54. The Truest Story You Can Tell featuring Jill Christman

Bridey Thelen-Heidel joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about growing up with a mom who was addicted to everything including dangerous men, revisiting and writing about a traumatic childhood forty plus decades later, when you have to let go to protect yourself, choosing to balance the heaviness and dysfunction in a story with pop culture and lightness, writing creatively with an audience in mind, speaking for the child you once were, being true to your past experience, learning to let go and trust editorial feedback, knowing the ending of your book as you live it, literary devices and motifs, being a hybrid author and her 3 Cs for rocking book promotion, grieving the mother she never had, and her award-winning memoir Bright Eyes.   Also in this episode:  -trauma bonding with music -enmeshed relationships -investing in yourself Books mentioned in this episode: -Some Bright Morning I’ll Fly Away by Alice Anderson -The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls -The Art of Memoir by Mary Karr -Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott -Fearless Writing by William Kenower  -Fast-Draft Your Memoir: Write Your Life Story in 45 Hours by Rachael Herron -Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert -The Creative Act by Rick Rubin   Bridey Thelen-Heidel is a teacher, TEDx speaker, and cast member of Listen To Your Mother NYC. Her memoir, Bright Eyes, earned a Zibby Award “Best Story of Overcoming,” New York City Big Book Award “Distinguished Favorite,” and Runner-up from the San Francisco Writers’ Festival. A fierce LGBT+ youth advocate, Bridey has been celebrated by the California Teachers' Association. She’s also partnered with NAMI and numerous domestic violence and child abuse resource agencies, speaking about defeating our monsters but also learning to live without them.  Connect with Bridey: Website: bridey-thelenheidel.com FB: https://www.facebook.com/brighteyesthememoir/ Insta: https://www.instagram.com/brighteyesauthor/ TikTok: @brighteyes_author TEDx Talk: ROB the Trauma: Steal Back Your Life https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PT6rvXyjsZU&t=152s   – Ronit’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, Poets & Writers, 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 the 2021 Housatonic Awards Awards, 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 won Hidden River Arts’ 2020 Eludia Award and the 2023 Page Turner Awards for Short Stories.  She earned an MFA in Nonfiction Writing at Pacific University, is Creative Nonfiction Editor at The Citron Review, and teaches memoir through the University of Washington's Online Continuum Program and also independently. She launched Let's Talk Memoir in 2022, lives in Seattle with her family of people and dogs, and is at work on her next book. More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com Subscribe to Ronit’s Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank Follow Ronit: https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/ https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank https://bsky.app/profile/ronitplank.bsky.social   Background photo credit: Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers

9 Syys 38min

Sarah Boon joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about allowing elements of a memoir to reveal themselves, radical acceptance of what we need as a writer and what we can feasibly accomplish with the resources we have, getting to know who we are as creatives, publishing with an academic press and the peer review process, navigating refusals, struggling with narrative arc, her experience as a woman and a scientist doing research in remote locations, breaking away from science writing to write a science memoir, living with bipolar II and anxiety, the effect of mental illness on creative process, being gentler with ourselves, pivoting from working alone to sharing a personal story, and her new memoir Meltdown: The Making and Breaking of a Field Scientist.   Also in this episode: -writing groups -living with an invisible illness -discovering the trajectory for your book   Books mentioned in this episode: The Solitude of Open Spaces by Gretel Ehrlich The Only Woman in the Room  Eileen Pollack  Mean and Lowly Things: Survival: Snakes, Science, and Survival in the Congo by Kate Jackson   Sarah Boon, PhD, has published essays, book reviews, and author interviews for the LA Review of Books, Hippocampus, The Rumpus, Brevity Blog, Science, Nature and other outlets. Her first book, Meltdown: The Making and Breaking of a Field Scientist, came out with University of Alberta Press in June of 2025. She lives on southern Vancouver Island with her husband and dog, and is working on her next book.   Connect with Sarah: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/DHjQHnRpPTG/ BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/snowhydro.bsky.social FB: https://www.facebook.com/sarah.boon.31 www.melt-down.ca www.watershednotes.ca Get the book:  For Canadians: https://www.indiebookstores.ca/book/9781772127911/ For Americans: https://bookshop.org/p/books/meltdown-the-making-and-breaking-of-a-field-scientist-sarah-boon/21630061?ean=9781772127911   – Ronit’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, Poets & Writers, 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 the 2021 Housatonic Awards Awards, 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 won Hidden River Arts’ 2020 Eludia Award and the 2023 Page Turner Awards for Short Stories.  She earned an MFA in Nonfiction Writing at Pacific University, is Creative Nonfiction Editor at The Citron Review, and teaches memoir through the University of Washington's Online Continuum Program and also independently. She launched Let's Talk Memoir in 2022, lives in Seattle with her family of people and dogs, and is at work on her next book. More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com Subscribe to Ronit’s Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank Follow Ronit: https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/ https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank https://bsky.app/profile/ronitplank.bsky.social   Background photo credit: Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers

4 Syys 29min

Michael Jamin joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about his career as a TV writer, moving from mimicking to discovering and trusting our own voice, allowing our style to evolve, making sense of ourselves through art, imposter syndrome and feeling displeased with our work, comedy writing, performing staged readings to test out material, building a bridge between separate sections of our story, infusing comedy with drama, asking permission from children before we write about them, breathing life into relationships on the page for readers to witness, showing up generously for newer writers, getting a moment to land, and his memoir A Paper Orchestra.   Also in this episode: -doing stand up -debunking writing myths -having a spouse as trusted reader   Books mentioned in this episode -Books by David Sedaris -David Bowie making art video YouTube   Michael Jamin is a TV writer/author. His many television credits include King of the Hill, Beavis and Butt-Head, Just Shoot Me, Wilfred, Maron, Rules of Engagement, Brickleberry, and Tacoma FD. His debut collection of personal essays (a cross between David Sedaris and Neil Simon) was just named one of Vulture’s “Best Comedy Books of 2024.”    Connect with Michael:  Website: michaeljamin.com Facebook https://www.facebook.com/MichaelJaminWriter/ Instagram https://www.instagram.com/michaeljaminwriter/ TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@michaeljaminwriter YouTube https://www.youtube.com/c/MichaelJaminWriter Threads https://www.threads.net/@michaeljaminwriter A Paper Orchestra: michaeljamin.com/book Catch Michael Jamin on tour: michaeljamin.com/upcoming Mining Your Life for Stories: (memoir writing course) https://michaeljamin.com/sp/mining-sales/   – Ronit’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, Poets & Writers, 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 the 2021 Housatonic Awards Awards, 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 won Hidden River Arts’ 2020 Eludia Award and the 2023 Page Turner Awards for Short Stories.  She earned an MFA in Nonfiction Writing at Pacific University, is Creative Nonfiction Editor at The Citron Review, and teaches memoir through the University of Washington's Online Continuum Program and also independently. She launched Let's Talk Memoir in 2022, lives in Seattle with her family of people and dogs, and is at work on her next book. More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com Subscribe to Ronit’s Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank Follow Ronit: https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/ https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank https://bsky.app/profile/ronitplank.bsky.social   Background photo credit: Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers

4 Syys 34min

Melissa Fraterrigo joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about the personal and emotional toll of being female, becoming a mother and watching her daughters navigate culture, making sense of our world through memoir and essay, discovering a softness for the younger versions of ourselves, when the fictional world doesn’t hold our attention, processing different time periods, making sure there are universal truths in memoir as well as our own story, not inviting people others into the space while we’re drafting, memoir as permission to explore our own life, taking the time to get to know ourselves and our process, how are we changed by writing, and her new memoir The Perils of Girlhood.   Also in this episode: -Lafayette Writers Studio -sharing of ourselves -keeping our channels open   Books mentioned in this episode: -Writing Past Dark by Bonnie Friedman -The Boys of My Youth by Jo Ann Beard -How to Write an Autobiographical Novel by Alexander Chee -Spilt Milk by Courtney Zoffness -Books by Melissa Febos -Negative Space by Lilly Dancyger Melissa Fraterrigo’s new memoir is The Perils of Girlhood published by the University of Nebraska Press. She is also the author of the novel Glory Days (University of Nebraska Press, 2017), which was named one of “The Best Fiction Books of 2017” by the Chicago Review of Books as well as the short story collection The Longest Pregnancy (Livingston Press, 2006). Her fiction and nonfiction have appeared in numerous literary journals and anthologies from storySouth and Shenandoah to Notre Dame Review, Sou’wester and The Millions. A graduate of the University of Iowa (BA) and Bowling Green State University (MFA), she teaches creative writing at Purdue University, and is also the founder and executive director of the Lafayette Writers’ Studio in Lafayette, Indiana, where she offers classes on the art and craft of writing. She lives with her husband and two daughters in West Lafayette, Indiana.  Connect with Melissa:  Website: melissafraterrigo.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/melissa.fraterrigo Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/melissafraterrigo/ Lafayette Writers’ Studio: lafayettewritersstudio.com Get her book: https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-perils-of-girlhood-a-memoir-in-essays/6da6408eda085813 https://www.amazon.com/dp/1496242203?ref_=cm_sw_r_ffobk_cp_ud_dp_XZ0VSR4RDAFX5FBRZYB6 https://www.nebraskapress.unl.edu/nebraska/9781496242204/the-perils-of-girlhood/   – Ronit’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, Poets & Writers, 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 the 2021 Housatonic Awards Awards, 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 won Hidden River Arts’ 2020 Eludia Award and the 2023 Page Turner Awards for Short Stories.  She earned an MFA in Nonfiction Writing at Pacific University, is Creative Nonfiction Editor at The Citron Review, and teaches memoir through the University of Washington's Online Continuum Program and also independently. She launched Let's Talk Memoir in 2022, lives in Seattle with her family of people and dogs, and is at work on her next book. More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com Subscribe to Ronit’s Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank Follow Ronit: https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/ https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank https://bsky.app/profile/ronitplank.bsky.social

2 Syys 36min

Gail Eisnitz joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about structuring her memoir around her pursuit of answers to a lifelong medical mystery, coming to terms with her own humanness, writing about her career in animal advocacy, exposing the underbelly of the meat industry and effecting change for millions of animals, working on difficult and hard-to-sell material, not sharing a book project with friends and loved ones until it’s complete, weathering a difficult submission process, allowing herself to soften emotionally, becoming more in touch with self-compassion, and her new memoir Out of Sight: An Undercover Investigator’s Fight for Animal Rights and Her Own Survival.   Also in this episode: -factory farms -writing what feels right -discovering what holds the book together   Books mentioned in this episode:  The Happiest Man on Earth by Eddie Jaku The Choice by Dr. Eva Edith Eger The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris Gail A. Eisnitz, winner of the prestigious Albert Schweitzer Medal for outstanding achievement in animal welfare, has been working for decades to document and expose the shocking underbelly of the U.S. meat industry. She is chief investigator for the Humane Farming Association and author of the forthcoming memoir, Out of Sight: An Undercover Investigator’s Fight for Animal Rights and Her Own Survival. Eisnitz and her first book, Slaughterhouse: The Shocking Story of Greed, Neglect, and Inhumane Treatment inside the U.S. Meat Industry, were the driving force behind a front-page exposé in the Washington Post that resulted in an annual multimillion dollar Congressional appropriation for enforcement of the Humane Slaughter Act – the first funding ever allocated for a law that had been on the books for more than forty years. Eisnitz’s work has resulted in exposés by ABC’s Good Morning America, PrimeTime Live, and Dateline NBC, has been featured in such newspapers as the New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Miami Herald, Detroit Free Press, Texas Monthly, Denver Business Journal, Los Angeles Times, and U.S. News & World Report, and her interviews have been heard on more than 1,000 radio stations. In her new memoir, Eisnitz takes readers on a journey of self-discovery as she fights to document and expose scandalous animal abuse, all in the face of a rare visual processing disorder that she has grappled with since childhood. The disease, which was only identified in the scientific literature a mere ten years ago – was diagnosed after she began writing her memoir – and is revealed at the book’s climax.  Connect with Gail: Website: www.GailEisnitz.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gail.eisnitz Humane Farming Association: www.hfa.org   – Ronit’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, Poets & Writers, 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 the 2021 Housatonic Awards Awards, 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 won Hidden River Arts’ 2020 Eludia Award and the 2023 Page Turner Awards for Short Stories.  She earned an MFA in Nonfiction Writing at Pacific University, is Creative Nonfiction Editor at The Citron Review, and teaches memoir through the University of Washington's Online Continuum Program and also independently. She launched Let's Talk Memoir in 2022, lives in Seattle with her family of people and dogs, and is at work on her next book. More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com Subscribe to Ronit’s Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank Follow Ronit: https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/ https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank https://bsky.app/profile/ronitplank.bsky.social   Background photo credit: Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers

28 Elo 26min

Alex DiFrancesco joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about using rituals and tarot as a framework in a manuscript, Italian folk tradition as a spiritual outlet, the sometimes difficult path to publishing, being sued for defamation, finding a publisher brave enough to publish our work, writing about sexual assault, thinking in sections, using books as inspiration, complex PTSD, hiding who we are, alters, saints, and card divination, taking it slow, keeping our body in working order, making our own magic, and their new memoir Breaking the Curse.   Also in this episode: -anti-SLAPP laws -seeking protection -multi-tonal books -Snakes and Acey’s Print Shop: https://www.snakesandaceys.com/   Books mentioned in this episode: 78 Degrees of Wisdom by Rachel Pollack  The Part That Burns by Jeannine Ouellette Aura by Hillary Leftwich Saint Dymphna’s Playbook by Hillary Leftwich  Glory Guitars by Gogo Germaine I Liked You Better Before I Knew You So Well by James Allen Hall   Alex DiFrancesco is the author of ALL CITY, PSYCHOPOMPS, TRANSMUTATION, and BREAKING THE CURSE. Their work has appeared in The New York Times, The Guardian, Electric Literature, Lit Hub, Tim House, and more. They are a 2022 recipient of the Ohio Atts Council's individual excellence awards, as well as the first transgender awards finalist in over 80 years of the Ohioana Book Awards.  Connect with Alex: Website: www.alexdifrancesco.com Get the book: https://www.sevenstories.com/authors/453-alex-difrancesco?srsltid=AfmBOor0TGaH2gWxGoaqEPlv2rNOrjiALa2iEha3b-z1m0s6mFIosnja   – Ronit’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, Poets & Writers, 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 the 2021 Housatonic Awards Awards, 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 won Hidden River Arts’ 2020 Eludia Award and the 2023 Page Turner Awards for Short Stories.  She earned an MFA in Nonfiction Writing at Pacific University, is Creative Nonfiction Editor at The Citron Review, and teaches memoir through the University of Washington's Online Continuum Program and also independently. She launched Let's Talk Memoir in 2022, lives in Seattle with her family of people and dogs, and is at work on her next book. More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com Subscribe to Ronit’s Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank Follow Ronit: https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/ https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank https://bsky.app/profile/ronitplank.bsky.social   Background photo credit: Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers

26 Elo 28min

Nina B. Lichtenstein joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about writing to metabolize, using body parts as portals, pivoting from academic writing to memoir, discovering an authentic writer’s voice, finding the right form as a neurodivergent writer, allowing various stories to cross-pollinate, opening doors with exploration, transforming shame into a shared experience, writing about the memories lodged within our bodies, being a Viking Jewess, the body as record keeper, the complex emotions around shame, moving from reactive and blameful writing to discovery, giving ourselves permission to tell our story, and her new memoir Body: My Life in Parts. Also in this episode: -leaning into literary community -publishing shorter pieces first -In a Flash literary magazine    Books mentioned in this episode: Permission: The New Memoirist and the Courage to Create by Elissa Altman Bird by Bird by Anne Lammott Still Writing by Dani Shapiro Safekeeping by Abigail Thomas The Chronology of Water by Lidia Yuknavitch   Nina B. Lichtenstein is a native of Oslo, Norway, and holds a PhD in French literature from UCONN and an MFA in creative nonfiction from the University of Southern Maine's Stonecoast program. She is the founder and director of Maine Writers Studio, and the co-founder and co-editor of In a Flash Lit Mag. Her writing has appeared in various journals, magazines, and outlets, as well as in several anthologies. Her book, Sephardic Women's Voices: Out of North Africa, was published by Gaon Books in 2017, and her memoir, Body: My Life in Parts by Vine Leaves Press. She has three adult sons, and lives in Maine with her husband.    Connect with Nina: Website: https://www.ninalichtenstein.com/ Maine Writers Studio: https://www.mainewritersstudio.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ninalich/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vikingjewess/ Substack: https://ninablichtenstein.substack.com/ Get the book: https://vineleavespress.myshopify.com/products/body-my-life-in-parts-by-nina-b-lichtenstein   – Ronit’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, Poets & Writers, 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 the 2021 Housatonic Awards Awards, 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 won Hidden River Arts’ 2020 Eludia Award and the 2023 Page Turner Awards for Short Stories.  She earned an MFA in Nonfiction Writing at Pacific University, is Creative Nonfiction Editor at The Citron Review, and teaches memoir through the University of Washington's Online Continuum Program and also independently. She launched Let's Talk Memoir in 2022, lives in Seattle with her family of people and dogs, and is at work on her next book. More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com Subscribe to Ronit’s Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank Follow Ronit: https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/ https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank https://bsky.app/profile/ronitplank.bsky.social   Background photo credit: Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers

21 Elo 43min

Sonita Alizada joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about surviving the Taliban in Afghanistan, speaking up against forced child marriage and racism, finding a voice through music, when we have nothing else to help us survive but art, protesting against an oppressive government, fighting for an education, the lack of meaningful action from NGOs, how much we can live through and endure, survivor’s guilt, becoming the subject of a documentary, risking what you have for your dreams, and her new memoir SONITA: My Fight Against Tyranny and My Escape to Freedom. Speak up against for marriage against racism and around, not just about hardship but about survival resistance and hope it’s about celebration what Art can do when we have nothing else to use and no other resources to use to really fight for ourselves to find our voices to chase our dreams Also in this episode; -not putting everything into the book -the fatigue of advocacy work -fighting for those who don’t have a voice   Books mentioned in this episode: Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls On Writing by Stephen King   Sonita Alizada is an Afghan rapper and activist and the author of the new book: “SONITA: My Fight Against Tyranny and My Escape to Freedom." Through her music and advocacy work, Sonita has campaigned for women’s rights and against child marriage, partnering with notable NGOS. She has performed at the U.S. Secretary of State's International Women of Courage Awards and has been recognized with prestigious honors, including TIME Magazine's Next Generation Leader, Forbes 30 Under 30, the Cannes Lions Humanitarian Award, and was included in BBC’s 100 Women in 2015. Sonita, who learned English upon coming to the U.S., graduated from Bard College in 2023. In October 2025, she will be pursuing a master’s degree at Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar.    Connect with Sonita: Website: www.sonita.net Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sonitalizadeh – Ronit’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, Poets & Writers, 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 the 2021 Housatonic Awards Awards, 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 won Hidden River Arts’ 2020 Eludia Award and the 2023 Page Turner Awards for Short Stories.  She earned an MFA in Nonfiction Writing at Pacific University, is Creative Nonfiction Editor at The Citron Review, and teaches memoir through the University of Washington's Online Continuum Program and also independently. She launched Let's Talk Memoir in 2022, lives in Seattle with her family of people and dogs, and is at work on her next book. More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com Subscribe to Ronit’s Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank Follow Ronit: https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/ https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank https://bsky.app/profile/ronitplank.bsky.social   Background photo credit: Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers

19 Elo 33min