Maryka Biaggio

Maryka Biaggio is a psychology professor turned novelist who brings forgotten lives back to the light. Specializing in historical fiction inspired by real people, she is celebrated for illuminating overlooked historical figures with psychological depth and narrative grace. Her debut novel, Parlor Games (2013), launched a distinguished career that includes Eden Waits, The Point of Vanishing, The Model Spy, Gun Girl and the Tall Guy, and Margery and Me (forthcoming from Regal House in 2026). Her work has earned numerous accolades, including the Willamette Writers Award, Oregon Writers Colony Award, Historical Novel Society Review Editors' Choice, La Belle Lettre Award, and a Michigan Upper Peninsula Notable.

My Q&A with Biaggio:

How much work does your title do to take readers into the story?

Gun Girl and the Tall Guy is based on the true story of a young couple who went on a robbery spree in 1924 Brooklyn. I wanted the title to include both the main characters, and I had to look no further than the headlines of the day to discover the many monikers the press applied to the duo, including the bob-haired bandit and her handsome companion or the feisty gun girl and her shy man. I settled on gun girl for Celia because it’s short and catchy and tall guy for Ed because it makes it clear he’s in a supporting role.

At its heart, the story is about why this young couple resorted to crime and also why New Yorkers—and the whole country, for that matter—were so fascinated by these two. They were the Bonnie and Clyde of the 1920s, with a few twists. So I wanted a title that featured both Celia and Ed and provided a sense of the story to come.

What's in a name?

I decided to use Celia and Ed Cooney’s real names because I stuck to the facts as much as possible, although dialogue and many day-to-day details are obviously manufactured. But I had to include a whole cast of other characters, and I enjoyed selecting names that gave some sense of the characters and the times—like Em and Rosie to lend the ring of familiarity to Celia’s friends and Mr. Gualazzi for the neighborhood grocer because lots of Italians lived in New York at that time. Another invention of the novel is the many varied terms of endearment Ed came up with for Celia, which I liked because it showed how devoted Celia and Ed were to each other.

How surprised would your teenage reader self be by your novel?

My teenage self would be very surprised by this novel, particularly my decision to write about crooks. I was a bookish youngster who enjoyed stories of adventure, like the Tarzan novels and tales of North Pole expeditions. When I was a teenager, I did think I’d like to write novels, but I hadn’t a clue as to what those novels would be about. It took me a few decades to settle on first, writing fiction, and second, basing my stories on real people whose lives had been forgotten. Now I enjoy the hunt for fascinating characters from the past, and Celia and Ed’s story just drew me in.

Do you find it harder to write beginnings or endings? Which do you change more?

Beginnings are hard! I like to feel that I’m capturing a sense of my main character in the first few sentences of a novel, and sometimes that takes a while to manage. I just keep plowing ahead with my research until I feel that I’ve “found” the character’s voice. Endings are easy by comparison. I don’t worry about them until I get to the end. And once I’ve cranked out the bulk of the story, I find that the end tends to flow pretty easily from what came before.

Do you see much of yourself in your characters? Do they have any connection to your personality, or are they a world apart?

I’ve written about quite varied characters—a conwoman, an older couple who establish a utopian community, a young writer with a tragic life, a World War II spy, and, in the latest, robbers. I find that parts of myself always come through, however, because what writer doesn’t use her own thoughts and feelings to enrich the portrayal of characters? When it comes to Celia Cooney, I’d say she has certain principles that she lives by—even if she bends the rules from time to time—and that is something I borrowed from my own “psychology.” Still, I labor to give each of my protagonists distinctive traits, and I hope my readers enjoy the greatly varied characters I write about.

Visit Maryka Biaggio's website.

My Book, The Movie: Parlor Games.

The Page 69 Test: Parlor Games.

Writers Read: Maryka Biaggio (February 2013).

--Marshal Zeringue