Author: Mary Akers

  • Mid-American Review reviews Women Up On Blocks

    Mid-American ReviewVolume XXIX, Number 2(Reproduced with permission.) Women Up On Blocks: Stories by Mary Akers. Winston-Salem, North Carolina: Press 53, 2009. 160 pages. $14.00, paper. The publisher’s note to Mary Akers’ debut collection of short stories describes it as an exploration of “the price women pay when they allow the roles of wife, mother, daughter,…

  • My Kindergarten Driver Safety Class

    Last night my husband and I completed a six-hour driver’s safety class, taken in order to receive a discount on our auto insurance. It was an eye opener, and I don’t mean the content of the course. I guess I’m naive, but I tend to assume that the majority of people in my town are…

  • Negative Scripts

    I’ve passed a good couple of weeks as a writer. The writing life (at least for me) most often involves alternating periods of boom-bust, feast-famine, mania-depression…choose your metaphor, but the fact is we writers often go through long periods of working away quietly at the desk with nothing from the outside world, followed by intense…

  • Literary Mama!

    I’m thrilled and honored to have a new story up at Literary Mama, one of my very favorite ezines.

  • Author Exposure Review

    I just came across an amazing, generous and thorough review of my short story collection by Joan Hanna over at Author Exposure. What a gift! I *heart* readers. (Check out Joan’s blog and read some of her lovely lyrical poetry there.) Excerpt: “The women in these thirteen short stories will resonate with you long after…

  • The Bounty of a Generous Heart

    My co-author Andy Bienkowski was interviewed at New Dimensions Radio back in March and they have produced a wonderful hour-long show which you can listen to on June 30th, or download at their Website, Andy is a marvelous speaker. Enjoy!

  • IN THE WIDENING GULF BETWEEN SORROW AND ANGER

    I am an environmentalist who has studied the ocean and her creatures for more than thirty years. Though not strictly a scientist, my voice is as valid as a voice that calculates, quantifies, measures, and speaks with the authority of an advanced degree. We need facts, yes, we need analysis, but we also need emotion.…

  • German edition!

    I’ve just received my author copies of our German version of One Life to Give, and it is stunning. Thanks so much to dtv for making such a lovely version of our book!

  • A Disobedient Girl by Ru Freeman

    Ru Freeman’s gorgeous debut novel A Disobedient Girl opens with eleven-year-old Latha enjoying her daily indulgence—an afternoon wash at the well using a rose-scented soap. The soap is a symbol of status and she has stolen it from the Vithanages, a family raising her to be a servant for Thara, their same-age daughter. The two…

  • Who Owns Our Truths?

    An excellent essay by Susan Henderson over at The Nervous Breakdown.