Marlene Samuels Ph.D | Sociologist, Writer, Presenter, Instructor

"If we knew what it was we were doing, it would not be called research, would it?"

~ Albert Einstein

"The more important reason is that research itself provides an important long-run perspective on the issues that we face on a day to day basis."

~ Ben Bernanke

"‘ Google’ is not a synonymy for ‘research’. "

~ Dan Brown, The Lost Symbol

“If you have any young friends who aspire to become writers, the second greatest favor you can do them is to present them with copies of The Elements of Style. The first greatest, of course, is to shoot them now, while they’re happy.”

~ Dorothy Parker

“A short story I (wrote) long ago would barge into my house in the middle of the night, shake me awake and shout, 'Hey, this is no time for sleeping! You can't forget me, there's still more to write!' Impelled by that voice, I would find myself writing a novel. ...My short stories and novels connect inside me in a very natural, organic way.”

~ Haruki Murakami

“In our reasonings concerning matter of fact, there are all imaginable degrees of assurance, from the highest certainty to the lowest species of moral evidence. A wise man, therefore, proportions his belief to the evidence.”

~ David Hume

“How easy it is for so many of us today to be undoubtedly full of information yet fully deprived of accurate information.”

~ Criss Jami, Healology

"To do the writing, I have to have time to do the research."

~ Jean-Jacques Annaud

“You can always edit a bad page. You can't edit a blank page.”

~ Jodi Picoult

"Two half truths don't make one truth.”

~ Joseph Julius Bonkowski Jr

“Consistency and accuracy instills believability”

~ Bernard Kelvin Clive

"The time will come when diligent research over long periods will bring to light things that now lie hidden."

~ Lucius Annaeus Seneca (4 BCE – 65 CE)

"All I am armed with is research."

~ Mike Wallace

“Memory can change the shape of a room; it can change the color of a car. And memories can be distorted. They're just an interpretation, they're not a record, and they're irrelevant if you have the facts.”

~ Christopher Nolan

“I hate writing, I love having written.”

~ Dorothy Parker

“It will be worth it if I am remembered, if not flatteringly, then at least with some small amount of accuracy.”

~ Patrick Rothfuss, The Name of the Wind

“For every fact there is an infinity of hypotheses. ”

~ Robert M. Pirsig

The Scientist must set in order. Science is built up with facts, as a house is with stones. But a collection of facts is no more a science than a heap of stones is a house.”

~ Henri Poincaré

“Don’t start right off writing the ‘Great American Novel’, that's too much pressure and you'll get disappointed; start with porn, it’s fun and a good way to get your feet wet.”

~ scavola

“And in the absence of facts, myth rushes in, the kudzu of history.”

~ Stacy Schiff, Cleopatra: A Life

“10 Steps to Becoming a Better Writer: Write. Write more. Write even more. Write even more than that. Write when you don’t want to. Write when you do. Write when you have something to say. Write when you don’t. Write every day. Keep writing.”

~ Brian Clark

“I'm not a writer. Ernest Hemingway was a writer. I just have a vivid imagination and type 90 WPM.”

~ Tiffany Madison

“There is a ruthlessness to the creative act. It often involves a betrayal of the status quo.”

~ Alan Watt, The 90-Day Novel: Unlock the story within

“Prejudice is a great time saver. You can form opinions without having to get the facts.”

~ E. B. White

"Research is formalized curiosity. It is poking and prying with a purpose."

~ Zora Neale Hurston

Why I Write What I Do
I write in two distinct genres — sociology and creative non-fiction. At first glance they probably strike my readers as totally unrelated but remarkably, the two are quite inter-related. How can that be? Because one — sociology, is routed in my academic training and as such, draws upon my interests and curiosities about society. The other — creative non-fiction is experientially based, drawing upon the impact society’s complexities impart upon me.

Always, I’m asking the same question yet each time I do, it’s within a new context. That question, combined with my need to conceptualize reasonable answers, is the foundation for most of my writing — academic or creative non-fiction.

So exactly what is that question? I ask about the factors that permit — even encourage, entire populations to behave irrationally and immorally. At a global level, I contemplate how entire countries, even continents, become complicit during mass-insanity that supplants rational and moral thought. Many of my non-fiction stories not only consider the dilemma but are, in fact rooted in it.

Sad to say that examples are far too prevalent; World War II, segregation in the USA, and slaughters in the name of ethnic cleansing in Africa, Asia, the Middle East but the tragedy is that those are but a few. My writing about this topic remains in a constant state of flux, evolving in concert with the progress of my life and as such, my increasing awareness.

I want my readers to gain a deeper understanding of the underlying roots of intolerance plus how traumatic historical events impart long term, trans-generational effects.

Marlene Samuels, PH.D.

Sociologist, Writer, Presenter, & Instructor