Author Q&A: Cindy Marabito

Today we're interviewing Cindy Marabito, a longtime writer, a part-time filmmaker, and full-time pit bull rescuer.

She has published three books and is about to release a collection of short stories, Small Texas, inspired by the strange and wonderful characters that spring from the deep East Texas Big Thicket.

SADYE: How did you come to see yourself as a writer, and what inspired you to seek publication?

CINDY: I started writing as a kid inspired by gothic romance from the pen of Victoria Holt.

I spent my early teens secretly devouring True Confessions magazines while my poor mother tried to counterbalance with the classics.

My interest throughout my writing career is to mix a bit of the pulp with literary as if Eudora Welty were secretly writing soft-core porn.

SADYE: Which of your characters would you most like to trade places with?

CINDY: Funny you should mention as they are all part of me.

I’m like the character in the film Deconstructing Harry who’s surrounded by, obsessed with and besieged by the characters he created.

Currently, Jody Luther, the 15-year-old protagonist from my book Jackson, ticks a lot of my boxes. I identify with her struggle to hang onto her own soul and sanity while battling hate and racism in the Jim Crow South.

SADYE: Which of your characters would you most like to become romantically involved with?

CINDY: Sam from my book Jules, the Truth Finder.

He is the sexiest, most handsome, well read, intelligent, a civil rights and feminist activist and knows how to handle a woman, any woman.

Is it any wonder that Jules drops everything and takes off to find out what happened to the love of her life when she hears he’s died a mysterious death.

SADYE: What period of history would you most like to travel back to and what historical figure would you most like to meet

CINDY: The '70s. I actually did meet Eudora Welty and wrote about it in Jackson.

I would most like to meet Bob Dylan provided I could manage to keep my mouth shut. What in the world would you say to Bob Dylan? Maybe just go for a walk, have a cup of coffee and listen to the sounds around you.

SADYE: What has been the most touching or memorable piece of reader feedback you’ve received?

CINDY: Billy Bob Thornton said my screenplay Jackson Miss, from which Jackson is based, touched his heart.

SADYE: What message or theme would you like readers to take away from your work?

CINDY: It is important to me to exhume the story in Jackson of the Jackson State Massacre in which two young black men were murdered in cold blood by the police.

It has been ignored for over fifty years. I will give my book away to resurrect this story and bring the conversation to every living room and meeting place.

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Learn more about Cindy Marabito on her website, where her books can also be purchased; add her on Facebook; and follow her on Twitter and Instagram. 

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