Seanan McGuire (seanan_mcguire) wrote,
Seanan McGuire
seanan_mcguire

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Let me tell you about Rose Marshall...

Good girls only make the news one way.
Special reports when the kids go to bed
And the ghouls come out to play.
Good girls make their marks and fade away,
People say their prayers and they shake their heads
And they bury them anyway,

And they'll tell you "she was lovely,"
Though they all forget the names
Of the ones who pay the good girl's fee
Down the rocky road to fame—

        So when the crossroads call and your faith is thin
        And you're afraid you might explode,
        Go and talk to the girl in the green silk gown
        Who walks on Sparrow Hill Road...


Rose Marshall was sixteen the year she died: 1945, when Franklin D. Roosevelt began his fourth term as President of the United States and World War II came staggering to a close. A lot of people have said a lot of things since then. She's been called everything from angel to devil. Some people say she makes men race with her and drives them to their deaths. Some say she's trying to save the drivers from that same fate. They whisper her name everywhere from Michigan to Maine, from Wyoming to Washington...but no one really knows the truth. No one knows what really happened that long-ago night on the blind curve at the top of Sparrow Hill Road.

Not until now, anyway.

I am pleased as punch to announce that I will be joining The Edge of Propinquity as one of their 2010 Universe Authors. Starting in January, I'll be inviting you to ride along on the way to Sparrow Hill Road, where a girl named Rose Marshall raced, and died, and rose again to walk the world as an urban legend of a very special kind. I've been looking forward to telling her story for a long time. I finally have the chance to do it. Here's hoping you'll come along for the ride.

Come on, now; let me tell you about Rose Marshall, the sweetest girl that you'd ever see. They always say that the good die young...
Tags: folklore is awesome, short fiction, sparrow hill road
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I can't wait! That's one of my favorites.
Yay!
They always say that the good die young...

But she died back in '53!

*may be a leeeetle obsessed with PLDG, don't mind me*
That's a lot of the point—that the real story is blurred and obscured by the oral tradition that springs up around any urban legend. :) But good catch!

wcg

7 years ago

gorgeousgary

7 years ago

seanan_mcguire

7 years ago

ladyfox7oaks

7 years ago

ladyfox7oaks

7 years ago

dimloep_suum

7 years ago

ladyfox7oaks

7 years ago

dimloep_suum

7 years ago

ladyfox7oaks

7 years ago

dornbeast

7 years ago

ladyfox7oaks

7 years ago

seanan_mcguire

7 years ago

Congrats! I can't wait to join you (and Rose) for the ride!
It's gonna be FUN. I'm about halfway through my first story, "Good Girls Go To Heaven."
Oh, excellent news! This is gonna be awesome!
I'm really, really excited.
Kept her prom night date with the cemetery!

Totally excited. If I weren't laden with laptop and cat, I would so be bouncing up and down.
Rock on!

lovefromgirl

7 years ago

Ooooohhh, Rose Marshall. :D One of my favorite urban legends, along with Resurrection Mary.
That's about the best thing anybody's ever said. :)
SQUEEEEEEEE!!!

I've been waiting for at least a week to offer you my congratulations on this forum; I didn't want to scoop you in your own LJ!

*hugs!*
Thank you for your patience! In other news, GLEE.

Deleted comment

She's an urban legend of my own making, but oh, the girl gets around.
Glee! So much yay!
I'm really excited.
YAY!! Congrats!
Thank you!
Whoever clipped Rose, well, they got away clean...

until now, anyway.
You finally get to find out what happened.
Yay! Does that mean we'll finally get to know why you've said the Rosettes lie? *grin*
Oh, yeah.
Excellent! We look forward to reading the stories! 8-)

Of course now I'll have PLDG stuck in my brain for the rest of today. And probably all of tomorrow. Which may scare my seatmates on the plane to CA tomorrow if I suddenly burst into song somewhere over the Midwest...
PLDG== ???

lysystratae

7 years ago

ladyfox7oaks

7 years ago

idancewithlife

7 years ago

seanan_mcguire

7 years ago

I love urban legends. Now, on a less than stellar day, I have something to look forward to.
Yay!
It has been said already, but my reaction is still: Yay!

I look forwards to this.
I'm very glad. :)
Two responses.

1) Congragulations!
2) YEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSS. (this second was made out loud, incurring the curiosity of my roomate.)
*giggle* I am glad to be a source of in-house confusion.
I am so excited to hear more about Rose!
Believe me, I'm just as excited to tell you.
OH MY GOD YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
YES!!!!!!!!!!
Right on! Congrats! :)
Thank you!
*SQUEEFLAILFLAPPYMUPPETARMS*


I guess submitting the tale of Rose Marshall to the folks at snopes.com would be in bad form, wouldn't it?

...yes. Funny, but still wrong.

(But funny.)
I can't wait to read it. Did I mention I love ghost stories? :)
Oh, you're gonna love Rose.
I am going to go into the poorhouse happily buying all of your works. :)
On the plus side, this particular work is free for all!
too cool
Thank you!
Whoa, I've never heard this one before. I'm looking forward to your interpretation.
I do love a good hitchhiking ghost story...
Rock on, lady.
Thank you!
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