I sized up the sock I was knitting. While following a standard pattern—a one size fits all—I realized my almost-completed-sock would not fit my smaller-than-average foot. I thought about how the term sometimes can’t be taken literally, as for clothing, for example, or figuratively, like for a weight-loss program. I was reminded how “one size fits all” didn’t apply [...]
In November, a traditional month for homecoming, I gave thanks. And now in December as the year ends and calls for holiday parties, tree lighting ceremonies, and Hanukkah preparations, some may recount their year in specifics. Maybe you know what I’m talking about—the letter—tucked inside a holiday card you received. You read a script font printed on holiday paper catching [...]
Memoir writer Alice Tallmadge said it best in an essay, “Your First Book, When the Cheering Stops,” - “But your writing mind is as empty as a flat pocket. You can’t imagine writing another paragraph, ever. You say you are taking a break. And you do. (https://bit.ly/2JzmG7U) And I did. Taking a break from writing seemed to be an excuse, [...]
Have you ever liked an author’s second book more than, let’s say, their first? It’s not that an author’s latest book is better; it may be because the writing was different. You may have enjoyed their work of fiction over their first nonfiction book. I’ve always been a writer. I journaled through my anxious teens and in college, I recorded [...]
Recently I participated with thirteen other authors and poets in a local book fair. I was inspired to learn about their books and the authors behind them like a match to a flame, reigniting my desire to write memoir. But one writer’s question made me realize a memoir shouldn't be labeled by its tragedy but rather for the reasons why it was written. “Hi, [...]
Since I’ve been a memoir writer and a defender of the genre, I’ve been righting what I believe is an inaccuracy. By definition, memoir focuses on one segment, an event or experience of a writer’s life. But I would argue to widen the lens and say a book can still be called a memoir even if told with multiple events [...]
I completed a final draft of a blog post (I had started it as a Word doc) last week about how our most vivid memories come from our childhoods. I explored why that might be. I fired up my laptop to post the blog the next day, but was stalled as my computer ran updates. Twenty minutes later, I logged [...]
In 2016, I wrote an essay, I Called You a Memoir, where hope said yes; my completed memoir wasn’t just a vision, but a reality. Working on a memoir was the most labor intensive task I’ve ever attempted as autobiographical timelines covered the surface like a fog that skews a real picture. When I made my way through self-discovery to [...]
And here comes a young woman headed straight for me. She looked excited with wide-eyed brown eyes behind horn-rimmed glasses, her reddish-brown hair pulled tight in a ponytail, revealing a fresh young, round face, and dimples like parenthesis around her lipstick-stained lips. She stopped in front of me where I was sitting behind a table and behind copies of my [...]
I recently read about Greg Weinman in the Chicago Tribune newspaper who inherited over 2,000 newspapers, historically headlined, his father had collected for nearly a century. He needed to dispose of them because he is moving and no longer has the space to store them. Libraries and universities didn’t want them so he will lay them out on his driveway [...]