mary guterson

i’m still working on my dinner plans. Will let you know.

yours, mary

Super stupid thing happened which is that when i changed websites, my email address attached to my old website disappeared. SO. You can no longer find me at mary@maryguterson.com.

And i just had all of those cards printed up, too, that say i’m at mary@maryguterson.com. BUMMER! And i’ve handed out a whole bunch of them. And none of those people can contact me to say they LOVE me and they WANT TO MAKE MY BOOK INTO A MOVIE, or else that they WANT TO GIVE ME A MILLION DOLLARS.

i apologize big time. Write me at maryguterson@gmail.com, okay?

yours, mary

an interview with your yours truly at The Writers Connection can be found here:

http://www.elizabethcorcoranmurray.com/Interview-with-Mary-Guterson.html

also……I GOT A NEW DOG!!!! and yes, she’s from the local shelter. after much discussion, we named her Dink.

yours, mary

okay, so i got rear-ended. In my car, you perv. And when the kid who hit me pulls out his driver’s license, it turns out he’s born in 1994. How is that possible? Can someone born in 1994 even talk yet? Shouldn’t he be in a car seat? Get this: he called his mom. I would have thought that was kind of cute, except that, well, he’d smashed my car. Also, his mom showed up and proceeded to try every possible twist of events to make it be somebody else’s fault. Good parenting!

okay, all of you mensa members who come to my webpage because you know it’s going to be smart and challenging, here’s a riddle: what city do i live in?  Pay close attention and see if you can figure it out. So i take aforementioned smashed car to the shop to get it fixed, and after that i need a rental. Stick with me here. The car shop is on La Brea and first. The rental place is on La Brea and Beverly. Let me tell you what that means. That means the car shop and the car rental place are one block apart. One short block. Kitty corner to one another. Possibly……a three minute walk. On crutches. Okay, for all of you playing along, here comes the clue: No less than THREE people at the car shop asked me if i WANTED THE RENTAL PLACE TO COME PICK ME UP.

send your answers to mary@maryguterson.com

yours, mary

I went to the LA Times Book Awards on Friday night to see Jennifer Egan win yet another award for Visit From the Goon Squad. And then i chatted with her afterward and she was so completely normal it was crazy. And she wasn’t doing that thing where she was trying to act like a normal person, but underneath you can tell that she knows she’s superior. She really seemed regular. I was impressed. She’s also really pretty.

I was at the event with my good buddy, the hilarious, gregarious and ever-giving novelist, Jonathan Evison. Everybody knew him everywhere we went, and in a good way. At the party after, i got all weird like i always do, because the art of small talk has always escaped me, but i made it home without embarrassing myself too badly. I only had to obsess about my behavior for about an hour instead of all night. Improvement!

And then i spent all day yesterday at the LA Times Book fair. It was at USC this year instead of UCLA, and the crowd seemed smaller than last year, although maybe it was just more spread out….? I spent most of the time eating in the green room as Jonathan’s guest. We sat with Linda Sexton who is very gracious when asked if she’s related to Anne, which she is–daughter. And writer of two books. One about her mom; the other about herself. I’m going to pick up the second one as soon as i can. And also the nice folks from Counterpoint were at our table and they all very kindly complimented and then took one of my business cards in which you have a choice of pictures–either larry king and snoop dog together in a convertible, my dad in his swim suit, me eating a HUGE cinnamon roll, a photo of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, or me on tsunami watch in Crescent City. A tough decision, always.

meanwhile, i’m on the tail end of the best sunday morning ever. Had breakfast at La Conversation where they automatically bring you a basket of heart attack pastries with your coffee, and then the yummiest breakfast i’ve found in LA so far. And we read the newspaper, which means the LA Times which i’m trying my best to like, and then we went to THE MALL and bought SHOES. And i carried everything in the new tote bag i bought yesterday at the Fair at the Angry Little Asian Girl booth. It will be the most coveted item of the year when people see me carrying it.

yours, mary

okay, so there’s this cool button on my dashboard (website terminology, Gillon. Your mother now speaks website terminology) that i can push that tells me how many people are coming to this site. What a trip! I had NO IDEA anyone was looking at this site, but it turns out that there are REAL LIVE HUMANS in the outside world, somehow clicking their way to me. Jesus, i better say something interesting every now and then. Preferably something interesting and artful.

as soon as something interesting and artful pops into my brain, i can assure you i will be RIGHT BACK HERE to report it.

in the meantime, hello to all of you looking-at-my-website people! I’m so happy you’re here, meeting me on a computer instead of in real life. Because right now, my hair is really a mess. and i could use a shower, truth be told. And also, i’m seriously inappropriate and would say something stupid and then i’d have to come home and send you an apology email and then obsess about it until you wrote me back and said, “no worries.” After which, i’d feel only slightly better because there’s no way in hell you’ll ever forget the stupid thing i said, and you’ll probably hold it against me forever and i’ll never get to be a bridesmaid at your wedding.

yours, mary

I’m going to act like a real person here and do what i’m supposed to be doing on these pages, which is talking about what’s going on in mary guterson’s world of writing.

so this is what’s going on. That book that i helped write? The one with 36 authors? Well, it’s done, and it’s out and you can buy it somewhere. I will find out where and how. The book is called The Hotel Angeline, and my boyfriend is positive he gave it that title, so please don’t tell him that a zillion other people suggested that exact same title. He lives in a fantasy world anyway. He thinks i’m beautiful! Fantasy! oh my god, in the EXACT MOMENT that i was writing those words, he suddenly appeared at my side and handed me a plate of hot spinach with lemon and parmesan, my favorite dish. And now he’s bringing me seconds!

okay, i’m supposed to be acting mature here. So back to mature subjects.

there was a second thing i was going to tell you but i’m spacing it out.

and besides, tomato soup has magically appeared in front of me and i must eat it while it’s hot.

yours, mary

okay, it’s now later and i’m done eating so i’m going to try putting in the link where you can read more about the book.

wow, i did it. somebody call my son and let him know that HIS MOTHER MANAGED SOMETHING TECHNOLOGICAL WITHOUT HIM. But have him sit down first. He’s six foot five. That’s a long way to fall.

well, yeah, it’s about time i made some changes around here. so here’s my BRAND NEW website/blog. I have no idea, actually, if this is a website or a blog or both. But who cares? it’s here. i’m here. you’re here.

this site’s going to be under construction for just a bit, mainly because i have NO IDEA WHAT I’M DOING. So, come back later, if you don’t mind. all is good, in case you’re wondering.

yours, mary

oh, yeah. this is a new photo of me that i’m thinking of using as my author photo. not sure yet.

and do you know why i’m the worst updater ever? Because, dear reader, i’ve been really terrible at doing anything at all that a person might be able to call an update. As far as writing goes, anyway. In the rest of my life, there’s been massive updating. I got divorced! i moved! i went back to school! but i’m pretty sure i wrote about all of that already.

well, there is the teeniest, tiniest bit of news. i don’t want to jinx anything, but it seems mary guterson has finally gotten her groove back! A round of applause for mary guterson! That’s right, i’m working on a novel. A real one, not just a maybe-this-one-will-work novel. The novel i’ve been waiting to come to me. People! It came to me! It’s staying in the guest room, eating my bad cooking, borrowing my car! Best guest EVER!

so there you have it, the reason why i have resurfaced on this site. Because i am actually doing something writerly. Something i better get back to RIGHT NOW.

Wish me luck.

yours, mary

it’s been a long time. Sorry about that, faithful reader (that means, you, drew).

and now i can’t remember if i already told you that i’m about to start an MFA program in creative writing. Because it doesn’t matter if you’ve written a book. Or two books. Colleges and universities want that certificate if you want a real teaching job. So i’m going to be one of those older returning students. Except i won’t be the older returning students i remember from my college days, the ones who always had pencils and pens and paper at the ready, and all of their notes color coded. i will probably be exactly the same as i was when i was a student, which is to say, a last minute procrastinator who somehow manages to pull through. (note to prospective employers: Joke! Not really! I’m gonna work REALLY HARD in school and REALLY APPRECIATE that piece of paper they’ll hand me in the end that says i am a real live MFA person!)

okay, drew? is this enough stalking material? i promise to write more very soon. miss you.

yours, mary