Meet Essay Contest Runner Up, Marlena Bergeron

Marlena’s Bio:

I am the worker bee, I am the house jefa.
I keep the casa clean, I am the Marry Poppins Trifecta:
The activist mom, the fun nanny, the cockney kitchen wench all in one.
Everything feels urgent. It all has to get done.
Sometimes I pay for extra help. Sometimes I work alone.
I steal time for writing, art, and nature.
I make time to phone home.
So blessed: challenges and joys plus an untethered, unmedicated imagination are EXCITING.
But what to do with it all and where to share?
WOW! Thank you, Women On Writing!!

Find out more about Marlena by following her on Twitter @mrsmmwb

WOW: Congratulations on your top ten win in our Q2 Creative Nonfiction essay competition! What prompted you to enter the contest?

Marlena: A friend told me about your contests.

WOW: Reading your essay, “Freezing Points,” I felt as if I was there with you. What inspired you to write this particular story?

Marlena: It kind of wrote itself. I was keeping notes throughout the ordeal, it was all so surreal.

WOW: As a busy mom, how do you find time to write? What works best for you?

Marlena: I steal time from other things I should be doing. When I find a routine that works, I'll let you know.

WOW: Stealing time works! Are you working on any writing projects right now? What’s next for you?

Marlena: I have four years of notes of how I became an accidental environmental activist after moving to a county in Georgia with lots of trees. They are clear-cutting them as we speak. It's called, "Whispering Pines." Part fact, part phantom, part expose on racism and socioeconomics in Georgia's second largest city, and part love story. I love the wildlife in our area. We are on the Fall Line, where the ocean once met the foothills. I fell in love with the trees, so I don't mind playing a fool for them. Forests and farms are trending everywhere else. We have the real deal but are watching it get steamrolled into commercial development and suburban sprawl overnight. They didn't get the memo that trees matter more than parking lots, big box stores, and chain restaurants.

WOW: Thanks so much for chatting with us today, Marlena! Before you go, do you have any tips for our readers who may be thinking about entering writing contests?

Marlena: Write on! The exercise of stringing more than 120 characters together in an interesting and entertaining way is worth it.

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For more information about our quarterly Flash Fiction and Creative Nonfiction Essay contests, visit our contest page here.