Featured Interview With Marguerite Arnold
Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I grew up between New York City, London and North Carolina. I was both a vet’s brat and a writer brat. I now live in Germany. I left the United States two years ago due to the situation I faced as a medical marijuana user who actually got better but then could not find a job.
I was very lucky to start to find freelance journalism work online, and I currently cover the marijuana market as it develops for several US based and UK ‘zines.
I am also applying for co-citizenship here. My father was a Holocaust era German Jew. It is a fabulous country, and the Germans really seem to like writers. I don’t have any pets right now, because I am still too much of a migrant. That said, I would really love a dog. In Germany, however, you have to attend three days of pet owner training classes and actually get certified before you can have a pet.
At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
Both my parents were writers. My mother is still a well known children’s book illustrator and writer. That said, I think it was my father who gave me the most instruction if not inspiration and certainly the discipline to write. My first book was a fully illustrated “tome” about the ancient Egyptians (one of my paternal uncles deciphered the Dead Sea Scrolls) that I researched, wrote and illustrated at age five. My father sat me down at the age of 8 to write my first real book. His first instruction, “If you want to be a writer, just do it,” is probably the best advice anyone ever gave me about writing.
Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
The answer to this question is a book unto itself. I grew up surrounded by books. I read the official cannon…most of it in first edition…before I was 13. I have no favorite genre. And the inspiration for my writing depends on the subject and my mood. I found myself actually drawing on the work of fiction writers to a certain degree, as I set about writing “Green.” Even though it is nonfiction, I employ a lot of tricks of novelists. This includes setting the scene, creating a tight narrative and timeline, and creating several storylines that run throughout the book. As a result, it does read like a novel.
Tell us a little about your latest book?
“Green: The First 12 Months of Modern American Marijuana Reform” is the first book to hit the market about course of marijuana reform in America in 2014. Each chapter is named for a month of the year and examines not only the events of the month, but places them in a context for the reader. For example in the first chapter, which you can easily find online at the book’s website or Amazon or just by doing a simple search, I talk about Colorado. I look at the mechanics of market start in January, but then I look at some history to give readers an understanding of what this really meant. In the third chapter, I look at the business sector and the challenges that face market development if not the unbelieveably brave entrepreneurs in the space because March is the end of the first quarter of reporting in the business world. Etc.
As I was writing the book, I was also inspired in some ways by my other paternal uncle, Peter Drucker. He published his first book, “The End of Economic Man,” literally the day that the Stalin Hitler pact was announced. I did not know if I would have the luck of history on my side, but it seems to be happening that way. It was very strange to be on a radio show the day after my book was published online and that was the day that the new bill to reschedule pot was introduced in the Senate. What I mean by the comparison here is that is that to a large degree, I do believe the marijuana reform movement is not “just” about the right to use marijuana – and for either medical or recreational purposes – but also about freedom of innovation, entrepreneurship and scientific research that has been held back by not only laws, but certain societal mores that are morphing into something else as we continue into the 21st century.
The movement forward has also certainly been aided by the rise of information available via social media and those who use it. “Green” therefore, is not only about marijuana reform, but the society, economy and political environment in which such reform takes place.
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