Laura Cathcart Robbins joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about writing Stash, her new memoir that delves into addiction, privilege, and race, what self-care looked like for her while she tackled traumatic material, why she had to let go of controlling the narrative to better serve her story, and depicting the physical impact of addiction on the page.   Also in this episode: -Laura’s wildly popular podcast The Only One in the Room -the importance of journals -sharing a manuscript with family and exes   Memoirs mentioned in this episode: Traveling Mercies by Anne Lamont Dry by Augustus Burrows Wild by Cheryl Strayed Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert California Soul by Keith Corbin Educated by Tara Westover   Laura Cathcart Robbin is the host of the popular podcast, The Only One In The Room, and author of the forthcoming Atria/Simon & Schuster memoir, STASH (due out in spring of 2023). She has been active for many years as a speaker and school trustee and is credited for creating The Buckley School’s nationally recognized committee on Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice. Her recent articles in Huffpo and The Temper on the subjects of race, recovery, and divorce have garnered her worldwide acclaim. She is a LA Moth StorySlam winner and currently sits on the advisory boards of the San Diego Writer’s Festival and the Outliers HQ podcast Festival. Find out more about her on her website, or you can look for her on Facebook, on Instagram, and follow her on Twitter.   Connect with Laura:  Laura's Podcast: https://theonlyonepod.com/ Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHRtdMgfXBbfvb6YkJr2qQw Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theonlyoneintheroom/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theonlyoneintheroom Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheOnlyOnePodc1 Laura's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lauracathcartrobbins/ Huffpost Profile: https://www.huffpost.com/author/laura-cathcart-robbins Laura's Website: http://www.lauracathcartrobbins.com/ -- Ronit Plank is a writer, teacher, and editor whose work has been featured in The Atlantic, The Washington Post, The New York Times, Writer’s Digest, The Rumpus, American Literary Review, Hippocampus, The Iowa Review, and elsewhere. Her memoir WHEN SHE COMES BACK about the loss of her mother to the guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and their eventual reconciliation was named a 2021 Best True Crime Book by Book Riot and was a Finalist in the National Indie Excellence Awards, the Housatonic Book Awards, and the Book of the Year Awards. Her fiction and creative nonfiction have been nominated for Pushcart Prizes, the Best of the Net, and the Best Microfiction Anthology, and her short story collection HOME IS A MADE-UP PLACE won Hidden River Arts’ Eludia Award. She is creative nonfiction editor at The Citron Review and lives in Seattle with her family where she is working on her next book.   More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com Sign up for monthly podcast and writing updates: https://bit.ly/33nyTKd Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/ More about WHEN SHE COMES BACK, a memoir: https://ronitplank.com/book/ More about HOME IS A MADE-UP PLACE, a short story collection: https://ronitplank.com/home-is-a-made-up-place/ Connect with Ronit: https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/ https://twitter.com/RonitPlank https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank   Background photo: Canva Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers

Suzanne Roberts joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about the difficulty of being in a human body - especially a woman’s, the male gaze, deciding how to approach our work, writing about loss, grief, death, and desire, reading widely and deeply, being an employee to our art, and Animal Bodies, her memoir made of lyrical essays, narrative pieces, and prose poems.   Also in this episode: -when the body becomes political -how poetry has informed her work -a tool to get yourself to write even material that you most fear sharing    Books mentioned in this episode:  The Rules of Inheritance by Claire Bidwell Smith Guidebook to Relative Strangers by Camille Dungy  Soil: A Black Mother’s Garden by Camille Dungy What You Have Heard is True by Carolyn Forché The Man Who Could Move Clouds by Ingrid Rojas Contreras  Lying by Lauren Slater Constellations: Reflections from Life by Sinead Gleeson Drawing Breath by Gayle Brandeis Burnt: A Memoir of Fighting Fire by Clare Frank  The Abacus of Loss by Sholeh Wolpé Trespass by Amy Irvine Trailed by Kathryn Miles Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson Woman Warrior by Maxine Hong Kingston   Suzanne Roberts is the author of the award-winning essay collection Animal Bodies: On Death, Desire, and Other Difficulties (March 2022),​ the award-winning travel memoir in essays Bad Tourist: Misadventures in Love and Travel (2020), and the memoir Almost Somewhere: Twenty-Eight Days on the John Muir Trail (Winner of the National Outdoor Book Award), as well as four books of poems. Named "The Next Great Travel Writer" by National Geographic's Traveler, Suzanne's work has been listed as notable in Best American Essays and included in The Best Women's Travel Writing. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, CNN, Creative Nonfiction, Brevity, The Rumpus, Hippocampus, The Normal School, River Teeth, and elsewhere. She holds a doctorate in literature and the environment from the University of Nevada-Reno, teaches in the low residency MFA program in creative writing at UNR-Tahoe, and splits her time between South Lake Tahoe, California and an old green van named Shrek.   Connect with Suzanne:  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/suzanneroberts28/?hl=en Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/suzanne.roberts.798 Website: https://www.suzanneroberts.net/ Animal Bodies: https://www.nebraskapress.unl.edu/nebraska/9781496231024/#:~:text=About%20the%20Book&text=In%20Animal%20Bodies%20Suzanne%20Roberts,taboo%20desires%20and%20our%20grief.   -- Ronit Plank is a writer, teacher, and editor whose work has been featured in The Atlantic, The Washington Post, The New York Times, Writer’s Digest, The Rumpus, American Literary Review, Hippocampus, The Iowa Review, and elsewhere. Her memoir WHEN SHE COMES BACK about the loss of her mother to the guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and their eventual reconciliation was named a 2021 Best True Crime Book by Book Riot and was a Finalist in the National Indie Excellence Awards, the Housatonic Book Awards, and the Book of the Year Awards. Her fiction and creative nonfiction have been nominated for Pushcart Prizes, the Best of the Net, and the Best Microfiction Anthology, and her short story collection HOME IS A MADE-UP PLACE won Hidden River Arts’ Eludia Award. She is creative nonfiction editor at The Citron Review and lives in Seattle with her family where she is working on her next book.   More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com Sign up for monthly podcast and writing updates: https://bit.ly/33nyTKd Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/ More about WHEN SHE COMES BACK, a memoir: https://ronitplank.com/book/ More about HOME IS A MADE-UP PLACE, a short story collection: https://ronitplank.com/home-is-a-made-up-place/ Connect with Ronit: https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/ https://twitter.com/RonitPlank https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank   Background photo: Canva Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers

Felicia Thai Heath joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about growing up on the run to help keep her father, a notorious Vietnamese kingpin, safe from capture, the power of dialogue to tell our stories, beginning scenes in the middle, orienting the reader in time and space, and making the decision to share the family history she once tried to hide. Also in this episode: -Crafting interludes to give readers a break -Writing the most emotional scenes first -Depicting fraught relationships Books mentioned in this episode: On Writing by Stephen King The Hate You Give by Angie Thomas Felicia Heath is a triple-board-certified critical care anesthesiologist, blogger, and debut author. She spent a month alone in a studio in the heart of Philadelphia to write the original manuscript of Spirit of a Hummingbird: Memories from a Childhood on the Run, just seventy-two hours after delivering her third child. This left her husband with their two-year-old, one-year-old, and newborn as she drank pinot noir and wrote for days on end. All of it was his idea, which is exactly why she tattooed his name across her shoulder and eloped with him on a South African safari six years ago. Felicia now lives in Pennsylvania with her husband and four children. She practices medicine as she anticipates a shift in the universe with the release of her memoir.   Connect with Felicia: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/felicia.heath.161 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/latinforhappiness_md/ Website: https://www.mixedfeelingsmama.com Find Spirit of a Hummingbird on Amazon here: https://www.amazon.com/Spirit-Hummingbird-Memories-Childhood-Run/dp/1632995700  --  Ronit Plank is a writer, teacher, and editor whose work has been featured in The Atlantic, The Washington Post, The New York Times, Writer’s Digest, The Rumpus, American Literary Review, Hippocampus, The Iowa Review, and elsewhere. Her memoir WHEN SHE COMES BACK about the loss of her mother to the guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and their eventual reconciliation was named a 2021 Best True Crime Book by Book Riot and was a Finalist in the National Indie Excellence Awards, the Housatonic Book Awards, and the Book of the Year Awards. Her fiction and creative nonfiction have been nominated for Pushcart Prizes, the Best of the Net, and the Best Microfiction Anthology, and her short story collection HOME IS A MADE-UP PLACE won Hidden River Arts’ Eludia Award. She is creative nonfiction editor at The Citron Review and lives in Seattle with her family where she is working on her next book.   More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com Sign up for monthly podcast and writing updates: https://bit.ly/33nyTKd Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/ More about WHEN SHE COMES BACK, a memoir: https://ronitplank.com/book/ More about HOME IS A MADE-UP PLACE, a short story collection: https://ronitplank.com/home-is-a-made-up-place/   Connect with Ronit: https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/ https://twitter.com/RonitPlank https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank   Background photo: Canva Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers

Happy Valentine’s Day! In honor of artistic partnership, Vincent Paterson and Amy Tofte join Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation on their experience collaborating on their new book Icons and Instincts, Vincent’s experience working with Madonna, Robin Williams, and other stars, the 6-step process Amy relied on during the writing process, the fight against artistic erasure, and allowing manuscripts to tell us what they need to be. Also in this episode: -How all of what we do as artists informs our creativity -Why time alone is essential  -Separating artists from their behavior Books mentioned in this episode:  On Writing by Stephen King   Vincent Paterson is a world-renowned director and choreographer in film, theatre, Broadway, concert tours, opera, television, music videos and commercials. His iconic works include Michael Jackson’s Smooth Criminal and the famous “lean” as well as Madonna’s Blond Ambition Tour. He directed the opera Manon with Anna Netrebko and Rolando Villazon, Cirque de Soleil’s VIVA! ELVIS and Berlin's first original production of CABARET—the longest running play in Berlin's history. Film choreographies include The Birdcage, Dancer in the Dark, Evita and Hook. He resides in California with his husband, Rene Lamontagne.   Amy Tofte is an award-winning writer and storyteller. She won a prestigious Nicholl Fellowship in Screenwriting from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 2015. She has been a regular contributor to the award-winning LA STAGE Times and other online publications with more than 100 feature articles profiling Emmy winners, Oscar- and Pulitzer-nominated writers as well as nationally recognized theater artists. Tofte’s critically acclaimed stage plays have been produced throughout the U.S., the U.K., Australia and at the Edinburgh International Fringe Festival. She lives in Los Angeles.   Get the book: https://www.amazon.com/Icons-Instincts-Choreographing-Directing-Entertainments/dp/1644282631/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1L41A3TOO0J68&keywords=Vincent+paterson&qid=1659550841&sprefix=vincent+paterson%2Caps%2C245&sr=8-1 Connect with Vincent: Website: http://www.vincentpaterson.com/www.vincentpaterson.com/HOME.html Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vincent.paterson.5 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vlpla/   Connect with Amy: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amy-tofte-1712334/ -- Ronit Plank is a writer, teacher, and editor whose work has been featured in The Atlantic, The Washington Post, The New York Times, Writer’s Digest, The Rumpus, American Literary Review, Hippocampus, The Iowa Review, and elsewhere. Her memoir WHEN SHE COMES BACK about the loss of her mother to the guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and their eventual reconciliation was named a 2021 Best True Crime Book by Book Riot and was a Finalist in the National Indie Excellence Awards, the Housatonic Book Awards, and the Book of the Year Awards. Her fiction and creative nonfiction have been nominated for Pushcart Prizes, the Best of the Net, and the Best Microfiction Anthology, and her short story collection HOME IS A MADE-UP PLACE won Hidden River Arts’ Eludia Award. She is creative nonfiction editor at The Citron Review and lives in Seattle with her family where she is working on her next book.   More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com Sign up for monthly podcast and writing updates: https://bit.ly/33nyTKd Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/ More about WHEN SHE COMES BACK, a memoir: https://ronitplank.com/book/ More about HOME IS A MADE-UP PLACE, a short story collection: https://ronitplank.com/home-is-a-made-up-place/   Connect with Ronit: https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/ https://twitter.com/RonitPlank https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank   Background photo: Canva Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers    

Maria Giura joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about which stories define us, avoiding the self-pity trap, the importance of allowing the reader to make decisions about the characters in our memoir for themselves, how we frame childhood and family dynamics, writing about the very early versions of ourselves after we’ve changed so much, and what challenges she faced writing Celibate in which she explores her relationship with the priest she fell in love with and how that experience helped her discover the life she wanted to live. Also in this episode: -shutting out the voices that tell you not to share your story -gaining the perspective our narratives need -how The Church and her faith guide her  Books mentioned in this episode: The Boys of My Youth by Jo Ann Beard Limbo by A. Manette Ansay The Art of Slow Writing by Louise DeSalvo   Maria Giura is the author of Celibate: A Memoir, which won a First Place Independent Press Award, and What My Father Taught Me, which was a Paterson Poetry Book Prize finalist. Her writing has appeared, or is forthcoming, in several journals including New York Quarterly, Prime Number, Vita Poetica, Presence, Italian Americana, Lips, and Tiferet. An Academy of American Poets winner, Giura has taught writing at multiple universities including Binghamton University where she received her PhD in English. She currently teaches memoir workshops for Casa Belvedere Cultural Foundation. Follow her on Instagram @marigiurawrites, on Fb and at mariagiura.com   Connect with Maria: Website: mariagiura.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mariagiurawrites/ Facebook:: facebook.com/maria.giura.3975/ Courses:  casa-belvedere.org/product/virtual-writing-workshop-writing-your-memories-gifts-given-and-received/ Purchase Maria’s book, Celibate: amazon.com/gp/product/1627202145?pf_rd_r=CQE6RA5DTDTWKAJ82YT9&pf_rd_p=edaba0ee-c2fe-4124-9f5d-b31d6b1bfbee barnesandnoble.com/w/celibate-maria-giura/1131505200?ean=9781627202145 shop.aer.io/apprenticehouse/p/Celibate_A_Memoir/9781627202145-4208?collection=/0 bookshop.org/books/celibate-a-memoir/9781627202145   – Ronit Plank is a writer, teacher, and editor whose work has been featured in The Atlantic, The Washington Post, The New York Times, Writer’s Digest, The Rumpus, American Literary Review, Hippocampus, The Iowa Review, and elsewhere. Her memoir WHEN SHE COMES BACK about the loss of her mother to the guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and their eventual reconciliation was named a 2021 Best True Crime Book by Book Riot and was a Finalist in the National Indie Excellence Awards, the Housatonic Book Awards, and the Book of the Year Awards. Her fiction and creative nonfiction have been nominated for Pushcart Prizes, the Best of the Net, and the Best Microfiction Anthology, and her short story collection HOME IS A MADE-UP PLACE won Hidden River Arts’ Eludia Award. She is creative nonfiction editor at The Citron Review and lives in Seattle with her family where she is working on her next book.   More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com   More about WHEN SHE COMES BACK: https://ronitplank.com/when-she-comes-back/ More about HOME IS A MADE-UP PLACE: https://ronitplank.com/home-is-a-made-up-place/   Connect with Ronit: https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/ https://twitter.com/RonitPlank https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank   Background photo: Canva Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers

Buick Audra joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about her new album and companion memoir in essays Conversations with My Other Voice, the importance of protecting our work from judgment, being an abuse survivor, how she views regret, and the tool she used when deciding which details to share about others and which to leave out.    Also in this episode: -why writing about the abuse she suffered does not retraumatize her -how misogyny has impacted her art and career -a closer look at why sharing our voice matters    Books mentioned in this episode: To Throw Away Unopened by Viv Albertine The Part That Burns by Jeannine Ouellette What Do We Need Men For by E. Jean Carroll I Remember Nothing by Nora Ephron I Feel Bad About My Neck by Nora Ephron   Buick Audra is a Grammy-award-winning musician and writer living in Nashville, TN. She is the guitarist and primary songwriter and vocalist in the melodic heavy duo, Friendship Commanders. Her new album, Conversations with My Other Voice, was released on September 23rd, 2022. The album is accompanied by a memoir in essays by the same name.   Connect with Buick: Website: https://www.buickaudra.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/buickaudra/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/buickaudramusic Twitter: https://twitter.com/buickaudra Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCs25KbPeA2MD8z3sTUTCMRw Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@buickaudra Listen to Buick: https://buickaudra.bandcamp.com https://open.spotify.com/artist/349pAReW5Ad2bzV5nnGxjO?si=Cl-UJarYRV2lR-2F7AgbAQ https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/62698973-conversations-with-my-other-voice   Buy the album & book together:  https://buickaudra.bandcamp.com/album/conversations-with-my-other-voice   Buy the book: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/conversations-with-my-other-voice-buick-audra/1142389645?ean=9798218066574 https://www.booksamillion.com/p/Conversations-My-Other-Voice/Buick-Audra/9798218066574?id=8650666689319 https://www.amazon.com/Conversations-My-Other-Voice-Essays/dp/B0BGSNTQTB/ref=sr_1_23 -- Ronit Plank is a writer, teacher, and editor whose work has been featured in The Atlantic, The Washington Post, The New York Times, Writer’s Digest, The Rumpus, American Literary Review, Hippocampus, The Iowa Review, and elsewhere. Her memoir WHEN SHE COMES BACK about the loss of her mother to the guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and their eventual reconciliation was named a 2021 Best True Crime Book by Book Riot and was a Finalist in the National Indie Excellence Awards, the Housatonic Book Awards, and the Book of the Year Awards. Her fiction and creative nonfiction have been nominated for Pushcart Prizes, the Best of the Net, and the Best Microfiction Anthology, and her short story collection HOME IS A MADE-UP PLACE won Hidden River Arts’ Eludia Award. She is creative nonfiction editor at The Citron Review and lives in Seattle with her family where she is working on her next book.   More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com   More about WHEN SHE COMES BACK: https://ronitplank.com/when-she-comes-back/ More about HOME IS A MADE-UP PLACE: https://ronitplank.com/home-is-a-made-up-place/   Connect with Ronit: https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/ https://twitter.com/RonitPlank https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank   Background photo: Canva Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers

Beth Kephart joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about the crucial differences between a book of essays and a memoir in essays, choosing what to keep and what to cut, the gifts of nonlinear storytelling, the ethics of telling other people’s stories, allowing ourselves to find beauty in the seemingly ordinary, and her new craft book We Are the Words. -Visit the Let's Talk Memoir Merch store: https://www.zazzle.com/store/letstalkmemoir Also in this episode: -Privacy in memoir -Remaining open and vulnerable as writers -Making meaning with experimental forms   Books mentioned in this episode: Running in the Family by Michael Ondaatje Safekeeping by Abigail Thomas The Circus Train by Judith Kitchen An Earlier LIfe by Brenda Miller Headcase: My Father, Alzheimer’s & Other Brainstorms by Alexis Orgera   Beth Kephart is the award-winning author of three-dozen books in multiple genres, an award-winning teacher, co-founder of Juncture Workshops, and a book artist. Her new books are Wife|Daughter|Self: A Memoir in Essays, We are the Words: The Master Memoir Class, and A Room of Your Own: A Story Inspired by Virginia Woolf's Famous Essay (with Julia Breckenreid, illustrator). She can be reached through bethkephartbooks.com, junctureworkshops.com, and her Etsy book shop, https://www.etsy.com/shop/BINDbyBIND   Connect with Beth Kephart: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/beth.kephart Twitter: https://twitter.com/BethKephart Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bethkephartnow/ Website: bethkephartbooks.com Juncture Workshops: junctureworkshops.com Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/shop/BINDbyBIND Beth Kephart’s next series of workshops can be found here: https://junctureworkshops.com/shop-4/#shop  We Are the Words can be found here: https://www.amazon.com/WE-ARE-WORDS-master-memoir/dp/B098K2JSBN/ –- Ronit Plank is a writer, teacher, and editor whose work has been featured in The Atlantic, The Washington Post, The New York Times, Writer’s Digest, The Rumpus, American Literary Review, Hippocampus, The Iowa Review, and elsewhere. Her memoir WHEN SHE COMES BACK about the loss of her mother to the guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and their eventual reconciliation was named a 2021 Best True Crime Book by Book Riot and was a Finalist in the National Indie Excellence Awards, the Housatonic Book Awards, and the Book of the Year Awards. Her fiction and creative nonfiction have been nominated for Pushcart Prizes, the Best of the Net, and the Best Microfiction Anthology, and her short story collection HOME IS A MADE-UP PLACE won Hidden River Arts’ Eludia Award. She is creative nonfiction editor at The Citron Review and lives in Seattle with her family where she is working on her next book. More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com   More about WHEN SHE COMES BACK: https://ronitplank.com/when-she-comes-back/ More about HOME IS A MADE-UP PLACE: https://ronitplank.com/home-is-a-made-up-place/   Connect with Ronit: https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/ https://twitter.com/RonitPlank https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank   Background photo: Canva Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers

Lori L. Tharps joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about why memoirs are not an indulgence, the importance of finding your memoir’s theme, deciding where your book should begin, having a writing life that feeds you and also keeps you fed, and systemic racism in the U.S. and how her Black and Spanish children were the impetus for her to uncover Spain’s hidden Black history and write her memoir Kinky Gazpacho.   Also in this episode: -the multiple memoirs we have within us -how memoirs are healing medicine -the many ways to live a creative writing life   Books mentioned in this episode: The Liar’s Club by Mary Karr The Color of Water by James McBride Manifesto: On Never Giving Up by Bernadine Evaristo Will by Will Smith  From Scratch by Tembi Locke   Lori L. Tharps is a journalist and author whose work lands at the intersection of race and popular culture.  She is the author of three critically acclaimed non-fiction books that deal with race, culture and identity; Hair Story: Untangling the Roots of Black Hair in America (St. Martin’s), Kinky Gazpacho: Life, Love & Spain (Atria), and her most recent, Same Family Different Colors: Confronting Colorism in America’s Diverse Families (Beacon). Lori is also the author of the novel, Substitute Me (Atria),  A former associate professor of journalism at Temple University, Lori has won awards and accolades for her teaching in both academic and creative workshop settings. In addition to teaching at Temple, Tharps has also taught at numerous writing festivals and writing centers across the United States, including, Blue Stoop Philly and Gotham Writer’s Workshop. In addition to her books, Lori’s work can be read in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Essence, Glamour, and Entertainment Weekly magazines. Originally from Wisconsin, Lori now makes her home in the south of Spain.   Connect with Lori: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/loriltharps/ Website: https://www.readwriteandcreate.com/ Link for Kinky Gazpacho, her memoir: https://amzn.to/3yKPvb9   -- Ronit Plank is a writer, teacher, and editor whose work has been featured in The Atlantic, The Washington Post, The New York Times, Writer’s Digest, The Rumpus, American Literary Review, Hippocampus, The Iowa Review, and elsewhere. Her memoir WHEN SHE COMES BACK about the loss of her mother to the guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and their eventual reconciliation was named a 2021 Best True Crime Book by Book Riot and was a Finalist in the National Indie Excellence Awards, the Housatonic Book Awards, and the Book of the Year Awards. Her fiction and creative nonfiction have been nominated for Pushcart Prizes, the Best of the Net, and the Best Microfiction Anthology, and her short story collection HOME IS A MADE-UP PLACE won Hidden River Arts’ Eludia Award. She is creative nonfiction editor at The Citron Review and lives in Seattle with her family where she is working on her next book.   More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com   More about WHEN SHE COMES BACK: https://ronitplank.com/when-she-comes-back/ More about HOME IS A MADE-UP PLACE: https://ronitplank.com/home-is-a-made-up-place/   Connect with Ronit: https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/ https://twitter.com/RonitPlank https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank   Background photo: Canva Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers

Literary Citizen of the Year Allison K Williams joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about the importance of plot, structure, and dramatic arc in memoir, the elements that make a story a story, insuring your memoir has a reader takeaway, what being in the circus taught her about writing, why she calls herself the unkind editor, and how she really feels about memoir.  -Visit the Let's Talk Memoir Merch store: https://www.zazzle.com/store/letstalkmemoir Also in this episode: -Allison’s editor origin story -what being a “real” writer actually means -tips for working with an editor   Books mentioned in this episode: Scrappy Little Nobody by Anna Kendrick To Hell by Dinty W. Moore Broken in the Best Possible Way by Jenny Lawson The Biggest Bluff by Maria Konnikova   Allison K Williams is the author of Seven Drafts: Self-Edit Like a Pro from Blank Page to Book. She has edited and coached writers to deals with Penguin Random House, Knopf, Mantle, Spencer Hill, St. Martin’s and independent presses. She’s guided essayists to publication in the New Yorker, Time, the Guardian, the New York Times, McSweeney’s and TED Talks. As Social Media Editor for Brevity, she inspires thousands of writers with blogs on craft and the writing life. A former circus performer, Allison has written for NPR, CBC, the New York Times, the Christian Science Monitor, Creative Nonfiction, McSweeney’s, Kenyon Review Online and Travelers’ Tales. Her plays, including Mark Twain Award winner Hamlette and London Fringe Best of Fringe Winner TRUE STORY, have been produced worldwide.   Connect with Allison: Twitter: twitter.com/guerillamemoir Instagram: instagram.com/guerillamemoir Website: www.allisonkwilliams.com Linktree: www.linktree.com/guerillamemoir -- Ronit Plank is a writer, teacher, and editor whose work has been featured in The Atlantic, The Washington Post, The New York Times, Writer’s Digest, The Rumpus, American Literary Review, Hippocampus, The Iowa Review, and elsewhere. Her memoir WHEN SHE COMES BACK about the loss of her mother to the guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and their eventual reconciliation was named a 2021 Best True Crime Book by Book Riot and was a Finalist in the National Indie Excellence Awards, the Housatonic Book Awards, and the Book of the Year Awards. Her fiction and creative nonfiction have been nominated for Pushcart Prizes, the Best of the Net, and the Best Microfiction Anthology, and her short story collection HOME IS A MADE-UP PLACE won Hidden River Arts’ Eludia Award. She is creative nonfiction editor at The Citron Review and lives in Seattle with her family where she is working on her next book.   More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com   More about WHEN SHE COMES BACK, a memoir: https://ronitplank.com/book/   Connect with Ronit: https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/ https://twitter.com/RonitPlank https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank   Background photo: Canva Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers

Kathy Curto joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about accepting imperfection in our writing,  the effect of time and distance in our work, finding beauty even in the painful, what she’s learned through teaching writing to a broad range of students, and her memoir in micro essays Not for Nothing: Glimpse into a Jersey Girlhood.   Also in this episode: -the importance of a writing community no matter how small -the potency of the flash form -how voice is always changing   Books mentioned in this episode: The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros Safekeeping by Abigail Thomas I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou This Boy's Life by Tobias Wolff Heavy by Kiese Laymon Ordinary Girls by Jaquira Diaz The memoirs and poetry of Mary Karr   Kathy Curto teaches at Sarah Lawrence College/The Writing Institute, Montclair State University and The Writers Circle as well as several nonprofit organizations and community centers in the metropolitan area. She is the author of Not for Nothing-Glimpses into a Jersey Girlhood. Her work has been featured in The New York Times, on NPR, in the anthology Listen to Your Mother: What She Said Then, What We’re Saying Now, and in Oh, Reader, Barrelhouse, The Mom Egg Review, Drift and Talking Writing, among others. Kathy pens a Write or Die Tribe biweekly column, Words on the Street, Revisited, where she explores everyday language and the writing practice. Her micro-memoir, “Still Cooking Side by Side” considered a “Modern Love in miniature” by The New York Times, was included in The Best of Tiny Love Stories in August 2021. Kathy lives with her family in the Hudson Valley. Please visit: www.kathycurto.com.  Connect with Kathy Curto: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kathy.curto/ Facebook: Kathy Curto-Writer  https://www.facebook.com/kathy.curto26 Website: https://www.kathycurto.com/   —   Ronit is a teacher and speaker whose essays, creative nonfiction, and fiction have been featured in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, The Iowa Review, The Washington Post, Writer’s Digest, American Literary Review, and elsewhere. Her memoir WHEN SHE COMES BACK about the loss of her mother to the guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and their eventual reconciliation was named a 2021 Best True Crime Book by Book Riot and was a Finalist in the National Indie Excellence Awards, the Housatonic Book Awards, and the Book of the Year Awards. Her short story collection HOME IS A MADE-UP PLACE won Hidden River Arts’ 2020 Eludia Award and will be published in 2023. She is creative nonfiction editor at The Citron Review and lives in Seattle with her family where she is working on her next book.   More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com   More about WHEN SHE COMES BACK, a memoir: https://ronitplank.com/book/   Connect with Ronit: https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/ https://twitter.com/RonitPlank https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank   Background photo: Canva Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers

Celebrated author and memoir teacher Laura Davis joins Let’sTalk Memoir for a special holiday episode for a conversation about writing her memoir The Burning Light of Two Stars: A Mother-Daughter Story and how she reconciled with the mother who betrayed her and came to care for her in her final days. In this episode Laura also shares her tips for writing about traumatic experiences, where the boundaries are when writing about family experiences, and what all memoir writing needs.     Laura Davis is the author of The Burning Light of Two Stars, the riveting memoir about her tumultuous yet loving relationship with her mother, and six other non-fiction books, including The Courage to Heal, Allies in Healing, I Thought We‘d Never Speak Again, and Becoming the Parent You Want to Be. Her groundbreaking books have been translated into 11 languages and sold 1.8 million copies. In addition to writing books that inspire and change people’s lives, the work of Laura’s heart is to teach. For more than twenty years, she’s helped people find their voices, tell their stories, and hone their craft. Laura loves creating supportive, intimate writing communities online, in person, and internationally. You can learn about Laura’s books and workshops, read the first five chapters of her memoir, and receive a free ebook: Writing Through Courage: A 30-Day Practice at www.lauradavis.net.    For Let’s Talk Memoir Listeners, you can also read the opening chapters for free here: http://www.lauradavis.net/chapters Direct links to buy The Burning Light of Two Stars: Audiobook version of The Burning Light of Two Stars (Laura is the narrator): On Audible: https://www.audible.com/pd/The-Burning-Light-of-Two-Stars-Audiobook/B09G8WJQP7 And on Libro.fm for independent stores: https://libro.fm/audiobooks/9781950144471   Independent Bookstores: Get Signed Copies Through Bookshop Santa Cruz: https://www.bookshopsantacruz.com/burning-light-two-stars-get-it-signed Bookshop.org: https://bookshop.org/books/the-burning-light-of-two-stars-a-mother-daughter-story-9781954854161/9781954854161 Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1954854161 Want to Order Internationally with Free Worldwide Delivery?  https://www.bookdepository.com/The-Burning-Light-of-Two-Stars-Laura-Davis/9781954854161   Attention Writers: If you’re a writer or want to use writing as a tool for healing or self-discovery, you can learn about Laura’s online writing workshops and in-person domestic and international retreats here: www.lauradavis.net  And if you want to go on a magical creative vacation to Tuscany with Laura in June of 2022, check out some serious eye candy here!   Connect with Laura Davis: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thewritersjourney Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/laurasaridavis/ -- Ronit is a teacher and speaker whose essays, creative nonfiction, and fiction have been featured in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, The Iowa Review, The Washington Post, Writer’s Digest, American Literary Review, and elsewhere. Her memoir WHEN SHE COMES BACK about the loss of her mother to the guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and their eventual reconciliation was named a 2021 Best True Crime Book by Book Riot and was a Finalist in the National Indie Excellence Awards, the Housatonic Book Awards, and the Book of the Year Awards. Her short story collection HOME IS A MADE-UP PLACE won Hidden River Arts’ 2020 Eludia Award and will be published in 2023. She is creative nonfiction editor at The Citron Review and lives in Seattle with her family where she is working on her next book.   More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com   More about WHEN SHE COMES BACK, a memoir: https://ronitplank.com/book/   Connect with Ronit: https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/ https://twitter.com/RonitPlank https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank   Background photo: Canva Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers  

Keema and Tekla Waterfield join Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about being raised by a young single mother in Southeast Alaska after their father left the family. With very little money but a passion for music and art, their mother moved them frequently in pursuit of her education, gigs, and new relationships. As the sisters grew, art and their at-times traumatic childhood led each of the sisters on different paths. Keema wrote Inside Passage, a memoir about her nomadic Alaskan childhood, the toll her upbringing took on her, and the effect it had on her relationship with her mother. Tekla became a singer-songwriter whose most recent release, "New Skies" landed in the NACC Top 30 Folk Album Charts in October of 2021. In this special holiday episode they share their perspective on their childhood, how each of them grappled with their father leaving, and why art has always been central in their lives.   Keema Waterfield Keema Waterfield is the author of Inside Passage, a nomadic childhood memoir set along the wild coast of Southeast Alaska. Other work has appeared in The New York Times, WIRED, Brevity, Redivider, and others. She resides in Missoula, Montana, with her husband, two children, a bunch of extra instruments she doesn’t know how to play, and a revolving cast of quirky animals. She lives and writes on Séliš and Qlispé land. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram @keemasaurusrex    Website: https://keemawaterfield.com Link to Keema’s memoir Inside Passage: https://bookshop.org/books/inside-passage-a-memoir/9781950584567   Ronit’s review of Inside Passage: https://therumpus.net/2021/08/inside-passage-by-keema-waterfield/   Tekla Waterfield: 2020 & 2021 Doe Bay Resort & Retreat Artist Resident recipient, 2019 Jack Straw Cultural Center recording grant recipient, and 2018 Allied Arts Listen Up! Women in Music grant recipient, Alaskan born Seattle based singer/songwriter Tekla Waterfield incorporates elements of folk, country, roots, rock and soul creating a wide-ranging sound unified by dynamic vocals, compelling stage presence and point-of-view storytelling. Waterfield's music has been heard on radio stations throughout the US, on NPR's World Cafe, in the UK, Scotland, Wales, Australia, England & Korea and has been described as "poignant and emotionally soaring" by No Depression Magazine. Waterfield's most recent release, "New Skies" landed in the NACC Top 30 Folk Album Charts in October of 2021. Website: www.teklawaterfield.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/teklawaterfieldmusic/   -- Ronit is a teacher and speaker whose essays, creative nonfiction, and fiction have been featured in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, The Iowa Review, The Washington Post, Writer’s Digest, American Literary Review, and elsewhere. Her memoir WHEN SHE COMES BACK about the loss of her mother to the guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and their eventual reconciliation was named a 2021 Best True Crime Book by Book Riot and was a Finalist in the National Indie Excellence Awards, the Housatonic Book Awards, and the Book of the Year Awards. Her short story collection HOME IS A MADE-UP PLACE won Hidden River Arts’ 2020 Eludia Award and will be published in 2023. She is creative nonfiction editor at The Citron Review and lives in Seattle with her family where she is working on her next book.   More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com   More about WHEN SHE COMES BACK, a memoir: https://ronitplank.com/book/   Connect with Ronit: https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/ https://twitter.com/RonitPlank https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank   Background photo: Canva Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers

John Ross Bowie joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about working in Hollywood, mental health, the patterns we discover in our lives and write about, grappling with shame, coming to terms with who his father really was, and his new memoir No Job for a Man.   Also in this episode: -distress in the body -New York City in the 80s -What it’ like to voice your loved ones for an audiobook   Books mentioned in this episode: Life’s Work by David Milch A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggars  Darkness Visible by William Styron The Noonday Demon: An Atlas of Depression by Andrew Solomon   John Ross Bowie is perhaps best known for playing recurring villain and fan favorite Barry Kripke on the international hit television show The Big Bang Theory. He also recently co-starred as Minnie Driver’s husband, Jimmy DiMeo, on ABC’s “Speechless.” John has been appeared on the television shows Veep, Fresh off the Boat, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Brooklyn 99, CSI, and Glee, among many others, and in movies such as Road Trip, The Heat, He’s Just Not That Into You, The Santa Clause 3, Jumanji: The Next Level, and the cult hit What The Bleep Do We Know? Prior to his acting career, John was a contributing writer for the New York Press and has since written and developed television scripts at Fox, CBS, and Amazon. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife Jamie Denbo and their two children.   Connect with John Ross Bowie: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/johnrossbowie/ Website: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/No-Job-for-a-Man/John-Ross-Bowie/9781639362462 -- Ronit is a teacher and speaker whose essays, creative nonfiction, and fiction have been featured in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, The Iowa Review, The Washington Post, Writer’s Digest, American Literary Review, and elsewhere. Her memoir WHEN SHE COMES BACK about the loss of her mother to the guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and their eventual reconciliation was named a 2021 Best True Crime Book by Book Riot and was a Finalist in the National Indie Excellence Awards, the Housatonic Book Awards, and the Book of the Year Awards. Her short story collection HOME IS A MADE-UP PLACE won Hidden River Arts’ 2020 Eludia Award and will be published in 2023. She is creative nonfiction editor at The Citron Review and lives in Seattle with her family where she is working on her next book.   More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com   More about WHEN SHE COMES BACK, a memoir: https://ronitplank.com/book/   Connect with Ronit: https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/ https://twitter.com/RonitPlank https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank   Background photo: Canva Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers

Isidra Mencos joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about setting her coming-of-age memoir against the backdrop of Spain’s cultural upheaval after the death of Franco, balancing personal narrative with history and research, writing about sex, the destructive power of shame, and the decision to write about family secrets in her new memoir Promenade of Desire.   Also in this episode: -What to do about gaps in our memory when writing memoir -Trusting our instincts -Deciding what and what not to share   Books mentioned in this episode: The Liar’s Club by Mary Karr Lit by Mary Karr Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado Jesusland by Julia Scheeres Dry by Augusten Burroughs Girlhood by Melissa Febos the work of Melissa Febos the work of David Sedaris   Isidra Mencos was born and raised in Barcelona. She spent her twenties experimenting with the new freedoms afforded by the end of Franco’s dictatorship in Spain while immersing herself in books and dancing. She freelanced for prestigious publishing houses, traveled the world as a tour leader, and worked for the Olympic Committee. In 1992 she moved to the US to earn a Ph.D. in Spanish and Latin American contemporary literature at UC Berkeley, where she taught for twelve years. She also developed her own business as a writer and editor for Spanish-speaking media. After a 10-year stint in corporate America, managing teams in several countries, she quit her job in 2016 to dedicate herself to writing. Since then, her essays have been widely published in literary journals and general interest magazines, such as Chicago Quarterly Review, Front Porch Journal, The Huffington Post, Wisdom Well, and WIRED. One was listed as Notable in the Best American Essays Anthology. Today Isidra lives in Northern California with her husband and son.   Connect with Isidra: Website: https://isidramencos.com Personal Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/isidra.mencos Author Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IsidraMencosAuthor/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/isidramencos/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/isidramencos LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/isidramencos/   -- Ronit is a teacher and speaker whose essays, creative nonfiction, and fiction have been featured in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, The Iowa Review, The Washington Post, Writer’s Digest, American Literary Review, and elsewhere. Her memoir WHEN SHE COMES BACK about the loss of her mother to the guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and their eventual reconciliation was named a 2021 Best True Crime Book by Book Riot and was a Finalist in the National Indie Excellence Awards, the Housatonic Book Awards, and the Book of the Year Awards. Her short story collection HOME IS A MADE-UP PLACE won Hidden River Arts’ 2020 Eludia Award and will be published in 2023. She is creative nonfiction editor at The Citron Review and lives in Seattle with her family where she is working on her next book.   More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com   More about WHEN SHE COMES BACK, a memoir: https://ronitplank.com/book/   Connect with Ronit: https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/ https://twitter.com/RonitPlank https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank   Background photo: Canva Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers

Jamie Gehring joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about her braided memoir Madman in the Woods which details her and her family’s experience living next to Unabomber Ted Kaczynski, how she incorporated and structured research, interviews, and her own memories, the challenge of organizing so much information, and why writers need to follow their instincts.   Also in this episode: -Not losing the reader -Getting it all onto the page -Intimate true crime as a genre   Books mentioned in this episode: ShadowMan: An Elusive Psycho Killer and the Birth of the FBI by Ron Franscell When She Comes Back by Ronit Plank Bookends by Zibby Owens Inside Passage by Keema Watrfield The Babysitter: My Summers with Serial Killer by Liza Rodman and Jennifer Jordan Knocked Down by Aileen Weintraub Educated by Tara Westover The Art of Memoir by Mary Karr The Stranger Beside Me: Ted Bundy: The Shocking Inside Story by Anne Rule The Fact of a Body: A Murder and a Memoir by Alexandria Marzano-Lesnevich  You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me: A Memoir by Sherman Alexie   Jamie Gehring is a Montana native who grew up sharing a backyard with Ted Kaczynski, the man widely known as the Unabomber. She was featured in Netflix’s Unabomber—In His Own Words where she discussed her family’s role in Ted’s capture.   Connect with Jamie: Website: www.jamiegehring.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jamiegehringauthor/ Books: https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781635768169 -- Ronit is a teacher and speaker whose essays, creative nonfiction, and fiction have been featured in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, The Iowa Review, The Washington Post, Writer’s Digest, American Literary Review, and elsewhere. Her memoir WHEN SHE COMES BACK about the loss of her mother to the guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and their eventual reconciliation was named a 2021 Best True Crime Book by Book Riot and was a Finalist in the National Indie Excellence Awards, the Housatonic Book Awards, and the Book of the Year Awards. Her short story collection HOME IS A MADE-UP PLACE won Hidden River Arts’ 2020 Eludia Award and will be published in 2023. She is creative nonfiction editor at The Citron Review and lives in Seattle with her family where she is working on her next book. More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com More about WHEN SHE COMES BACK, a memoir: https://ronitplank.com/book/   Follow Ronit: https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/ https://twitter.com/RonitPlank https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank Background photo: Canva Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers

Lily Dunn joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about the impact her father leaving to follow the guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh had on her childhood, when she knew it was time to write her memoir Sins of the Father, stepping into her role as reflective narrator, creating tension, family members in our work, and understanding as a means to healing.   Also in this episode: -writing to find answers -our early experiences as shadows in our lives -staying true to your purpose    Books mentioned in this episode: Educated by Tara Westover Whip Smart by Meliss Febos Your Voice in My Head by Emma Forrest Busy Being Free by Emma Forrst   Lily Dunn writes fiction and nonfiction. Her literary memoir, Sins of My Father: A Daughter, A Cult, A Wild Unravelling is published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson (March 2022), and her novel, Shadowing the Sun, by Portobello Books (2007). She has personal essays in Granta, Litro, Hinterland, MIRonline and The Real Story, and is a regular writer for Aeon magazine. She is co-editor of A Wild and Precious Life: Recovery Anthology, with Zoe Gilbert (Unbound 2021). She teaches creative writing at Bath Spa University in the UK and co-runs London Lit Lab.    Connect with Lily: Twitter: https://twitter.com/lilydunnwriter Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lilydunnwriting/ Website: lilydunn.co.uk London Lit Lab: londonlitlab.co.uk UK Book Link: https://smarturl.it/SinsOfMyFatherHB US Book Link: https://geni.us/SinsOfMyFatherUS -- Ronit is a teacher and speaker whose essays, creative nonfiction, and fiction have been featured in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, The Iowa Review, The Washington Post, Writer’s Digest, American Literary Review, and elsewhere. Her memoir WHEN SHE COMES BACK about the loss of her mother to the guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and their eventual reconciliation was named a 2021 Best True Crime Book by Book Riot and was a Finalist in the National Indie Excellence Awards, the Housatonic Book Awards, and the Book of the Year Awards. Her short story collection HOME IS A MADE-UP PLACE won Hidden River Arts’ 2020 Eludia Award and will be published in 2023. She is creative nonfiction editor at The Citron Review and lives in Seattle with her family where she is working on her next book. More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com More about WHEN SHE COMES BACK, a memoir: https://ronitplank.com/book/ Follow Ronit: https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/ https://twitter.com/RonitPlank https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank Background photo: Canva Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers  

Sonya Huber joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about structure and time in memoir, the challenge of getting to the core of who we are and facing ourselves on the page, how her perspective on “voice” has changed over time and why that drove her to write her new book Voice First: A Writer’s Manifesto.   Also in this episode: -the power of shame to silence us -how “authentic” voice might not mean what we think -a writing exercise to help jumpstart your work   Books mentioned in this episode: Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf The Mezzanine by Nicholas Baker Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard Let Us Now Praise Famous Men by Jjames Agee Writers: Andrew Monson and Peter Elbow   Sonya Huber is the author of seven books, including the new guide, Voice First: A Writer’s Manifesto, and the award-winning essay collection on chronic pain, Pain Woman Takes Your Keys and Other Essays from a Nervous System. Her other books include Supremely Tiny Acts: A Memoir in a Day, Opa Nobody, Cover Me: A Health Insurance Memoir, and The Backwards Research Guide for Writers. Her work has appeared in the New York Times, Brevity, Creative Nonfiction, and other outlets. She teaches at Fairfield University and in the Fairfield low-residency MFA program. Connect with Sonya: Twitter: https://twitter.com/sonyahuber Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sonya.huber/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sonyahuber/ Website: www.sonyahuber.com Sonya's books: https://bookshop.org/lists/sonya-huber-s-books -- Ronit is a teacher and speaker whose essays, creative nonfiction, and fiction have been featured in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, The Iowa Review, The Washington Post, Writer’s Digest, American Literary Review, and elsewhere. Her memoir WHEN SHE COMES BACK about the loss of her mother to the guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and their eventual reconciliation was named a 2021 Best True Crime Book by Book Riot and was a Finalist in the National Indie Excellence Awards, the Housatonic Book Awards, and the Book of the Year Awards. Her short story collection HOME IS A MADE-UP PLACE won Hidden River Arts’ 2020 Eludia Award and will be published in 2023. She is creative nonfiction editor at The Citron Review and lives in Seattle with her family where she is working on her next book. More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com More about WHEN SHE COMES BACK, a memoir: https://ronitplank.com/book/ Follow Ronit: https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/ https://twitter.com/RonitPlank https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank Background photo: Canva Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers

Season 2 of Let’s Talk Memoir is almost here! I’m incredibly excited to bring you all of the interviews I’ve been working on. These episodes cover voice, sharing family secrets, braided memoir, nonlinear memoir, what it’s like to move from other creative disciplines to memoir, advocating for our work, and lots more.  Season 2 of Let’s Talk Memoir will launch November 15th, that’s Tuesday, November 15th and new episodes will come out weekly. If you have questions about memoir or about how memoirists craft their narratives, or anything at all that you would like covered on the show, there’s still time to send me a note with your question or topic suggestion.  You can find me on Instagram, Twitter,  LinkedIn, and Facebook @RonitPlank and you can also message me on my website ronitplank.com. It’s been a lot of fun to read your reviews and messages about season 1 and makes creating this podcast that much more rewarding. If you haven’t yet left a review on Apple podcasts or Spotify it’s not too late. Every review helps others find the show. And if you know a writer or a memoir aficionado who would appreciate this podcast, please share it. Podcasts really depend on word of mouth and listener enthusiasm. Thank you so much for being here and I just can’t wait to drop episode one on Tuesday, November 15th!     Ronit is a teacher and speaker whose essays, creative nonfiction, and fiction have been featured in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, The Iowa Review, The Washington Post, Writer’s Digest, American Literary Review, and elsewhere. Her memoir WHEN SHE COMES BACK about the loss of her mother to the guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and their eventual reconciliation was named a 2021 Best True Crime Book by Book Riot and was a Finalist in the National Indie Excellence Awards, the Housatonic Book Awards, and the Book of the Year Awards. Her short story collection HOME IS A MADE-UP PLACE won Hidden River Arts’ 2020 Eludia Award and will be published in 2023. She is creative nonfiction editor at The Citron Review and lives in Seattle with her family where she is working on her next book. More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com More about WHEN SHE COMES BACK, a memoir: https://ronitplank.com/book/ Follow Ronit: https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/ https://twitter.com/RonitPlank https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank Background photo: Canva Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers

Dr. Ginger Campbell joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about the nature of memory and how that affects memoir writing, the phenomenon of false memories, cognitive dissonance, the slipperiness of what we can remember and how each time we do we actually recreate the memory, and why this is all good news for memoirists. Dr. Ginger Campbell started podcasting in 2006 and was recently inducted into the Podcast Hall of Fame. Her shows include Brain Science, Books and Ideas, and Graying Rainbows: Coming Out LGBT+ Later in Life. Her most well-known show Brain Science explores how recent discoveries in neuroscience are unraveling the mystery of how our brain makes us human. Dr. Campbell is also the author of Are You Sure? The Unconscious Origins of Certainty and she practices Palliative Medicine in Alabama.   Main links: https://virginiacampbellmd.com https://brainsciencepodcast.com @docartemis on most social media   -Visit the Let's Talk Memoir Merch store: https://www.zazzle.com/store/letstalkmemoir -- Ronit’s essays and fiction have been featured in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, The Iowa Review, The Washington Post, Writer’s Digest, American Literary Review, and elsewhere. Her memoir WHEN SHE COMES BACK about the loss of her mother to the guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and their eventual reconciliation was named Finalist in both the 2021 Best Book Awards and the 2021 Book of the Year Award and a 2021 Best True Crime Book by Book Riot. Her short story collection HOME IS A MADE-UP PLACE won Hidden River Arts’ 2020 Eludia Award and will be published in 2022. She is host and producer of the podcasts And Then Everything Changed and The Body Myth. More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com More about WHEN SHE COMES BACK, a memoir: https://ronitplank.com/book/ Sign up for monthly podcast and writing updates: https://bit.ly/33nyTKd   Follow Ronit: https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/ https://twitter.com/RonitPlank https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank   Background photo credit: Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers  

Phillip Lopate, a central figure in the revival of the American essay joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about the integral role the divided self plays in memoir, striking the balance between telling and showing, how knowing your own flaws and defects helps build trust with the reader, why the intelligent narrator must be present from page one, and why having an interesting take on your story is as if not more important than the story itself.   Also in this episode: -why memoirs aren’t for getting even -turning yourself into a character -narcissistic parents in memoir Memoirs mentioned in this episode: Borrowed Finery by Paula Fox Memoirs of a Catholic Girlhood by Mary McCarthy My Father Myself by J.R. Ackerly My Dog Tulip by J.R. Ackerly   Phillip Lopate is a central figure in the revival of the American essay, both through his ubiquitous edited anthology, Art of the Personal Essay, and his own essay collections, Bachelorhood, Against Joie de Vivre, Portrait of My Body and Portrait Inside My Head.  He is also the author of such book-length nonfiction works as To Show and to Tell, Being with Children, Waterfront, Notes on Sontag, Rudy Burckhardt: Photographer and A Mother’s Tale.  Additionally, he has written books of fiction (Confessions of Summer, The Rug Merchant, Two Marriages) and poetry (At the End of the Day).  Finally, he has edited other anthologies (Writing New York and American Movie Critics), and is currently completing a three-volume historical anthology of the American essay.  A member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a winner of Guggenheim, New York Public Library and National Endowment for the Arts fellowships, he is on the faculty of Columbia University’s Graduate Writing Program, School of the Arts.  https://philliplopate.com -- Ronit’s essays and fiction have been featured in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, The Iowa Review, The Washington Post, Writer’s Digest, American Literary Review, and elsewhere. Her memoir WHEN SHE COMES BACK about the loss of her mother to the guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and their eventual reconciliation was named Finalist in both the 2021 Best Book Awards and the 2021 Book of the Year Award and a 2021 Best True Crime Book by Book Riot. Her short story collection HOME IS A MADE-UP PLACE won Hidden River Arts’ 2020 Eludia Award and will be published in 2022. She is host and producer of the podcasts And Then Everything Changed and The Body Myth. More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com More about WHEN SHE COMES BACK, a memoir: https://ronitplank.com/book/ Sign up for monthly podcast and writing updates: https://bit.ly/33nyTKd   Follow Ronit: https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/ https://twitter.com/RonitPlank https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank   Background photo credit: Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers

Judy Bolton-Fasman joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation on how writing about complicated relationships with generosity creates stories and characters that stay with readers, the case for speculative nonfiction, the impact fellowships have had on her writing,  negotiating family members who appear in memoir, and don’t-miss-encouragement for all artists.   Also in this episode: -how seeds of her memoir began in fiction -what blew her work open -Ronit mispronounces illustrative   Memoirs mentioned in this episode: Knocked Down by AIleen Weintraub Priestdaddy: A Memoir by Patricia Lockwood How to Forget: A Daughter's Memoir by Kate Mulgrew   Bio: Judy Bolton-Fasman is the author of ASYLUM: A Memoir of Family Secrets from Mandel Vilar Press. Her essays and reviews have appeared in major newspapers including the New York Times and Boston Globe, essay anthologies, and literary magazines. She is the recipient of numerous writing fellowships, including the Alonzo G. Davis Fellowship for Latinx writers at the Virginia Center for Creative Arts.  She is a four-time winner of the Rockower Award from the American Jewish Press Association and a two-time Pushcart Prize and Best of the  Net nominee. She recently received an honorable mention in Tiferet’s Creative Nonfiction Essay Writing Contest. Website: judyboltonfasman.com  Amazon link to buy ASYLUM: https://www.amazon.com/Asylum-Memoir-Family-Secrets-Bolton-Fasman/dp/1942134770/ref=sr_1_1?crid=12OPHYITO9LWO&keywords=asylum+judy+bolton+fasman&qid=1649088222&sprefix=bolton-fasman%2Caps%2C96&sr=8-1   Ronit’s essays and fiction have been featured in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, The Iowa Review, The Washington Post, Writer’s Digest, American Literary Review, and elsewhere. Her memoir WHEN SHE COMES BACK about the loss of her mother to the guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and their eventual reconciliation was named Finalist in both the 2021 Best Book Awards and the 2021 Book of the Year Award and a 2021 Best True Crime Book by Book Riot. Her short story collection HOME IS A MADE-UP PLACE won Hidden River Arts’ 2020 Eludia Award and will be published in 2022. She is host and producer of the podcasts And Then Everything Changed and The Body Myth. More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com More about WHEN SHE COMES BACK, a memoir: https://ronitplank.com/book/ Sign up for monthly podcast and writing updates: https://bit.ly/33nyTKd   Follow Ronit: https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/ https://twitter.com/RonitPlank https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank   Background photo credit: Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers

Laura Davis joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about creating tension, writing for ourselves versus an audience, moving from the personal to the universal, trusting your reader, and the gift of self-discovery on the page. Also in this episode: -self-care when writing about trauma -using correspondence in manuscripts -the power of beta readers Memoirs mentioned in this episode:  Expecting Adam by Martha Beck Half the House by Richard Hoffman I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls    Laura Davis is the author of The Burning Light of Two Stars, the riveting memoir about her tumultuous yet loving relationship with her mother, and six other non-fiction books, including The Courage to Heal, Allies in Healing, I Thought We‘d Never Speak Again, and Becoming the Parent You Want to Be. Her groundbreaking books have been translated into 11 languages and sold 1.8 million copies. In addition to writing books that inspire and change people’s lives, the work of Laura’s heart is to teach. For more than twenty years, she’s helped people find their voices, tell their stories, and hone their craft. Laura loves creating supportive, intimate writing communities online, in person, and internationally. You can learn about Laura’s books and workshops, read the first five chapters of her memoir, and receive a free ebook: Writing Through Courage: A 30-Day Practice at www.lauradavis.net.    For Let’s Talk Memoir Listeners: You can also read the opening chapters for free here: http://www.lauradavis.net/chapters   Direct links to buy The Burning Light of Two Stars: Audiobook version of The Burning Light of Two Stars (Laura is the narrator): On Audible: https://www.audible.com/pd/The-Burning-Light-of-Two-Stars-Audiobook/B09G8WJQP7 And on Libro.fm for independent stores: https://libro.fm/audiobooks/9781950144471   Independent Bookstores: Get Signed Copies Through Bookshop Santa Cruz:  https://www.bookshopsantacruz.com/burning-light-two-stars-get-it-signed)   Bookshop.org: https://bookshop.org/books/the-burning-light-of-two-stars-a-mother-daughter-story-9781954854161/9781954854161   Amazon:   https://www.amazon.com/dp/1954854161 amzn.com/B08XZMFH46   Want to Order Internationally with Free Worldwide Delivery?  https://www.bookdepository.com/The-Burning-Light-of-Two-Stars-Laura-Davis/9781954854161   Attention Writers: If you’re a writer or want to use writing as a tool for healing or self-discovery, you can learn about Laura’s online writing workshops and in-person domestic and international retreats here: www.lauradavis.net  And if you want to go on a magical creative vacation to Tuscany with Laura in June of 2022, check out some serious eye candy here!   Social media links: FB: https://www.facebook.com/thewritersjourney IG: https://www.instagram.com/laurasaridavis Twitter: https://twitter.com/laurasaridavis Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/laurasaridavis/ -- Ronit’s essays and fiction have been featured in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, The Iowa Review, The Washington Post, Writer’s Digest, American Literary Review, and elsewhere. Her memoir WHEN SHE COMES BACK about the loss of her mother to the guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and their eventual reconciliation was named Finalist in both the 2021 Best Book Awards and the 2021 Book of the Year Award and a 2021 Best True Crime Book by Book Riot. Her short story collection HOME IS A MADE-UP PLACE won Hidden River Arts’ 2020 Eludia Award and will be published in 2022. She is host and producer of the podcasts And Then Everything Changed and The Body Myth. More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com More about WHEN SHE COMES BACK, a memoir: https://ronitplank.com/book/ Sign up for monthly podcast and writing updates: https://bit.ly/33nyTKd   Follow Ronit: https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/ https://twitter.com/RonitPlank https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank   Background photo credit: Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers

Paulette Perhach joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about why it’s okay to see writing as a business, balancing both grace and accountability in our work, the importance of a writing community, overcoming imposter syndrome, nurturing ourselves, and what happened when her essay “The F*ck Off Fund" went super viral. Also in this episode: -balancing both pay and appeal in writing jobs -getting paid well for memoir essays -financial safety for writers    Memoirs mentioned in this episode: Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt Crying in the H Mart by Michelle Zauner Night by Elie Wiesel “A Story of a F*ck Off Fund” by Paulette Perhach https://www.thebillfold.com/2019/02/classic-billfold-a-story-of-a-fuck-off-fund/   Paulette Perhach’s writing has been published in the New York Times, Elle, Slate, Cosmopolitan, Marie Claire, Yoga Journal, McSweeney’s Internet Tendency, and Vice. She’s worked for Health and Coastal Living magazines, as well as various newspapers. Hugo House, a nationally recognized writing center in Seattle, awarded her the Made at Hugo House fellowship in 2013. In 2016, she was nominated for the BlogHer Voices of the Year award for her essay, “A Story of a Fuck Off Fund,” which is anthologized in The Future is Feminist from Chronicle Books, along with work by Roxane Gay, Mindy Kaling, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Caitlin Moran, and Audre Lorde. She became interested in adult education while serving as a Peace Corps volunteer in South America, and in 2015 she created the Writer’s Welcome Kit, an online course for writers that includes a 55,000-word workbook. Her book, inspired by the course, was published in August 2018 by Sasquatch Books, part of the Penguin Random House publishing family. Welcome to the Writer's Life was selected as one of Poets & Writers' Best Books for Writers. She blogs about a writer’s craft, business, personal finance, and joy at welcometothewriterslife.com and keeps a casual podcast called Can We Talk About Money?   http://www.pauletteperhach.com https://welcometothewriterslife.com Twitter: @pauletteperhach Instagram: @paulettejperhach Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/paulette.perhach LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pauletteperhach/ -- Ronit’s essays and fiction have been featured in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, The Iowa Review, The Washington Post, Writer’s Digest, American Literary Review, and elsewhere. Her memoir WHEN SHE COMES BACK about the loss of her mother to the guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and their eventual reconciliation was named Finalist in both the 2021 Best Book Awards and the 2021 Book of the Year Award and a 2021 Best True Crime Book by Book Riot. Her short story collection HOME IS A MADE-UP PLACE won Hidden River Arts’ 2020 Eludia Award and will be published in 2022. She is host and producer of the podcasts And Then Everything Changed and The Body Myth. More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com More about WHEN SHE COMES BACK, a memoir: https://ronitplank.com/book/ Sign up for monthly podcast and writing updates: https://bit.ly/33nyTKd   Follow Ronit: https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/ https://twitter.com/RonitPlank https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank   Background photo credit: Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers

Kelly Sundberg joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about sharing her story of domestic violence with the world, depicting trauma and triggering events in memoir, the alchemical value of PTSD, navigating the privacy of others, and incorporating essays in manuscripts. Also in this episode: -using direct address in memoir -the publisher’s vision vs. the writer’s -lyric essays and poetry for memoirists   Books and articles mentioned in this episode: Somebody’s Daughter by Ashley C. Ford The Chronology of Water by Lidia Yuknavitch A Fortune for your Disaster by Hanif Abdurraqub  Bluets by Maggie Nelson “It Will Look Like a Sunset” ​​https://www.guernicamag.com/it-will-look-like-a-sunset/ “Ritchie County Mall” https://gay.medium.com/ritchie-county-mall-7b30b96731f6 “Every Line is a Scream” https://gay.medium.com/every-line-is-a-scream-3ed54c727619   Kelly Sundberg's memoir, Goodbye, Sweet Girl, was published by HarperCollins in 2018. Her essays have appeared in The New York Times Modern Love, Alaska Quarterly Review, Guernica, Gulf Coast, The Rumpus, Denver Quarterly, Slice, and many other literary and commercial magazines. Her essay “It Will Look Like a Sunset” was selected for inclusion in The Best American Essays 2015, and other essays have been listed as notables in The Best American Essays 2013, 2016, and 2018. She has a PhD in creative nonfiction from Ohio University and has been the recipient of fellowships or grants from Vermont Studio Center, A Room of Her Own Foundation, Dickinson House, and the National Endowment for the Arts. She was recently awarded a 2021 Individual Excellence Award from the Ohio Arts Council, and she is an Assistant Professor of English at Ashland University in Ashland, Ohio.    Links: https://www.amazon.com/Goodbye-Sweet-Girl-Domestic-Violence/dp/0062497685/ref=sr_1_1?crid=TOX8R2VUN9S2&keywords=goodbye%2C+sweet+girl&qid=1648689563&sprefix=goodbye%2C+sweet+girl%2Caps%2C95&sr=8-1   https://kellysundberg.com/ https://twitter.com/K_O_Sundberg https://www.instagram.com/ksundber/ -- Ronit’s essays and fiction have been featured in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, The Iowa Review, The Washington Post, Writer’s Digest, American Literary Review, and elsewhere. Her memoir WHEN SHE COMES BACK about the loss of her mother to the guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and their eventual reconciliation was named Finalist in both the 2021 Best Book Awards and the 2021 Book of the Year Award and a 2021 Best True Crime Book by Book Riot. Her short story collection HOME IS A MADE-UP PLACE won Hidden River Arts’ 2020 Eludia Award and will be published in 2022. She is host and producer of the podcasts And Then Everything Changed and The Body Myth. More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com More about WHEN SHE COMES BACK, a memoir: https://ronitplank.com/book/ Sign up for monthly podcast and writing updates: https://bit.ly/33nyTKd   Follow Ronit: https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/ https://twitter.com/RonitPlank https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank   Background photo credit: Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers

Debi Lewis joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation on best practices for writing about our children, navigating the medical memoir, positioning books to make them appealing to publishers, and how she broke into The New York Times and sold her book during a global pandemic.   Also in this episode: -rewriting drafts from scratch -using texts and messages as manuscript material -discovering a memoir’s structuring principle   Memoirs mentioned in this episode:  Brain on Fire by Susannah Cahalan Happiness: The Crooked Little Road to Semi-Ever After by Heather Harphan   BIO: Debi Lewis is the author of Kitchen Medicine: How I Fed My Daughter out of Failure to Thrive and has written for outlets including The New York Times, Bon Appetit, Huffington Post, Romper, Wired, and more. She lives in the Chicago suburbs with her husband and two teenaged daughters. You can learn more about her at http://www.debilewis.com and follow her on Twitter and Instagram at @growthesunshine.   PURCHASE LINKS FOR KITCHEN MEDICINE:  BOOKSHOP.ORG: https://bookshop.org/books/kitchen-medicine-how-i-fed-my-daughter-out-of-failure-to-thrive/9781538156650 AMAZON.COM: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1538156652/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_583S4P8V9N7BXANH6SGE  ROWMAN & LITTLEFIELD:  https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781538156667/Kitchen-Medicine-How-I-Fed-My-Daughter-out-of-Failure-to-Thrive  Instagram and Twitter @growthesunshine   Ronit’s essays and fiction have been featured in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, The Iowa Review, The Washington Post, Writer’s Digest, American Literary Review, and elsewhere. Her memoir WHEN SHE COMES BACK about the loss of her mother to the guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and their eventual reconciliation was named Finalist in both the 2021 Best Book Awards and the 2021 Book of the Year Award and a 2021 Best True Crime Book by Book Riot. Her short story collection HOME IS A MADE-UP PLACE won Hidden River Arts’ 2020 Eludia Award and will be published in 2022. She is host and producer of the podcasts And Then Everything Changed and The Body Myth. More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com More about WHEN SHE COMES BACK, a memoir: https://ronitplank.com/book/ Sign up for monthly podcast and writing updates: https://bit.ly/33nyTKd   Follow Ronit: https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/ https://twitter.com/RonitPlank https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank   Background photo credit: Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers

Jane Friedman joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about the most common craft issues she sees in memoir manuscripts, what writers often misunderstand about the industry, The Big Five, how to write memoir query letters, ways the publishing landscape has changed for memoirs, and so much more in this do-not-miss episode. -Visit the Let's Talk Memoir Merch store: https://www.zazzle.com/store/letstalkmemoir Also in this episode: -the lowdown on platform -protecting identities in memoir -Jane Friedman’s why   Books mentioned in this episode: Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt Wild by Cheryl Strayed Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert Seabiscuit by Laura Hillenbrand Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo Swing by Ashleigh Renard   Links to articles mentioned in this episode: How to Use Real People in Your Writing Without Ending Up in Court: https://helensedwick.com/how-to-use-real-people-in-your-writing/ Law & Authors: a conversation with Jacqui Lipton https://youtu.be/GDydK3Z4aOI How to and (Especially) How Not to Write About Family https://www.janefriedman.com/write-about-family-memoir/ A Big Shitty Party: Six Parables of Writing About Other People   Millions of Followers? For Book Sales, ‘It’s Unreliable.’ https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/07/books/social-media-following-book-publishing.html   Jane Friedman (@JaneFriedman) has 20 years of experience in the publishing industry, with expertise in digital media strategy for authors and publishers. She is the publisher of The Hot Sheet, the essential newsletter on the publishing industry for authors, and was named Publishing Commentator of the Year by Digital Book World in 2019. In addition to being a columnist for Publishers Weekly, Jane is a professor with The Great Courses, which released her 24-lecture series, How to Publish Your Book. Her book for creative writers, The Business of Being a Writer (University of Chicago Press), received a starred review from Library Journal. Jane speaks regularly at conferences and industry events such as BookExpo America, Digital Book World, and the AWP Conference, and has served on panels with the National Endowment for the Arts and the Creative Work Fund. Find out more. www.janefriedman.com  https://www.instagram.com/janefriedman/   Ronit’s essays and fiction have been featured in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, The Iowa Review, The Washington Post, Writer’s Digest, American Literary Review, and elsewhere. Her memoir WHEN SHE COMES BACK about the loss of her mother to the guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and their eventual reconciliation was named Finalist in both the 2021 Best Book Awards and the 2021 Book of the Year Award and a 2021 Best True Crime Book by Book Riot. Her short story collection HOME IS A MADE-UP PLACE won Hidden River Arts’ 2020 Eludia Award and will be published in 2022. She is host and producer of the podcasts And Then Everything Changed and The Body Myth. More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com More about WHEN SHE COMES BACK, a memoir: https://ronitplank.com/book/ Sign up for monthly podcast and writing updates: https://bit.ly/33nyTKd   Follow Ronit: https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/ https://twitter.com/RonitPlank https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank   Background photo credit: Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Finger

Melissa Gould joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about how writing was a way back to herself after she became a widow unexpectedly and at a young age, making the jump from screenwriting to nonfiction, when she knew she had a memoir, and how she protected her daughter in her writing. Also in this episode: -Melissa’s experience leading workshops -how writing helps transform grief -what it’s like to have your book optioned for TV.   Memoirs mentioned in this episode: Wild by Cheryl Strayed Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert Educated by Tara Westover Maid by Stephanie Land   Melissa Gould’s memoir, Widowish, is an Amazon best seller and Editor's Pick for best memoir, a Goodreads Top Book of 2021, and has been named one of BookAuthority's 100 Best Grief Books of All Time!  Her essays have been published in the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, the Washington Post, the Hollywood Reporter, Buzzfeed and more. She is an award-winning screenwriter who has worked on shows such as Bill Nye the Science Guy, Beverly Hills 90210, Party of Five, and Lizzie McGuire. Widowish is available wherever books are sold. Find Melissa at www.widowish.com and on Instagram at MelissaGould_Author. Amazon link: https://www.amazon.com/Widowish-Memoir-Melissa-Gould/dp/1542018781/ref=tmm_hrd_title_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr= Website link: www.widowish.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/melissagould_author/   Ronit’s essays and fiction have been featured in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, The Iowa Review, The Washington Post, Writer’s Digest, American Literary Review, and elsewhere. Her memoir WHEN SHE COMES BACK about the loss of her mother to the guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and their eventual reconciliation was named Finalist in both the 2021 Best Book Awards and the 2021 Book of the Year Award and a 2021 Best True Crime Book by Book Riot. Her short story collection HOME IS A MADE-UP PLACE won Hidden River Arts’ 2020 Eludia Award and will be published in 2022. She is host and producer of the podcasts And Then Everything Changed and The Body Myth. More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com More about WHEN SHE COMES BACK, a memoir: https://ronitplank.com/book/ Sign up for monthly podcast and writing updates: https://bit.ly/33nyTKd   Follow Ronit: https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/ https://twitter.com/RonitPlank https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank   Background photo credit: Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers

Meg Weber joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about knowing when the right time is to tell your story, approaching loved ones about scenes in your memoir featuring graphic sex and kink, why compartmentalizing on the page doesn’t work, and writing with a broken heart. Also in this episode:  -real names and pen names -asking your family’s permission  -why there can never be enough memoirs   Memoirs mentioned in this episode: The End of Eve by Ariel Gore Refuge by Terry Tempest Williiams Abandon Me by Melissa Febos Whip Smart by Melissa Febos The Chronology of Water by Lidia Yuknavitch The Middle Place by Kelly Corrigan Group by Christie Tate   Bio: Meg Weber writes memoir about sex, grief, love, family, therapy, and tangled relationships. She is a queer writer and a mental health therapist who specializes in gender and sexuality. Her debut memoir, A Year of Mr. Lucky, launched in February of 2021, and she is at work on her second memoir. She lives in a suburb of Portland, Oregon with her wife, her teenager, a therapy labradoodle named Portland, and two cats.  Connect with Meg: https://www.megweberwriter.com/a-year-of-mr-lucky Purchase A Year of Mr. Lucky from Bookshop   Ronit’s essays and fiction have been featured in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, The Iowa Review, The Washington Post, Writer’s Digest, American Literary Review, and elsewhere. Her memoir WHEN SHE COMES BACK about the loss of her mother to the guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and their eventual reconciliation was named Finalist in both the 2021 Best Book Awards and the 2021 Book of the Year Award and a 2021 Best True Crime Book by Book Riot. Her short story collection HOME IS A MADE-UP PLACE won Hidden River Arts’ 2020 Eludia Award and will be published in 2022. She is host and producer of the podcasts And Then Everything Changed and The Body Myth. More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com More about WHEN SHE COMES BACK, a memoir: https://ronitplank.com/book/ Sign up for monthly podcast and writing updates: https://bit.ly/33nyTKd   Follow Ronit: https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/ https://twitter.com/RonitPlank https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank   Background photo credit: Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers

Andrea Ross joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about battling memoir imposter syndrome, choosing scene over exposition, doing whatever it takes to get yourself to write, and how she used the wilderness to help tell her story and convey the particular brand of loneliness that adopted people experience.   Also in this episode: -what new writers sometimes forget -promoting your book  -publishing with a small press   Memoirs in this episode: Unnatural Selection by Andrea Ross Wild by Cheryl Strayed The Liars’ Club by Mary Karr Long Live the Tribe of Fatherless Girls by T Kira Madden The Mistress's Daughter by A.M. Homes   Bio: Andrea Ross's memoir, Unnatural Selection, about her years as a wilderness guide searching for her biological family, was published by CavanKerry Press in 2021. Her writing has appeared in Ploughshares, The Huffington Post, Terrain The Conversation,  Mountain Gazette, and many other outlets. During the 1980s and 1990s, Andrea worked throughout the American West as a wilderness guide, a National Park Service Ranger, and a backcountry Search and Rescue leader. She is a faculty member in the University Writing Program at UC Davis.    Links: website: andrearosswriter.com link to buy book: https://www.cavankerrypress.org/product/unnatural-selection/ twitter: https://twitter.com/Andrea_M_Ross insta: https://www.instagram.com/andrearosswriter/ facebook author page: https://www.facebook.com/rossandream   Ronit’s essays and fiction have been featured in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, The Iowa Review, The Washington Post, Writer’s Digest, American Literary Review, and elsewhere. Her memoir WHEN SHE COMES BACK about the loss of her mother to the guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and their eventual reconciliation was named Finalist in both the 2021 Best Book Awards and the 2021 Book of the Year Award and a 2021 Best True Crime Book by Book Riot. Her short story collection HOME IS A MADE-UP PLACE won Hidden River Arts’ 2020 Eludia Award and will be published in 2022. She is host and producer of the podcasts And Then Everything Changed and The Body Myth. More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com More about WHEN SHE COMES BACK, a memoir: https://ronitplank.com/book/ Sign up for monthly podcast and writing updates: https://bit.ly/33nyTKd   Follow Ronit: https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/ https://twitter.com/RonitPlank https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank   Background photo credit: Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers

Ellen Blum Barish joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about becoming a memoirist after a career as a journalist and how that deepened her love of writing, the power of working on smaller pieces as we craft our memoir, and finding the themes and structure in our story. Also in this episode: -Ellen’s Eight Essential Elements of Essay -Writing about the people we love -Knowing where to begin and where to end   Memoirs mentioned in this episode: I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou The Diving Bell and the Butterfly by Jean-Dominique Bauby The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion Inheritence by Dani Shapiro What Comes Next and How to Like It by Abigail Thomas  Safekeeping by Abigail Thomas One Hundred Names for Love Diane Ackerman Autobiography of a Face by Lucy Greely Truth and Beauty by Ann Patchett     Ellen Blum Barish is the author of Seven Springs: A Memoir (Shanti Arts, 2021) and Views from the Home Office Window (Adams Street Publishing, 2007). You can find her work in Brevity’s Blog, Full Grown People, Literary Mama, Tablet and The Chicago Tribune. Many of her essays have aired on Chicago Public Radio and have been told on storytelling stages around Chicago. Ellen founded the literary publication Thread, which earned four notables in Best American Essays and has taught writing at Northwestern University where she earned a master’s in journalism. She works privately with writers and teaches writing workshops on essay collections and memoir. Seven Springs: A Memoir: http://www.shantiarts.co/uploads/files/abc/BARISH_SEVEN.html Seven Springs: A Memoir (audiobook on Amazon): https://www.amazon.com/Audible-Seven-Springs-A-Memoir/dp/B09BDBM1FD/ref=tmm_aud_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr= Website: https://ellenblumbarish.com Coaching: https://ellenblumbarish.com/coaching/ Blog on Craft, Creativity & Commotion: https://ellenblumbarish.com/blog/ E-Guides “Writing Your Marker Story” & “Ellen’s Eight Essential Elements of Essay” https://ellenblumbarish.com/guides/ Upcoming Workshops: https://ellenblumbarish.com/workshops/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ellenblumbarish/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EllenBlumBarish Twitter: LinkedIn:   Ronit’s essays and fiction have been featured in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, The Iowa Review, The Washington Post, Writer’s Digest, American Literary Review, and elsewhere. Her memoir WHEN SHE COMES BACK about the loss of her mother to the guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and their eventual reconciliation was named Finalist in both the 2021 Best Book Awards and the 2021 Book of the Year Award and a 2021 Best True Crime Book by Book Riot. Her short story collection HOME IS A MADE-UP PLACE won Hidden River Arts’ 2020 Eludia Award and will be published in 2022. She is host and producer of the podcasts And Then Everything Changed and The Body Myth. More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com More about WHEN SHE COMES BACK, a memoir: https://ronitplank.com/book/ Sign up for monthly podcast and writing updates: https://bit.ly/33nyTKd   Follow Ronit: https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/ https://twitter.com/RonitPlank https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank   Background photo credit: Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers

Christie Tate joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about the ethics of writing about groups therapy and ex-boyfriends, navigating writing anxiety, becoming a full-time writer, and why she never leaves a page blank.   Also in this episode: -networking with other writers  -sex scenes -what it’s like to be picked for Reese Witherspoon’s book club   Memoirs mentioned in this episode: Heavy by Kiese Laymon The Chronology of Water by Lidia Yuknavitch Love and Trouble by Claire Dederer Priestdaddy by Patricia Lockwood BIOGRAPHY: Christie Tate is a writer and essayist whose work has appeared in The New York Times, Carve Magazine, Cutbank, The New Ohio Review, McSweeney's, and elsewhere. Her debut memoir, Group-- How One Therapist and a Circle of Strangers Saved My Life, was published in October 2020 and was a Reese Witherspoon Book Club pick.   Connect with Christie: https://christietate.com/ https://www.instagram.com/christieotate/   Ronit’s essays and fiction have been featured in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, The Iowa Review, The Washington Post, Writer’s Digest, American Literary Review, and elsewhere. Her memoir WHEN SHE COMES BACK about the loss of her mother to the guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and their eventual reconciliation was named Finalist in both the 2021 Best Book Awards and the 2021 Book of the Year Award and a 2021 Best True Crime Book by Book Riot. Her short story collection HOME IS A MADE-UP PLACE won Hidden River Arts’ 2020 Eludia Award and will be published in 2022. She is host and producer of the podcasts And Then Everything Changed and The Body Myth. More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com More about WHEN SHE COMES BACK, a memoir: https://ronitplank.com/book/   Sign up for monthly podcast and writing updates: https://bit.ly/33nyTKd   Follow Ronit: https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/ https://twitter.com/RonitPlank https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank   Background photo credit: Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers