Marlena Fiol

Marlena Fiol and Ed O'Connor are spiritual seekers whose writing explores the depths of who we are and what’s possible in our lives. They have devoted themselves to supporting others in identifying and removing the barriers to realizing their dreams. They consider every blog, essay, video, book or workshop an opportunity to share their insights with others, as well as learn more about their own transformational journey. Marlena is also author of the memoir, Nothing Bad Between Us: A Mennonite Missionary's Daughter Finds Healing in Her Brokenness (Mango Publishing Group, 2020).

Twitter: @MarlenaFiol

What’s the oddest thing a reader has ever asked you?
In interviews about my memoir, Nothing Bad Between Us, I’ve been asked, “Dr. Fiol, were you really the barefoot girl you describe growing up on a leprosy station in a remote area of Paraguay, South America? Or is that part of your story fictionalized?”

Since I’ve lived this life, the question seems odd to me. My Mennonite medical missionary parents founded and ran a leprosy station in a remote area of Paraguay that eventually changed the way leprosy is currently treated on the planet. Fortunately for me, they valued education and sent me to live and study, with very little supervision, in Paraguay’s capital city of Asunción when I was twelve. I worked hard to get good grades with the hope that it would win my parents’ attention and approval. Education subsequently became my vehicle for transitioning to the United States and eventually to a satisfying professional life as a university professor and consultant. Most recently, I am a YouTuber and an author of numerous published essays and books, including my latest historical biography, CALLED, an epic tale of two medical pioneers.

So yes, I was that barefoot girl. And it’s been a long and winding journey to where I am today.

Favorite non-reading activity?
Tai chi.
My husband and co-author, Ed O’Connor, and I are focused and intense. The intensity often spills over into our writing process. I tend to write the first draft of a project, Ed suggests revisions, and then we fight about it. Although the arguments always lead to an improved outcome, they do create waves in our relationship. Our daily practice of tai chi soothes the tensions and keeps us centered.

Have you ever experienced Imposter Syndrome?
Don’t we all?
Ed and I felt like imposters for decades in our prior careers as business professors and consultants, even as our students and clients frequently accorded us full legitimacy. We feel it now again in our literary writing, YouTubing, and podcasting.

It’s what we do with those feelings that matters. When self-doubts arise, as they invariably do, this provides an opportunity to dig deep to find our most authentic selves. When we are able to be authentically present, it defuses, even nullifies, the dichotomy between self-doubt and self-confidence.  

What’s the difference (at least for you!) between being a writer and an author? How do you shift gears between the two?

When I began writing the story of my early life as the sinful and abused daughter of Mennonite missionaries in Paraguay, SA, I wrote for my own healing. Not for anyone else. I suppose I thought of myself as a writer during that phase. Later, when I shared this writing with a few close friends, they encouraged me to publish my story. When I published my memoir, Nothing Bad Between Us, in 2020, I transitioned from a private writer to a published author, revealing for public consumption my many failings and embarrassing mistakes.

Similarly, the research for our published historical biography, CALLED, began by sifting through our protagonists’ intimate letters and diaries. These complemented the well-documented public story (based on hundreds of published sources by and about them) of these heroic  medical pioneers.

For us, the private writing grounded the story in authenticity. Publishing it as authors established its legitimacy and readability. A good story always toggles between the two.

Do you speak a second language? Do you think differently in that language? Does it influence your writing?

I speak five languages – Low German (Plautdietsch), High German, Spanish, English, and French. At different times in my life, I have dreamt in these different languages.

Language fundamentally determines how I think and see the world. So when I write about the Low-German medical pioneer, Dr. Schmidt, his (and my) Plautdietsch mother tongue filters what I write and shapes the structure and tone of the narrative.

Being fluent in multiple languages leads me to critically examine the space between reality and the words I use to describe it, knowing that my words always reflect a particular point of view and a unique set of experiences.