Come Fill Yourself With Story …
Oh, look what’s happening — March 20, 2025 5:30 pm at the William Fogg Library in Eliot, Maine.
Join Maine author Mary Lou Bagley—known for her engaging reading style—as she dips and dives into her novels, Other Wise, This Other Way of Knowing, and the just released third book in the series, Love & Other Matters. Meet protagonist Margaret Meader, gifted with second sight, and get to know the wonderful characters who people her story.
Drawing upon the author’s background as teacher, workshop facilitator, and seasoned actress, she uses excerpts as leaping off points for discussion of the writing process. A Q&A session and a book signing follow.
Bring your love of a good story, your comments and questions. And, by all means, bring a friend.
“Mary Lou Bagley has an exquisite knack for story-telling using cadence, tone, and timing to elevate the deeper meaning in her words. I am forever riveted, often moved to bodily sensation, sometimes tears, always entertained.” — Jodi Paloni, author of They Could Live With Themselves, award-winning collection of linked stories set in rural New England, & founder of Maine Coast Writers Retreats.
Welcome to book three in the series:
Gifted with second sight, Margaret Meader—introduced in Other Wise—is both an integral part of her Maine community and an outsider. Her story continues in book 3, Love & Other Matters.
Kasha Gula, a photojournalist from James Harchett’s past, arrives with a request that puts Margaret’s carefully earned friendship with the reclusive Vietnam vet at risk. And when a woman from Margaret’s own past arrives, more challenges surface.
While visions are a constant in her life, a prescient dream sends Margaret on an unexpected journey, awakening a calling that has lain dormant. When she is asked to create a container for communal healing—a medicine bowl of sorts—obstacles and opposition arise, intent on keeping her in her place. Outside the circle of belonging. Ever the Other.
Come fill yourself with story …
a bird in flight … a thin place … a ghost light … the gathering … the telling … the listening
Welcome to book two in the series:
Introducing book one, Other Wise, a novel:
Limited copies still available of the original cover to Other Wise, first in the Margaret Meader series.
Mary Lou Hamilton Bagley – is an experienced educator (former high school teacher of English, Writing Process & Theater Arts and UNH, DCE instructor in Guided Imagery/Relaxation Techniques), an alumna of Molasses Pond Writer’s Conference/Retreats and The Twin Farms Writers Workshops, a seasoned storyteller, and a lifelong writer. Mary Lou is a member of Sag-Aftra and the Maine Writers & Publishers Alliance.
Along the way, Mary Lou has published numerous feature articles and worked with private clientele (d.b.a. A Way With Words) specializing in personalized poetry, including illustrated “pet poems.”
Especially attracted to projects which combine her many talents, in 2001 she wrote and performed Collage: zany bits and some serious stuff. A mix of “original songs ‘n stories ‘n such,” this show introduced theatre audiences to her emerging body of artwork. It touched hearts, souls, and funny bones while exploring virgin territory, growing up alto, recycling, and love, losses & lifelines.
In Out of the Dark: a collection of short stories, she takes to the microphone and reads four of her original stories in audio book form.
Presently in print, her short story, “Turnabout” appears in Twin Farms Anthology; and,“Knowing When” was chosen for publication in Summer Stories — a collection of stories by ten Maine authors written in response to a series of paintings (ekphrasis) by Maine artist, Leslie Anderson. Her flash fiction piece can be found online at Slam. She’s recently concluded a series of bi-weekly children’s shorts in stand-alone and serialized form for the Journal Tribune.
Her poems, “Amethyst Hour At the Starlight on West 47th” and “Every Evening,” were featured in ekphrasis shows at the Kittery Art Association in 2013 & 2014. “Beloved,” a product of her participation in a “creation circle” as part of the Portsmouth Poet Laureate Project, was included in the culminating event in November, 2014. And, “Song For My Mother” earned her an invitation to participate in Jerome Meadows’ BLANK PAGE POETRY Words & Shadows: Truths That Arise Remembered project — a performance honoring the African Burying Ground in Portsmouth, NH
CONNECT: a favorite part of the writing life for this multi-disciplinary artist is engagement with readers.
Mary Lou offers inspiration & gentle nudgings to writers and creatives with her blog, Time To Write and loves reader comments. (For notifications of postings, please sign up on the blog page.)
She is available for readings/book signings, speaking engagements and workshops etc. Email the office at mlbagley@comcast.net for more information. Put “author, author” in the subject heading.
Follow her as Author Mary Lou Bagley on Facebook and say hello.
Book an Author’s Talk. Invite her to your book club. Spread the word about Other Wise, This Other Way of Knowing, and Love & Other Matters. Write an online review if you like what you find here.
Blessings and good wishes to all …
