Who here has written a memoir?

[Sara]

I wrote a memoir after my father died. It tells the story of my life up to that point, framed by my father's unexpected death. My childhood was an abusive one, but not entirely unhappy. It was my unhappy circumstances that gave me the motivation to actively seek happiness as an adult.

strange little girl: memoirs of a sad-eyed lady
http://saramcgrath.blogspot.com

sad-eyed lady is a reference to the woman in the song my mother named me after

[Kathleen C. Berken]

I wrote a compilation of stories about the nine years of my life as a live-in assistant in a L'Arche Community where I've lived with adults with cognitive disabilities. I faced death with a stage IV breast cancer diagnosis; violence and threats of violence; disillusionment; and more blessings than one person should ever have in a lifetime. People who read my book have told me that they couldn't put it down. Wow, that's a compliment!

Here's one wonderful review:
http://bobzbookreviews.blogspot.com/2008/11/dont-fear-reading-memoi...

Walking on a Rolling Deck: Life on the Ark was published by Liturgical Press (Collegeville, MN) in July 2008
www.faithjourneyhope.com

[Sara]

Your story sounds very interesting. I really like the title, too. I had to look up L'Arche. I hadn't heard of it.

[Kathleen C. Berken]

Hi, Sara,
I hope you get to read my book. If you want to get an autographed copy, just follow the links on my website: www.faithjourneyhope.com -- L'Arche is a beautiful international community of people with and without disabilites who live together as signs of hope that people who are different can live in peace. I am confident you will really enjoy my stories, the good, the bad and the ugly.
Peace,
Kathy

[Sara]

Writing down stories for your children is such a gift to them. I would have loved for my parents or grandparents to have done something similar.

[Marjorie Price]

Hi Sara,
My memoir A Gift from Brittany (just out in paperback) is about the years I lived as a young artist, married to a French painter, on a remote farm in Brittany in the 1960's. The time I spent there and my friendship with an elderly peasant woman changed the way I saw the world. I love the memoir format. It's founded on truth, but aims to tell a good story, and each of our lives contains the material to be a good story when we step aside and describe it from a distance.

[Sara]

Hi Marjorie, Your story sounds very interesting, and I think it's great to hear about the profound influence an elder can have on a young person's life.

[Marjorie Price]

Hi Sara,
Not only was there a generational difference between myself and Jeanne, but great cultural differences as well. She came from an ancient cultural that was still tied to the Middle Ages. So it was not just our age difference that made such an impact on my life but also the profoundly different ways we viewed the world. That, I think, is what made our connection so rich and meaningful.

[Linda Fossen]

I became an author quite "by accident". I never intended to write my story - these were the secrets that I thought I was destined to carry with me to the grave. But after decades of suffering in silence, I published my book "Out of the Miry Clay: Freedom From Childhood Sexual Abuse". My father is a preacher who sexually abused me for ten years when I was a child. Naturally this polluted my concept of love, God, father and trust.

The book describes the carnage that the abuse left in my heart as a young child and the journey to my ultimate freedom in Jesus Christ.

The book was released in June of 2008 and has gone to 30 different countries in the first year. It is a story you will never ever forget.

www.LindaFossen.com

[Sara]

Linda, Thanks for telling us about your book. I waited a long time to write my abuse memoir, as well, but after I did, I really felt unburdened. I can only imagine how confused you must have been growing up with such contradictions. The man who abused me was openly vile, so I just thought all men were that way, at least until I got away from him and out into the world. Anyway, thank you for sharing. I'm so glad to hear that your book is helping so many people.

[Linda Fossen]

Thanks Sara. It has been an amazing journey. One of the bombshells that came from the book was to find that another victim of my father had come forward 5 years before my book was published - I had no clue. The police investigated my father and then closed out the case - further traumatizing this young woman. Now my book has become part of police evidence and the police have re-opened the investigation! So glad I put my father's name in the book - it helped to validate this girl.

[Jen Knox]

Hello, Sara. I'm finally posting here. Your book sounds harrowing and inspiring. I love memoirs because they tell true stories of hope. Marjorie, Linda, Kathleen, your books sound amazing, too. I haven't gone to your websites yet, but as a person who loves to read even more than she loves to write, I will.

I wrote a memoir entitled Musical Chairs. It was released in early October, and it's been a tough book to let go of.

So far, it's been getting very good reviews, despite the fact that I made the mistake of sending it to some reviewers who were obviously not my target demographic. I suppose any advice is good, but I do find that the reviews are incredibly personal, given my material. People want to diagnose me.

That said, I am also liberated by my book. It is a way to lay my past to rest. Here's the synopsis:

After suffering a series of severe panic attacks, Jen begins to explore her past. In doing so, she becomes enamored by the mysterious nature of her family's history. She discovers a pattern of mental health diagnoses and searches to define the cusp between her '90s working-class childhood and the trouble of adapting to a comfortable life in the suburbs.

Jen attempts to reconcile with her past and the family she ran away from at age fifteen. With humor and surprising candor, she reflects upon years of strip-dancing, alcoholism, and estrangement while maintaining impressive narrative control. This story is about identity, class, family ties, and the elusive nature of mental illness.


Musical Chairs is currently only available on Amazon. It will be available at Borders in a week or so.

[Jackie K Cooper]

I have written five books of memoirs, the latest being THE SUNRISE REMEMBERS. Number 6 will be published in 2011 by Mercer University Press. I have been pleasantly surprised by the number of people who are interested in "memoirs" of all types. My books all concern my life in the South, which could limit their interest to people in other locales but I have heard from people all over the world who tell me they can relate to my stories

Jackie K Cooper
www.jackiekcooper.com