Please subscribe to receive notifications of new blog posts.

Marion Dane Bauer Marion Dane Bauer

Creatures of Longing

It made perfect sense that my main character was going to be angry. He had good reason. His mother had walked out on him and his dad when he was only three. He has never understood why she left, and he hasn’t seen her since she did.

Read More
A Marvel
Marion Dane Bauer Marion Dane Bauer

A Marvel

When will we teach our children in school what they are? We should say to each of them: do you know what you are? You are a marvel.

Read More
“Painfully Sad”
Marion Dane Bauer Marion Dane Bauer

“Painfully Sad”

Today is the official publication date for my latest novel, Sunshine. And I’m delighted that it is being greeted with such enthusiasm.

Read More
Love is a Choice
Marion Dane Bauer Marion Dane Bauer

Love is a Choice

For this reason loving involves commitment. We are not automatic lovers of self, others, world, or God.

Read More
On Nuance
Marion Dane Bauer Marion Dane Bauer

On Nuance

It’s the primary thing I look for these days, in films, in novels, in life. Nuance.

Read More
Let it Go
Marion Dane Bauer Marion Dane Bauer

Let it Go

To live in this world you must be able to do three things:

Read More
On Emptiness
Marion Dane Bauer Marion Dane Bauer

On Emptiness

It’s something I have thought about often and discussed with friends, the Buddhist concept of emptiness.

Read More
I Can Be Angry
Marion Dane Bauer Marion Dane Bauer

I Can Be Angry

I can be angry. I can hate. I can rage. But the moment I have defined another being as my enemy, I lose part of myself

Read More
To Be Here Now
Marion Dane Bauer Marion Dane Bauer

To Be Here Now

To be here now, alive in the twenty-first century and smart enough to know it, you had to be…extremely — make that miraculously — fortunate in your personal ancestry.

Read More
The Lovely Ladies
Marion Dane Bauer Marion Dane Bauer

The Lovely Ladies

For years I have met regularly with a pair of friends nearly as old as I am. We call ourselves The Lovely Ladies. We used to meet in one another’s homes. Now, of course, by Zoom.

Read More
Fiction
Marion Dane Bauer Marion Dane Bauer

Fiction

Fiction gives us empathy:

Read More
What is the Theme of your Story?
Marion Dane Bauer Marion Dane Bauer

What is the Theme of your Story?

I once heard a Newbery medalist tell of the time her grandson called to ask about the theme of her famous novel. He needed to know what it was for a class assignment.

She thought for a moment, then said, “I suppose the theme is . . .”

Read More
Why Not Me?
Writing, WWII Marion Dane Bauer Writing, WWII Marion Dane Bauer

Why Not Me?

I was born toward the end of the Great Depression and came into awareness during World War II.  Nonetheless, my childhood was quiet and secure.  The Depression touched me only because it haunted my father, but the war had little impact.

Read More
My City is Burning
Journal Journal

My City is Burning

My city is burning.

Yes, I live in Minnesota, in Minneapolis-St. Paul, where a police officer knelt on an unarmed black man’s neck while three other officers—and many members of our community—stood watching. You probably know the story. The black man died.

Read More