Articles | Author Milana Marsenich
Mary MacLane, of Butte, Montana, Answers Newspaper Criticisms in 1902
In the first three months of 1901 she wrote a book she called I Await the Devil’s Coming. She spoke openly and sensuously about her inner most feelings, something that was unheard of at the turn of that century. She courted the Devil, begging that he deliver her from her mundane existence in the western mining town.
Censored Books: Montana Standard, February 20, 1995
Last summer I was at the Butte-Silver Bow Public Archives to research a book that I am writing about Mary MacLane, Butte’s Wild Woman and Famed Literary Woman. I am lucky because Mary MacLane has been well-documented. When I asked for guidance in researching her, the director of the archives disappeared for a minute and came back with three file folders full of articles about Mary MacLane and the time during which she lived.
A Wonderful Palm Reading
While in Butte, Montana, conducting research for a book I’m writing, Mary MacLane: Butte’s Wild Woman and Her Wooden Heart, I came upon an article about The Queen of Palmistry, Madame Belmont. She had been visiting Butte for the last month and had aroused interest and suspicion in the mining community.
A Dog Made Me Cry
A sweet message came through the veil, across the ethers to me. Sammy, my husky, passed away two years ago. Before she died, she spent fifteen years wandering Montana trails and climbing mountains with me. We had a good adventurous life together, and I am grateful for every minute of it. She was a sweet, beautiful soul who welcomed everyone she met.
The Myth of Unworthiness
Recently a client told me that she was unworthy. It wasn’t specific to any event, desire, or dream. It was just a general feeling, like a blanket thrown over her, that something was wrong with her. She admitted that she had always felt this way, even as a young child.
I asked her, how can a young child be unworthy? They are barely alive. They are learning and growing, finding their way in the world.
New Release! Shed Girl: A Juliet French Mystery
Juliet French knew magic. The soft wind in the cedars, the haunt- ing howl of the coyote, the smell of the weather when the clouds grayed, and waves crashed against the rocky cliffs of the North- ern Washington coast all filled her with wonder. She lived in Annie’s Court for that ocean smell and the trance it threw over her. She had come from a long line of magic lovers, her mother, her grandmother, her great-grandmother, and all the mothers before. They had found their paths in life with beauty, prayer, tarot cards, and dreams. But when the blood-curdling scream pierced the ocean fog, primal instinct and fear grabbed hold of Juliet. Not magic.
Two Butte Writers, Daughters of a Mining Town
Friends in the writing world are so important.
October 12, 2022, I wrote a website post called The Good Heart of Butte. I imported it here and shared it to my Facebook page. It was about growing up in Butte, Montana, a well-known copper camp, and how it shaped me and my writing. Lois Paige Simenson aka Lolo Paige read it and wrote to me that she was another Butte writer. She lived in Alaska and graduated Butte High School the year before me. I didn’t know her in high school, although I knew many of her classmates.
La Merced: The Real Four-Masted Schooner: Inspiration for Shed Girl-A Juliet French Mystery
Although the hull of the real La Merced is now its own wild place, filled with trees and various other living things, in Shed Girl: A Juliet French Mystery, the main body of the ship is dank and musty with room to roam. You might find any one of a number of teens camping out in her fictional hull.
Happy New Year: A Thousand Blessings to You in 2024
I’d like to take a minute to thank everyone for their support through the last year and wish you all a Happy New Year. I’m not sure why it brings such peace to me to have this new beginning.
Idaho Madams, A Review by DK Marley, From The Historical Fiction Company
And I love this! “Marsenich’s writing craft shines through every page. The prose is both evocative and informative, maintaining a balance between emotion and fact. The lyrical quality of her writing ensures that the stories linger long after the book is closed.
The collective story arc of “Idaho Madams” is one of resilience, survival, and, in many cases, redemption. Each individual tale contributes to this overarching narrative, painting a vivid picture of a bygone era.”
Shed Girl: A Juliet French Mystery
Annie’s Court has a runaway problem. Runaways arrive and then they disappear. Juliet French, an old runaway herself, does tarot readings for petty cash at the Farmer’s Market. Across the Market, Tony LeCrosse sells toys. Juliet notices the runaways flock to LeCrosse. Just before they go missing.
My Father’s Broken Heart and the Lewis and Clark Caverns
Six months after my mother died, my 73-year-old father pulled his kayak out of the Colorado River and his heart stopped. It stopped only for a few seconds and then started again. My brother took him back to his house in Glenwood Springs and my father insisted on driving home to Butte, Montana.
