Marlene Samuels - Writer on Reedsy Prompts

2 Stories

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The Green Room

Weekly Contest #352

Larry and I had been married for three years. During that entire time my husband and I had been renovating our house, pretty much non-stop. Although it really was a magnificent brick and limestone structure built in 1882, complete with copper spires and massive leaded windows, it was without a doubt what would be referred to as a “fixer-upper.” During our final walk-through one week before we closed the deal, our realtor sensed we had some trepidations and gushed enthusiastically, “But you’ve got to admit, the house has great bones!” Three ...

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Shadow Puppets

Marlene Samuels

Weekly Contest #343

Shadow Puppets Meyer, my father, had grown soft and physically lazy during the two years since our family had emigrated to the U.S.A. He was from Eastern Europe, a survivor of Hitler’s concentration camps, a man who following his liberation, celebrated every day of life. And he was extremely industrious, the epitome of “the American Dream.” He remained ambitious and industrious in his work but his physical laziness began to manifest itself when he abandoned his daily constitutionals. My parents had managed to buy a small house in an elite C...

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Author bio

Marlene Samuels is an independent research sociologist, writer and instructor. She earned her M.A. and PhD in sociology from University of Chicago where she serves on the Advisory Council to the Graduate School. Her essays and short stories have appeared in numerous journals, anthologies and publications, online and in print, plus in a wider range of publications on the medium.com platform.

Marlene’s interests are non-fiction short story plus flash non-fiction and essays. Her academic related research focused upon problems in contemporary American society. Marlene co-authored and edited her mother’s Holocaust memoir, The Seamstress: A Memoir of Survival, (Penguin-Berkeley Press) which became the impetus for her evolving interest in memoir, non-fiction short stories and flash. Over the years, she’s participated in numerous writing workshops in her mission to refine her skills.

Currently, Marlene is putting the finishing touches on her two short story collections; Ask Mr. Hitler: A Memoir Told In Short Story (non-fiction) and Stories: Mostly True and Not A Novel
When not writing, Marlene enjoys hiking, travel, photography and no surprise, reading. She divides her time between Chicago, Illinois and Sun Valley, Idaho with her supportive Rhodesian Ridgeback, Abe.