Magical Memoir Moments
100 New Beginnings: Your Chance to Be a Winner
Well folks, here we are. After reading 100 memoirs, writing 400 blog posts, and drafting page after page of memoir, we are entering the last trimester of labor. 100 Days Until Launch. Yea! Thank you, thank you, for sustaining me thus far. The best is yet to be. The goal has always been more than…
"You Can't Have it All": Part Two from Saloma Furlong's Review of Thrill of the Chaste
I grew up in the heart of Pennsylvania Dutch country. Farms like the one on the left peppered the hills and valleys of that beautiful place. So did other signs of rural life. Two years ago I stayed with my sister Sue for several days, preparing for a talk called “The Purpose of Memory” at…
American Culture and Amish Fiction: Why Now and Why So Much? Part One.
When he heard that I finally earned my Ph.D., my grandpa told me those three letters meant “Piled High and Deep.” He didn’t have a lot of respect for speculation and abstraction. My field is an interdisciplinary one, called American Civilization, at the University of Texas at Austin, where I did my doctoral study. A…
Sing Out Like Susan Boyle: Five Lessons to Help You Find Your Signature Story
Nothing is more beautiful than an authentic voice that comes straight from the heart and soul of another human being. I can’t think of a better illustration of this fact than Susan Boyle’s first appearance (2009) on the TV show Britain’s Got Talent, which electrified the audience and, eventually, the world. Even if you’ve watched…
Writing as Spiritual Practice: A Guest Blog Post
How do you view your work? Is it a paycheck, an obstacle to your real life, a source of anxiety, or just something you do because everyone else does it? Do you cherish the dream that your work could be a calling — something that challenges you and makes you stronger and better? Something that…
The Secret of the Best Wedding Blessings: Find the Memoir Moments That Fit Your Child's Purest Self
Three years ago today our only daughter became a bride and wife. Stuart and I were asked to write wedding blessings to read in the ceremony. We were honored and a little daunted by the seriousness of the occasion. How to choose the words when the heart was so full, the memories so overwhelming, the…
Choosing Photos for a Memoir: Which One Should it Be?
Robert Burns asked for the gift to “see ourselves as others see us.” Every author wants that same gift and yet trembles before the awful throne of reader judgment, hoping that one’s private thoughts made public will be held with respect, maybe even with tenderness and love. A writer needs to earn that trust. Selecting…
A Week with Kate: Working and Playing with My Memoir Marketing Director
One of the rewards of intensive parenting of young children is that they grow up to be friends. I love spending time with both my adult children and their families. Last week, I enjoyed the luxury of spending five whole days with my daughter Kate. We both are blessed with flexible schedules, so we can…
A Mennonite Memoir Filled with Awe: Don Jacobs' What a Life!
I’m grateful today for publishers and publications that allow small groups of people to keep their collective identity alive. Good Books is one of those publishers. Mennonite World Review offers a place for readers to connect to the books. Hurrah for both! April 1 issue Voice of awe and gratitude by Shirley Hershey Showalter Is it…
Combining Service, Learning, and Memoir: An Intergenerational Approach and Syllabus
Since I am preparing to teach memoir to college students, I’m anticipating a question: How write about a life when it does not yet contain a long timeline with twists and turns in it? There are many solutions to this problem: Memoir thrives on the short view anyway. It is not the chronicle of a…