Interview with Author in re her childhood memoir entitled, Pieces from Life's Crazy Quilt. What caused her to write it, and where it stands in the publishing process now.
Wisdom from the Quilt
by Marvin V. Arnett
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Memoir
Interview with author published in the July 4, 2002, Southfield Eccentric, Southfield, MI
Pieces fall into place when she pens stories of her life.
by Ryan Cannon
Staff Writer
Southfield Eccentric
Marvin V. Arnett, a retired and widowed great-grandmother, will have her book, Pieces from Life's Crazy Quilt, published next spring.
Arnett tells the story of a young girl born and raised in Detroit during the Great Depression and growing up during World War II and the race riots of 1943.
After attending classes on literature and creative writing at University of Michigan Dearborn, Arnett had the confidence to start to put together a book of stories from her life, (What I had in mind to write was an I Know It All Book) Arnett admits.
When the book was finally completed, she began the grueling task of promoting it. After 97 letters to prospective agents, Arnett had 97 rejections.
I learned a lot about perseverance and persistance, she said.
A colleague who enjoyed her writing suggested self-publishing, and Arnett decided to give it a try. She started the circuit of self-promoting. You carry a case of them in the car, and you try to sell them everywhere.
I would go to bed at night saying, this is foolishness, said Arnett. What kept me going is that people who read it loved it.
After winning an essay contest, Arnett was then offered a scholarship to Cranbrook Writer's Conference. She gave her mentor a copy of her book, and he admitted to liking it enough to send it on to a publisher.
The book also won the 1st Annual African American-Authors Helping Authors Award for self-published nonfiction.
A revised, cloth-bound version of Arnett's book will be available through University of Nebraska Press in Spring of 2003.
For more information visit the author's website at http://www.authorsden.com/marvinvarnett.
The self published version of Arnett's book, previously available at Barnes & Noble, is sold out and out of publication.
She is currently working on a second book, which may be finished by next summer.
Arnett feels that all the pieces came into place at the perfect time. I feel very blessed, she said. If I never believed in Einstein's Theory of Relativity, I would now-I lived it.
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