VERNELLE, Marjorie 1948-

PERSONAL:

Born March 20, 1948, in Omaha, NE; daughter of Herman H., Sr. (a mail carrier) and Marjorie (an elementary school principal; maiden name, Marshall; later surname, Norwood) Vernelle. Education: University of Toronto, B.A., 1970; San Francisco State University, M.A., 1977. Politics: "Progressive." Religion: Christian. Hobbies and other interests: Painting (watercolor and acrylics).

ADDRESSES:

Office—3707 Fifth Ave., Suite 454, San Diego, CA 92103. E-mail—vernelle2001@yahoo.com.

CAREER:

Sight and Insight, Mill Valley, CA, board member, 1980-81; school site coordinator for public schools in Seattle, WA, 1990-96; National University, La Jolla, CA, instructor and online instructor, 1997—. University of Phoenix, instructor, 1999—. Seattle Art Museum, cochair of Cultural Diversity Committee, 1995-96; member of Museum of Photographic Art, San Diego, CA, and Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center.

WRITINGS:

Leaders of Black Civil Rights, Lucent Books (San Diego, CA), 2000.

E-mail du jour: Letters from a Year in France (e-book), Xlibris.com (Philadelphia, PA), 2000.

Contributor to periodicals, including Coast Highway Review.

WORK IN PROGRESS:

Upon the Bay of Angels, a collection of short stories and a novella set in Nice, France; research on wine and the world of nineteenth-century French courtesans, with a novel expected to result.

SIDELIGHTS:

Marjorie Vernelle told CA: "Writing has become something of a midlife career change for me. Although I still teach for most of my living, exploring avenues for writing and publishing is now my second career. Finding ways to combine my writing and my painting (watercolors and acrylics) and possibly using both in some form of electronic storytelling is what I do when I am not teaching.

"I hope that my writing of nonfiction will serve to enlighten and educate. I hope that my writing of fiction will simply delight the reader and provide a new and different perspective.

"As for what particularly interests or inspires me in the work of others, I pay special attention to successful first novels and what those authors have to say about their writing processes.

"The advice I offer to aspiring writers is to write what they feel and to present it to the public (in readings, competitions, etc.) as much as they can. The feedback is very helpful, and nothing makes you feel more like a real writer than reading from one of your published works."