48. Writing into Structure featuring Clare Frank

Clare Frank joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about writing a female-career-centered memoir, letting structure dictate content, when an agent really loves your voice but doesn’t think they can sell your book, the lifelong relationship she’s had with fire, and her new memoir Burnt.

Also in this episode:

-using NaNoRiMo to draft your book

-embracing the suck

-when your sibling is also writing a memoir

Book mentioned in this episode:

Books by Caitlin Doughty

Ambulance Driver by Kevin Hazard

Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain

The Liar’s Club by Mary Karr

Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls

This is the Story of a Happy Marriage by Ann Patchett

Clare Frank served as the State of California’s first and only female Chief of Fire Protection. She began firefighting at age 17 and worked her way through the ranks, handling all types of fire and rescue emergencies and major disasters in both urban and rural settings. Along the way, she earned a bachelor’s in fire administration, a law degree and bar card, and a master’s in creative writing. Most recently, she is the author of BURNT: A Memoir of Fighting Fire. She lives near Lake Tahoe with her husband and always a dog or two

Connect with Clare:

Book: https://bookshop.org/p/books/burnt-a-memoir-of-fighting-fire-clare-frank/18699323?ean=9781419763908

Website: https://www.therealclarefrank.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/firewriter1/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100009533621822

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/clare-frank-64a2a2236/

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Ronit’s writing has been featured in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, The Iowa Review, Hippocampus, 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 Housatonic Awards Awards and the 2021 Indie Excellence Awards and was a 2021 Book Riot Best True Crime Book. Her short story collection HOME IS A MADE-UP PLACE was named winner of Hidden River Arts’ 2020 Eludia Award and Finalist in the 2023 Page Turner Awards. She earned an MFA in Nonfiction Writing at Pacific University, is Creative Nonfiction Editor at The Citron Review, and lives in Seattle with her family where she is at work on her next book.

More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com

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Background photo credit: Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash

Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography

Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers