About the Writer

Roger William Market

I was born on June 30, 1986 in Clinton, IN and lived much of my pre-M.F.A. life in and around Montezuma, Rockville, Crawfordsville, and Terre Haute. I received my undergrad education at Wabash College in Crawfordsville, IN and received a B.A. in English with a minor in history.

At Wabash, I studied British Victorian and Restoration literature, Jewish literature, Irish/British literature of the 20th century, and American literature of the 20th century. I think that covers most, if not all, of it. In terms of history, my areas were Chinese history, world colonialism in film, Ancient Rome (though I don’t remember much from the one class I took on Rome), and the African American athlete (a class from which I can really only name drop, but that’s okay; I went outside my comfort zone and was all the better for it, not to mention I had to take the class for distribution, but that’s an entirely separate issue). Wabash is an amazing place to get an education, and I enjoyed many classes there, but the ones I can look back on now with the most excitement are Intro to Creative Writing and Intro to Film/Video Production. Additionally, I thoroughly enjoyed my senior seminar on Dickens and Hardy, along with the paid-for immersion trip to London and Dorchester over Thanksgiving break.

Currently (fall 2009 at the time of this writing), I am living in Baltimore, MD while going to school for an M.F.A. in Creative Writing and Publishing Arts at the University of Baltimore. And the program is incredible so far! It’s been nice being able to step back into creative writing, for one thing, as I’ve only ever been able to take a single fiction workshop before starting this program, and to have a sharply focused education, not that I didn’t love the broad scope of the liberal arts experience I had at Wabash. I happened on Wabash by chance, and I am forever grateful that I did; before my senior year of high school, I had wanted to be a computer engineer from fourth grade on, but an admissions visit at my high school changed my mind and sold me on the all-male Wabash College. There, I decided for sure that I wanted to be a writer and realized that my life to that point had led me to this, not computers, as I had always enjoyed making books and writing essays and stories. Specifically, TV and movies had been a big part of my life, and I decided that I wanted to write for TV and movies. When I was choosing M.F.A. programs, I wanted one that was versatile, one that didn’t lock me into a screenwriting degree that I may end up wasting money on, due to the fact that the business is difficult to get into. Resigning myself to this fact, I decided a more general creative writing degree would get me on the right path, and a publishing aspect would only sweeten the pot and give me a “real job” to latch onto and a more marketable résumé.

As for favorite writers/works, I have too many to name and could never pick an absolute favorite, but here are a few: The Infernal Desire Machines of Doctor Hoffman by Angela Carter (and probably anything else she wrote), Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens, Tess of the D’Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy, The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison (and, again, probably anything else she has written and will write in the future), As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner (as frustrating as it is), The Talisman by Stephen King (and many other King works), Being There by Jerzy Kosinski, Everything is Illuminated by Jonathon Safran Foer, the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling, the Sookie Stackhouse mysteries by Charlaine Harris (possibly better known as the hit HBO series True Blood), and the short story “Dimensions” by Alice Munro. Most of these are absolutely breathtaking, and a couple are extensions of my childhood/childlike fascination with the supernatural (but, let’s be honest, the Harry Potter series and the Sookie Stackhouse mysteries are still some damn fine books, which we can also say about many of Stephen King’s works). In short, I like the popular fluff stuff, but I also enjoy the classics, the experimental, and the post-modern.

Finally, I’d like to say a few words about movies and TV shows: I love them, and aside from my books and my lovely MacBook Pro, they are my life and take up a significant portion of my time. That said, if it aired on The WB, chances are I saw and loved it. Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Everwood, Jack & Bobby, Charmed, Reba, Gilmore Girls, Smallville, Supernatural, Greetings from Tucson, Roswell…all these and more are at the top of my favorite shows list, as are Veronica Mars, 3rd Rock from the Sun, Carnivàle, True Blood, Ugly Betty, Glee, Heroes, The Office, Coupling (the British version), and so many more shows that I’ve watched over the years but can’t remember at the moment. The story is similar with my favorite movies. I very much enjoy House of Flying Daggers, Hero, Raise the Red Lantern, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Once Were Warriors, Whale Rider, Rabbit-Proof Fence, Being There, Searching for Bobby Fischer, The Dark Knight, the Harry Potter series, the Lord of the Rings series, Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events, and, of course, many others. You may “hear” me mention other books, shows, and movies—probably will, in fact—and I do apologize if that makes me seem inconsistent or forgetful or flighty.

Originally written 30-September-2009 at 2:46 a.m. Eastern, in Baltimore, MD
Last updated 30-September-2009 at 2:23 p.m. Eastern, in Baltimore, MD