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Marjie Alonso

@marjiealonso.com

Writer. Former executive director of animal behavior nonprofits. Currently working to help friends with big projects. Manager of family. Regularly bested by my beagle. MarjieAlonso.com https://open.substack.com/pub/piecesofstring

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24.06.2023
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Latest posts by Marjie Alonso @marjiealonso.com

Wondering who needs to Google that for more info...

02.03.2026 12:25 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Jesus.

02.03.2026 12:10 πŸ‘ 7 πŸ” 6 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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For the last four, maybe five weeks, I’ve been buffering, unable to work on anything. Unable to do anything, really, but vegetate. It’s a weird, disconcerting feeling. But also, why?

#writing #writingcommunity

02.03.2026 12:19 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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John And the comfort of living with ghosts

This is the only house I’ve lived in without the ghosts that cradle and insulate, rustle in the beams and boards, and act as flying buttresses, arching up and into the place, holding it steady as it collects more memories, more people, and more stories.
#writers

open.substack.com/pub/piecesof...

03.02.2026 12:01 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

@massgovernor.bsky.social California just joined the World Health Organization through their response network. You’re being weak on ICE. Will you be strong on our health?
#leadership #democrats

24.01.2026 15:53 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Pitch Day Last Thursday I met with my lovely agent Natasha via zoom in order to get ready for today, January 20th.

Let this be a lesson to all you younger writers out there: Create as much chaos as you can, and take notes. You might need it for the material.

#writing #writingcommunity

open.substack.com/pub/piecesof...

20.01.2026 12:54 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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She says so much saying nothing at all.
#dogs #writingcommunity #cold

12.01.2026 14:42 πŸ‘ 5 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Thanks!

20.12.2025 21:32 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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I Agreed To Foster A Nightmare Dog. I Had No Idea She'd Change My Life In Unbelievable Ways. "I noticed I was laughing again. I reached for her next to me when I worked. I was sleeping better. I was telling stories again."

The hideous, semi-hairless creature I’d agreed to foster was a nightmare. There was no way I was keeping this thing, which was perfect.

I put her in the car.

#huffpost #writing #writingcommunity #dogs

www.huffpost.com/entry/empty-...

20.12.2025 15:12 πŸ‘ 4 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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It's Coming On Christmas Happy mid-December!

Happy mid-December! Everything is terrible and nothing is OK.

The mojo is bad right now; it’s heavy and it’s looming, waiting to finish suffocating anything below when its miasma rolls in.
#writing #writers #depression #winter

open.substack.com/pub/piecesof...

18.12.2025 11:56 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Leaving Home At some point it became clear to me that I couldn’t manage my giant city house.

β€œYou’re not really leaving” is not true. The house will remain, but my cradle will not. The safety will not. And each drawer that I empty feels like a knife sliding slickly between my ribs and into my core.
#writingcommunity #writing #home #dogs

open.substack.com/pub/piecesof...

25.11.2025 11:46 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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The cold. My fault. Also not sharing dinner enough.
#dogs #writingcommunity #writers

18.11.2025 00:43 πŸ‘ 10 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Seeking Musical Journals There was a time when I was a songwriter.

She said β€œAndy, you’re better than your past”

In written or song form... this speaks to a lifetime, a relationship, a bittersweet acceptance, a forgiveness, and so much more.
#writing #writingcommunity #jasonisbell #music

piecesofstring.substack.com/p/seeking-mu...

09.11.2025 15:59 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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It's a Bumble Beagle! Or a Beagle Bee...
#Provincetown #writingcommunity #writers

30.10.2025 22:20 πŸ‘ 4 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Maybe Springsteen and β€œTougher Than the Rest” are rising again because his weary testament to possibilities speaks for a lot of Americans at the moment.
#springsteen @cogwbur.bsky.social
www.wbur.org/cognoscenti/...

26.10.2025 20:37 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Fixed that headline for you, media people.

#Trump #shutdown

01.10.2025 15:45 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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A Writer's Guide to Getting Published: Gordian Knot Edition I’ve said it before, even yesterday to a struggling friend, and I’ll say it again: The easiest part of writing a book is writing a book.

The title decides if an editor will even open your email.

Look, Taylor, we like the piece, but we’ve re-titled it, β€œLeaving My Red Scarf Behind: How dating an older man ruined my self-esteem.” β€œAll Too Well” just doesn’t say anything.

#writingcommunity #writers

open.substack.com/pub/piecesof...

01.10.2025 12:20 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Your grandfather will chase the protesting cook away when you waste five eggs by breaking the yolks. Then seven, eight, eleven.

He will celebrate your two perfect eggs ... the best he’s ever had, he tells you
brevitymag.com/current-issu...

@dintywmoore.bsky.social @writingcommunity.bsky.social

15.09.2025 11:43 πŸ‘ 4 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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14.09.2025 07:27 πŸ‘ 4 πŸ” 2 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

So anyway, about those Epstein files...

12.09.2025 11:53 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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She might eat the Kleenex. Or the jelly beans. Or both. Mostly just checking to see if I’ve noticed.
#writingcommunity #writers #dogs

17.08.2025 14:06 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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July sunrise
#provincetown #writingcommunity #writing

26.07.2025 13:06 πŸ‘ 4 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Will not move to the shade. Does this so that people passing by will accuse me of animal abuse. Opens one eye after they say β€œpoor thing” and looks at me.
#writingcommunity #dogs

26.07.2025 01:52 πŸ‘ 9 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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Full bloom summer
#writingcommunity #writing #provincetown

11.07.2025 21:50 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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How the hell is it already the end of June?
And I haven't sent out any queries yet...
Is it possible to be allergic to querying?
#dogs #writingcommunity #writing

28.06.2025 11:22 πŸ‘ 8 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Early morning beagle discovery.
#dogs #writingcommunity #writers

27.06.2025 16:45 πŸ‘ 5 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Falling Back Softly And Green Tea with Apricot and Vanilla

But right now, in this moment, my slutty arms and I are donning white shirts, bringing out the jewelry every day, and feeling like yes, I can do this one more time before I die. I do have permission to feel this kind of free.
#writingcommunity #writing

piecesofstring.substack.com/p/falling-ba...

10.06.2025 11:50 πŸ‘ 5 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Someone Returned In 2023 I stood outside what was clearly a terrible piece of property on Commercial Street in Provincetown, Cape Cod.

...A nor’easter hit, with fifty-five mile per hour winds and driving rain...when I looked outside that first night, anxious that she was somehow not OK, she was standing strong, enthusiastically howling into the gale.
#writingcommunity #writers #dogs

open.substack.com/pub/piecesof...

07.06.2025 18:13 πŸ‘ 5 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Someone Returned In 2023 I stood outside what was clearly a terrible piece of property on Commercial Street in Provincetown, Cape Cod.

In the early morning I saw a mother fox on her hind legs, sniffing the statue. β€œWhat fresh hell is this,” I could almost hear, β€œAll the tourists with their Frenchies aren’t bad enough?
#writingcommunity #writers #writing

open.substack.com/pub/piecesof...

27.05.2025 11:46 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Holly's Holy Rollers Yesterday I received back the last of the Big Three developmental edits of my book.

One of the things that’s kept me from writing more in my life was the feeling that it was self-indulgent. My inability to stay away from it, or to simply do it and keep it to myself, was proof of my narcissism.
#writing #writingcommunity #authors

open.substack.com/pub/piecesof...

13.05.2025 21:19 πŸ‘ 4 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0