Marlene is a big believer in plotting and also works as a developmental editor, so she has lots of great tips for how beginning writers can improve their novels, including being very clear about what your story is about, and reading your work out loud to achieve authentic dialogue.

Marlene grew up in Cleveland, Ohio and later attended New York University where she studied film and then worked as a development executive for such movies as Mystic Pizza, Rich in Love, Driving Miss Daisy and Rush. For the last 18 years Marlene has worked as a freelance book editor as well as writer. She has been awarded residencies to The Macdowell Colony, Yaddo, The Wurlitzer Foundation, Fundacion Valpairiso, and MacNamara Foundation and her short stories and personal essays have appeared in a number of literary journals and blogs. Today Marlene can often be found walking local trails looking for abandoned birds' nests or at home hand sewing little boxes out of tree bark. She is partial to chocolate labs and in particular hers, a super friendly, good-natured girl named Honey. She lives in the beautiful Hudson Valley, in a small town filled with artists, where she loves to listen to the noise of the birds.

To learn more about Marlene, click here.