that I savored, such wonderful phrasing and observations. You have an eye, an ear and a heart for the humanity of your characters and humanity in general; you drop bread crumbs of intrigue for the reader to... view book

view all