A
Table of Her Own
Author
Marilyn Kaye 71C-74G has her own
writing table at Hall 1900 cafe on rue Rambuteau.
I
always sit at this table because its near
a plug for my laptop, Kaye says. So
one day I came in, and the staff presented me with
this plaque that said, Marilyns Table,
and they hung it on the wall above the chair.
A
prolific writer of juvenile fiction, Kaye spends
about half the year in Paris and the other half
in New York City as an assistant professor of childrens
literature at St. Johns University. She has built
a full, rich life in France through nearly two decades
of bi-continental living.
I
just had my birthday party here this summer and
seventy people came, of all ages, she says.
We had ribs, burgers, cole slaw, wine. Everyone
pitched in and bought me a Cartier watch. My life
is more here now.
Kaye,
who grew up in Atlanta, was an English major at
Emory during the early 1970s. After visiting France
with a friend one summer, Kaye says, I just
fell in love immediately with the country. We met
so many wonderful people.
Kaye
went on to receive her masters degree in library
science at Emory and her doctorate from the University
of Chicago, all the while making extended visits
to France and taking intensive courses in the language.
Her
first book, the teen romance Call Me Beautiful,
was published by Bantam in 1984. Kaye has had one
hundred and twenty juvenile novels published since,
including Avons Camp Sunnyside Friends
series, Harpers Three of a Kind
series, and Bantams Replica series.
Through
her work, which ranges from family stories to traditional
fantasy, Kaye says, I want to give teenagers
the sense that all their feelings are legitimate.
Youre not a chicken to be afraid. Youre
not a monster if youre angry. Its not
stupid to cry. I want to keep telling them all that
they are normal.
She
writes every day and keeps a journal of concepts
and notes for future books. Im very
systematic. Its work and sweat, not waiting
for lightning to strike. Someone asked me once,
Dont you get up some mornings and not
feel like writing? Yes. Then
what do you do? I write anyway.
M.J.L.
|