Marilyn L. Rice
I was born in Nottingham in February 1951. That makes me proud of two things: sharing a home town with D H Lawrence and being an Aquarian and I’m a typical Aquarian – independent, forward thinking, humanitarian and definitely unconventional!
My father, a man I adored and idolised, was a farmer and I spent my early childhood in a Nottinghamshire country village. I have fond memories of that time in the fifties when the pace of life was much slower (before Neil Armstrong walked on the moon and the computer became an essential everyday item!) I enjoyed school and naturally loved reading and writing. The saddest memory I have of those days is the death of my young sister who was born with Down’s syndrome and only lived for a few months.
We moved to Derbyshire in 1960 when I was nine. I passed the 11+ exam and attended the local Grammar School. I left with 6 ‘O’ and 2 ‘A’ levels and went to the Crewe College of Education. I studied Divinity and Literary Studies for 3 years and obtained a Certificate in Education. I moved on to the University of Keele and read Divinity and Education for a year before gaining a B.Ed degree.
Life, people, cultures all hold a fascination for me. I enjoyed living in the fast lane, looking for adventure and gaining as many experiences as possible. I used the College holidays to take up employment for both money and experience. I was a waitress, a barmaid, a shop assistant, a baby-sitter and I even delivered the Christmas post.
I graduated in 1973 and began a teaching career in Secondary Education that was to last for twenty years. During those years, I married and divorced, like so many of my contemporaries. I travelled, studied Leisure and Tourism, completed a writing course, worked as a p/t holiday hostess, and a market researcher.
Ill health forced me into early retirement from teaching and to take life at a steadier pace. I now spend a lot of my time writing and reading.
I learned that it was extremely difficult to get into mainstream publishing and decided to take the self-publishing route. On my 50th birthday in February 2001 I proudly launched my first book Time and Tide in a West Bromwich Shopping Mall. No Regrets followed in May 2003.
Then, Stay in Touch in 2005 and on September 16th 2007 at Slaithwaite in Yorkshire I launched my fourth work, Look After Each Other. I was lucky with my fourth book; it was taken on by Strategic Book Publishing (an American Publishing Company) and is now available in hardback from them. On December 28th, 2010 they released the sequel to Look After Each Other. It is Sofia’s Legacy. The official launch for this book will be at the London Book Fair in April. I am extremely proud of the fact that in 10 years I have managed to produce FIVE books and there’s more to come...legacy!