Marlene Ratledge Buchanan

Marlene Ratledge Buchanan

After nearly 35 years of teaching and counseling adolescents and their parents, Marlene Ratledge Buchanan retired only to begin writing southern humor columns for the Gwinnett Citizen’s online newspaper. Her Hey Y’all column appears monthly.

A native of Atlanta, Marlene came to Gwinnett County to teach and there, though he wasn’t really lost, she found her husband, Snell. After turning her down three times, they married 364 days after their first date. They have one child, James, who was deprived of oxygen at birth and suffers with some minor developmental issues because of it, but he is special gift to all who know him.

With her maiden name of Ratledge, it was only natural that her students began calling her Miss Rat. Over the years, she gained an extensive collection of mice and rats given to her from students and friends (and a few in the barn that came on their own). This is how Ms. Rat Writes first developed.

Marlene is southern humorist, who enjoys a little bit of the dark side of life, which is evident in both her cozy mystery, A Place with a Past, as well as in her first book, the award winning, Life is Hard. Soften It with Laughter.

Her books are available through www.scribblersweb.net, www.southernpenbookshop.com and Amazon.com. You may reach her through her website www.MsRatWrites.com or MsRatWrites@gmail.com.