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| ABOUT MARC | |
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| Appearances | Fun Facts | FAQs | New Jersey Quiz | Museum of Hair |
| Photo Galleries |
| Fan Art | Int'l Jacket Covers |
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| CONFESSIONS OF A SQUARE PEG (Video) |
| Being Fat | Republicans & Fundamentalists | Carried Away |
| No One is Alone (Audio) | I Could Have Danced All Night (Audio) |
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| Appearances | back |
Check here regularly for a schedule of appearances.
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Please contact me if you'd like to schedule an appearance (in person or by phone) with your book group.
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| ONGOING - 105.1 The Buzz with Daria, Mitch and Ted |
Every Friday afternoon at 5:30 PM
| ONGOING - The Attic ( Portland, OR) |
Writing workship every Sunday afternoon.
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| DEC. 28, 2008 - Artists Repertory Theater (Portland, OR) |
Holidazed - Closing Night
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| JAN. 7-8, 2009 - Whidbey Island Writers Assoc. (Whidbey Isl., WA) |
Teaching during MFA Program
| Jan. 29, 2009 - Schoolhouse Supplies (Portland, OR) |
Contestant in Celebrity Spelling Bee
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| FEB. 17, 2009 - Multnomah Arts Center (Portland, OR) |
| FEB. 24, 2009 - Portland Roast Festival (Portland, OR) |
Panelist for Portland Schools Fdtn. fund raiser, Hacks vs. Flacks
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| MAR. 21, 2009 - Multnomah County Public Library (Portland, OR) |
| MAR. 25, 2009 - West Linn Rotary (West Linn, OR) |
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| APR. 1, 2009 - Public Librarians' Conference (Salem, OR) |
| APR. 7, 2009 - Portland Rotary (Portland, OR) |
| APR. 17, 2009 - Writing the Waves (Ft. Lauderdale, FL) |
16 Day Transatlantic Cruise - departs Fort Lauderdale, FL, for Harwich, England, and includes writing workshops, evening salons and seven full days at sea. Contact Walter Schaffrick for details.
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| Fun Facts | back |
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For those who do not know me, I'm very famous. My debut novel, How I Paid for College: A Novel of Sex, Theft, Friendship and Musical Theater won the Oregon Book Awards' Ken Kesey Award for the Novel although I sometimes leave out the Oregon part to make it sound more important. It was also selected as a Top Ten Teen Pick by the American Library Association, though it still has not achieved my ultimate goal of being banned by irate fundamentalists. The New York Times chose College as an Editors Choice, it's been optioned for film by Columbia Pictures and is translated into five languages I can't read, though I can now say "cunnilingus" in Norwegian.
FUN FACT #1: My name is also an anagram for "A Comic Art," or "A Comic Rat," depending on how you feel about me.
I was born in Bayonne, New Jersey, on January 11, 1966, attended by Three Wise Guys. The couple who raised me deny it, but I suspect I might be the secret love child of Liza Minnelli and Peter Allen, which explains my effervescent personality and fondness for prescription medication.
FUN FACT #2: I am actually the second cousin once removed of Sandra Dee. As in "Look at me I'm..."
I grew up in Westfield, New Jersey, the small-town star of high school and summer camp musicals. Y'know, the guy who wore Capezio dance shoes and leg warmers to school. In my defense, it was the 1980s.
FUN FACT #3: In the ninth grade, I won the American Legion Good Citizenship Award. It's been downhill ever since.
Like my hero Edward Zanni, I, too, dreamed of going to acting school, though I didn't turn to a life of crime to pay for it. In my case, it was the prestigious music theater program at Carnegie-Mellon University, the oldest BFA acting program in the country. (I changed it to Juilliard in How I Paid for College because no one wants to read a book about a kid whose dream is to go to Pittsburgh.) That dream turned to a nightmare, however, when I was kicked out due to artistic differences: I thought I could act but the faculty didn't. But that's okay, because it eventually gave me the idea for my second book, Attack of the Theater People, which comes out April 15th, the 96th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic.
FUN FACT #4: I cried when Leonardo DiCaprio froze to death.
I moved to New York, where I tried to find myself and instead found a blue-eyed charmer with the unlikely name of Floyd. Our first date was the Halloween parade in Greenwich Village, followed two days later by what turned out to be Liberace's final performance. Floyd and I have been together ever since. He's now the society columnist for Just Out, Oregon's gay newspaper, and a very loud tour guide at the Portland Art Museum.
FUN FACT #5: Floyd and I both have the same middle name, which is Evan.
I subsequently transferred to Colorado College, where I graduated in 1990 and went on to study singing in Europe on a Watson Fellowship. Upon my return, I clawed my way to the middle singing comic character roles with companies such as Seattle Opera, Opera Ireland and the Colorado Opera Festival. Despite being lauded for a "booming voice and rubber face," I decided instead to become a writer so I could work at home in bed, like hookers and Winston Churchill.
FUN FACT #6: I have had 36 jobs in my life, and almost as many hair-dos. Neither the jobs nor the hair-dos worked out very well.
I began my writing career with my syndicated humor column, "The Gospel According to Marc," which earned me poverty wages at nineteen alternative newspapers nationwide, as well as the sobriquet "the gay Dave Barry."
FUN FACT #7: When I met Dave Barry, he looked me in the eye and said, "Let's just get one thing clear: I'm the gay Dave Barry."
I still freelance, most notably as a commentator for National Public Radio's All Things Considered and Live Wire Radio. I live mostly in my head, but my body resides in Portland, Oregon, which is a good place to write because there are lots of strange people and it rains all the time.
FUN FACT #8: When my partner edited Attack of the Theater People before I submitted it to my publisher, he removed five hundred commas.
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| FAQs | back |
1. How DID you pay for college?
When it comes to crime, I've never stolen anything other than a scene. My dad is nothing like the father in the book. I got the idea reading an article in the New York Times about the rising costs of tuition and I thought, "Man, to pay for college these days, you'd have to turn to a life of crime." And I couldn't stop obsessing about it.
2. So how much of your books are true?
Depends on what part you're talking about. When I create a character, I make a list of every person I know who has similar qualities, then choose whatever bits I want. Fictional characters are like Frankenstein's monster--you make them out of spare body parts. As for plot, the seed of the idea might come from my life, but the bloom is usually made up.
For the record, however, the Buddha scene on the Vid Lit could have been published as non-fiction.
3. What's going on with the movie of How I Paid for College? Can I be in it?
It's in development at Columbia Pictures with Laura Ziskin, the producer of the Spiderman movies. I'm expecting to see the script soon. As for casting decisions, only writers like J.K. Rowling have that kind of clout.
4. What about the theatrical rights? It'd make a great musical.
The theatrical rights are tied up with the movie rights, so they're currently not available.
5. I don't know any published writers. Can I take you out for coffee/pick your brain/have you read my manuscript?
Unfortunately, at this point, my brain isn't available for picking. I'm perpetually under a deadline and behind by a hundred e-mails. And for legal reasons, I can't read manuscripts from people I don't know.
But I totally get how you feel. Just a few years ago, I was in the same position. Here's the deal: it's not a matter of who you know, it's who knows you. Or, more specifically, who knows your writing.
This is how it worked for me. My little humor column, "The Gospel According to Marc," never earned me a lot of money, but it led to some very big things. There I was, still writing my column and plugging away at my novel when I went to a reading given by New York Times bestselling author Chuck Palahniuk, the author of Fight Club and a Portland resident. Like any other fan I gave him my book to sign and told him my name. And, in a moment that completely changed my life, he looked up at me and said, "I know who you are. I've read your column."
Soon after, I found myself hanging out with Chuck during the breaks in a screenwriting class taught by Hollywood screenwriter Cynthia Whitcomb. Based on the strength of the columns alone, he recommended me to his agent, now my agent. Chuck's agent showed it to Chuck's editor--now my editor--and the book sold in two days.
The moral: Write for anyone who'll publish you, even if it's only the PTA newsletter. Someone might see it and it may lead to something else. And get involved in your local writing community. You never know who you might meet.
6. What's your writing routine? It must take such discipline.
Creative work doesn't require discipline, it requires enthusiasm. Passion. Obsession. Writing isn't typing, it's dreaming. When I fall in love with an idea, I surround myself with the movies, books and people that help nurture that idea. If I'm ready to make that into something when I wake up, I do. If not, I stimulate my brain until it's time. I take a lot of long walks, long drives, long showers and long soaks. I brainstorm with friends. I accumulate notes until they reach the tipping point. When the pile tips over, it's time to write the book.
7. Who are your favorite writers?
I'm a promiscuous reader. If I love a writer, I'll read everything he or she wrote. Then I'm usually onto someone new.
But I always seem to return to my first love, Dame Agatha Christie.
8. What are you working on now?
I've just co-written a play with the afore-mentioned Cynthia Whitcomb. It's called Holidazed . It's about a suburban soccer mom whose life gets turned upside down when she takes in a pagan street kid. And I'm hard at work on the third in the Theater People series, tentatively called, The Jazz Hands of God.
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| New Jersey Quiz | back |
Marco's New Jersey Quiz
1. New Jersey has the most______in the world.
A) Malls
B) Toxic waste dumps
C) Diners.
Answer: All of the above.
2. The state animal of New Jersey is...
A) The toxic tree toad
B) A horse
C) A horse's head
Answer: B) A horse, but a disembodied horse's head does actually appear on the state seal.
3. New Jersey is the world leader in the production of which berry?
A) Blueberry
B) Frankenberry
C) Halle Berry
Answer: A) Blueberry. Who knew?
4. True or False: New Jersey is the only "New" state in the US that can stand alone without the word new.
Answer: True. You can't say York, Hampshire or Mexico, but Jersey is always Jersey.
5. What is the New Jersey state dance?
A) The Push and Shove
B) Square Dancing
C) The Macarena
D) The Macaroni
Answer: B) Square Dancing. In 1983, New Jersey passed Joint Resolution 1: "Official recognition of the Square Dance will enhance the cultural stature of New Jersey both nationally and internationally."
6) True or False: New Jersey is called the Garden State because it is home to the beautiful Garden State Parkway.
Answer: False. I have no idea why it's called the Garden State.
7) New Jersey is the only state where all its counties are classified as what?
A) War zones
B) Environmental hazards
C) Exits
Answer: None of the above. Actually, New Jersey is the only state where all its counties are classified as metropolitan areas. In other words, it's the state where the population is most dense, pun intended.
8) Atlantic City is home to the Miss America pageant. True or false: Miss New Jersey has never won the pageant.
Answer: True. The only Miss New Jersey to become Miss America was Suzette Charles, who took over when Vanessa Williams stepped down in 1984.
9) What is the New Jersey state dinosaur?
A) Streptococcus
B) Pollutalotawater
C) Justice Antonin Scalia
Answer: D) None of the above. The first intact dinosaur skeleton in the world was discovered in Haddonfield, NJ in 1858, so they called it the Hadrosauras.
10) What do the Hindenberg, the USS Akron and Governor McGreevey have in common?
Answer: They all went down in New Jersey.
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