Writing

Nice things people have said about my writing

“Marie Kare’s witty, playful, cracked ‘How to Celebrate National Days’ shorts don’t just delight the reader, though they do that, too. Underneath, unsettlingly, they make us question, in a way most charmingly unsolemn, why we solemnize the days and the causes and the things we do. Fresh, inventive, idiosyncratic in the best way.”

— Michael Griffith, Fiction Editor, Cincinnati Review

“In an ideal world, Wikihow should be written for Victorian lizard people, therapy should be sponsored by jelly beans and bleach, and the cooking channel should be hosted by happy goths. They should make you smile but also kill you IRL. ‘Certain Doom’ is all of this. Cheerfully demented prose-poetry.”

— Kevin Tang, Author and Founding Editor of Blunderbuss Magazine

“Seriously, this book is a delight! Awesome observations, witticisms, and wonderful bite-sized bits of storytelling for both national days you knew about and the dozens and dozens of completely ridiculous days you didn’t. Super charming, super varied, and legitimately smile-plastered-on-your-face-the-whole-time material.”

— Will Herring, Writer, Designer, Illustrator, & Indie Game Developer

“In true postmodern fashion, each of Kare’s short fictions deconstruct the rules laid out in their titles. Yet Kare’s work does more than reveal the false commercialism of pseudoholidays. Her writing also amplifies fundamental personal and political dilemmas and, through a darkly funny lens, she exposes the live wires behind the human condition.”

— Maggie Su, Assistant Editor, Cincinnati Review

Flash Fiction

15.1_summer2018_covfront_383x575.png — The Cincinnati Review

Five exclusive pieces of short fiction were included in Issue 15.1 of The Cincinnati Review – my first ever publication in a literary journal!
You can read an analysis of one of these pieces at this link.

National Pen Pal Day – June 1

Think back to when you were a kid and you’d give the classroom globe a spin, stop it with your fingertip, and vow to move to whatever location you landed on. Recall how sometimes you’d hit the ocean and have to spin again. Recall that sometimes you’d hit the ocean twice in a row, and your classmates would chant that your destiny was to die alone at sea. “Die at sea! Die at sea!” they’d chant, and you’d all have a good laugh.

Today, do that, but with people.

Pull out your phone, give your contact list a whirl, and drop your thumb on a random entry. Initiate a correspondence over text with your selected contact. Escalate the frequency and intensity of your communication over the course of the day. Forge a genuine emotional connection. Meet for coffee. Fall in love. Get married. Enjoy a happy life together.

If your first contact does not respond, try another. If neither contact responds, die alone at sea.

Under the pen name "Certain Doom"...

how to celebrate national days.jpg — How to Celebrate National Days: Volume 1

The first book I ever wrote was a finalist in the first writing contest I ever entered – the Robert and Adele Schiff Awards for Poetry and Prose. It's available in Kindle and paperback formats.

how to celebrate national days volume 2.jpg — How to Celebrate National Days: Volume 2

My second book follows the general format and absurdity of the first, but with an added, intermittent narrative element and a much better book cover. It's also available in Kindle and paperback formats.

TWO OF MY fAVORITE ADS

As a massive fan of Wolfenstein: The New Order, it was such an incredible thrill to write and creative direct these promoted spots for Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus. I’ve done bigger, fancier campaigns since, but these may remain two of my favorite ads I've ever made.