196. Structuring a Memoir Around a Medical Mystery featuring Gail Eisnitz

Cathy Shields joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about the role guilt and grief have played in her experience parenting a unique child, how she has navigated her daughter’s diagnosis of severe cognitive disability, writing about complicated mothers and complicated mothering, protecting children in our work, critical mothers, living in the contradiction, and her memoir The Shape of Normal.    Also in this episode: -not giving up -social anxiety -forgiving ourselves   Memoirs mentioned in this episode: The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan DIdion  Educated by Tara Westover The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls Raising a Rare Girl by Heather Lanier To Siri with Love by Judith Newman   Catherine (Cathy) Shields, M.S. Ed., is a retired early childhood teacher. She writes about parenting, disabilities, and self-discovery. In her debut memoir, The Shape of Normal, Cathy explores the truths and lies parents tell themselves. Her stories and essays have appeared in NBC Today, Newsweek, Bacopa Literary Review, Grown, and Flown,  Brevity Blog, Write City Magazine, The Manifest-Station, and elsewhere. Cathy lives in Miami, Florida. In her free time, Cathy likes to hike, kayak, and explore the Everglades National Park with her husband, to whom she’s been married forever.   Connect with Cathy:  Website: https://www.cathyshieldswriter.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cathyshieldswriter LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/cathy-shields-88487711b X: https://twitter.com/Catshields1 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cathy.p.shields.3 Substack: https://cathyshieldswriter.substack.com/ Get Cathy’s Book: https://www.vineleavespress.com/the-shape-of-normal-by-catherine-shields.html   — Ronit’s writing has appeared 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 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 lives in Seattle with her family where she teaches memoir workshops and is working on her next book. More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com Sign up for monthly podcast and writing updates: https://bit.ly/33nyTKd   Follow Ronit: https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/ https://twitter.com/RonitPlank https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank   Background photo credit: Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers

14 Mars 202428min

Joelle Tamraz joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about yoga cults and self-declared spiritual gurus, searching for something outside ourselves, mind control, transcendental meditation, capturing the emotional vulnerability of our memoir characters, the many drafts in our manuscripts, and the story of how she pried her way out of the decades-long spiritual emotional, financial, and physical abuse she writes about in her new memoir The Secret Practice: Eighteen Years on the Dark Side of Yoga.   Also in this episode: -critique groups -standing by our story -writing as a relationship with ourselves   Books mentioned in this episode: Writing Hard Stories by Melanie Brooks Love Sick by Sue William SIlveman The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls When She Comes Back by Ronit Plank   Joelle is a memoir and life writer who's been putting thoughts to paper ever since she learned about journaling in her eighth-grade English class. Before pivoting to writing full-time, she held senior roles in technology companies for over two decades and owned a yoga studio for ten years. She earned an Honors BA degree in social studies from Harvard and an MBA from INSEAD. She is also a certified life coach and a youth mentor. She has lived in the US and France and now resides in the UK with her husband and two dogs. The Secret Practice: Eighteen Years on the Dark Side of Yoga is her debut memoir.   Connect with Joelle: Website: https://joelletamraz.com X: https://twitter.com/joelletamraz Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joelletamraz Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/joelletamraz1 Get the book: https://books2read.com/joelletamraz   — Ronit’s writing has appeared 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 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 lives in Seattle with her family where she teaches memoir workshops and is working on her next book. More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com Sign up for monthly podcast and writing updates: https://bit.ly/33nyTKd   Follow Ronit: https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/ https://twitter.com/RonitPlank https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank   Background photo credit: Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers

12 Mars 202437min

Rona Maynard joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about allowing ourselves to get lost in our writing, realizing you've actually been writing your book, observing our animal companions keenly, embracing surprises in our work, discovering joyful moments, looking for a narrative arc, using Scrivener, going more deeply, writing from the heart, and her memoir Starter Dog.   Also in this episode: -taking in the world around us -photographs as writing aids -learning who we are   Books mentioned in this episode: Travels with Charley by John Steinbeck What Comes Next and How to Like It by Abigail Thomas Truth and Beauty by Ann Patchet In the Key of New York by Rebecca McClanahan   Rona Maynard found happiness at 65—a story she tells in her new memoir Starter Dog: My Path to Joy, Belonging and Loving This World. She first broke into print at 14 with a short story about bullying and still receives fan mail from teens who are reading it in class. Rona capped a stellar career in magazines with a decade at the helm of Chatelaine, Canada’s leading magazine for women. Her editor’s column garnered a loyal following. When she disclosed a struggle with depression, she helped kickstart a national conversation about mental health. When Rona stepped away from corporate life, she had to learn to unwind. Her best teacher was a rescue mutt who had received his basic training in a prison. She has been married more than 50 years to her best friend, tech advisor and driver on a cross continental art adventure that took them to 49 museums in five weeks. Rona says road trips go better with a dog in the back seat.   Connect with Rona: Website: https://ronamaynard.com/ Medium: https://ronamaynard.medium.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rona.maynard/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ronamaynard3278/?hl=en LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ronamaynard/   Get Rona’s book: Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Starter-Dog-Belonging-Loving-World/dp/1770417230/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1690986860&sr=8-1 Bookshop.org: https://bookshop.org/p/books/starter-dog-my-path-to-joy-belonging-and-loving-this-world/18908036?ean=9781770417236&ref=https%3A%2F%2Fronamaynard.com%2F&source=IndieBound&title=Starter+Dog%3A+My+Path+to+Joy%2C+Belonging+and+Loving+This+World   — Ronit’s writing has appeared 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 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 lives in Seattle with her family where she teaches memoir workshops and is working on her next book. More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com Sign up for monthly podcast and writing updates: https://bit.ly/33nyTKd   Follow Ronit: https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/ https://twitter.com/RonitPlank https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank   Background photo credit: Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers

7 Mars 202436min

Ann Batchelder joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about using myth as a jumping point for interpreting ourselves, trusting intuition, the idea of mother failure, regret and letting go, addiction and recovery in loved ones, mental health stigma, deciding when to show loved ones the manuscript, and her memoir Craving Spring: A Mother’s Quest, a Daughter’s Depression, and the Greek Myth that Brought Them Together.   Also in this episode: -how stories save us -Alanon -mother guilt   Books mentioned in this episode: Beautiful Boy by David Sheff Wild by Cheryl Strayed Another Bullshit Night in Suck City by Nick Flynn Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls The Tender Bar by J.R. Moehringer H is for Hawk by Helen Macdonald Eating in the Light of the Moon by Dr. Anita  Johnston Work by Pema Chodron Work by Tara Brach   Ann Batchelder is the author of Craving Spring: A Mother’s Quest, a Daughter’s Depression, and the Greek Myth that Brought Them Together. She served as Editor of FIBERARTS Magazine, was guest curator for the Asheville Art Museum where she designed and developed three major contemporary art exhibitions featuring artists such as Louise Bourgeois, Ann Hamilton, Sally Mann, Maya Lin, and Laurie Anderson, and was Director of Special Events for the Brooklyn Academy of Music. Ann earned an MSW in psychotherapy and is the mother of two adult children.  Connect with Ann: Website: https://www.annbatchelder.com Facebook: https://facebook.com/ann.batchelder.9 Instagram: https://instagram.com/annbatchelder     — Ronit’s writing has appeared 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 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 lives in Seattle with her family where she teaches memoir workshops and is working on her next book. More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com Sign up for monthly podcast and writing updates: https://bit.ly/33nyTKd   Follow Ronit: https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/ https://twitter.com/RonitPlank https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank   Background photo credit: Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers

5 Mars 202432min

Brooke Warner joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about nontraditional publishing, the massive sea change we’re seeing in memoir, how for authors visibility and marketing work is never done, protecting our memoir worlds, accountability groups, what all memoirs require, the genesis of She Writes Press, balancing her multiple roles, the project she is working on now and the many resources she offers memoirists.   Also in this episode: -when creativity merges with our working life -carving out time to write -Substack and content-creation   Books mentioned in this episode: Heavy by Kiese Laymon Bird by Bird by Anne Lamont The Art of Memoir by Mary Karr In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado You Could Make This Place Beautiful by Maggie Smith   Brooke Warner is publisher of She Writes Press and SparkPress, president of Warner Coaching Inc., and author of Write On, Sisters!, Green-light Your Book, What’s Your Book?, and three books on memoir. Brooke is a TEDx speaker and the former Executive Editor of Seal Press. She’s the current Board Chair of the Bay Area Book Festival, and sits on the Board of the National Association of Memoir Writers. She writes a weekly Substack newsletter @brookewarner, and a regular column for Publishers Weekly.   Connect with Brooke: Website: www.brookewarner.com She Writes Press: www.shewritespress.com SparkPress: https://gosparkpress.com   Brooke’s memoir courses: www.writeyourmemoirinsixmonths.com www.magicofmemoir.com   About Ronit Subscribe to Ronit's Memoir Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank?utm_source=profile-page Ronit’s writing has appeared 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 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 lives in Seattle with her family where she teaches memoir workshops and is working on her next book. More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com Sign up for monthly podcast and writing updates: https://bit.ly/33nyTKd   Follow Ronit: https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/ https://twitter.com/RonitPlank https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank   Background photo credit: Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers

27 Feb 202442min

Joni B. Cole joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about following our creative hunches, what to look for in workshop groups and writing teachers, the power of positive reinforcement, the magic of revision, the right to tell our stories, her approach to teaching, the writer’s center she founded in White River Junction, Vermont and her new book of essays Party Like It’s 2044: Finding the Funny in Life and Death.   Also in this episode: -connecting with other writers -checking in on our expectations -celebrating ourselves   Books mentioned in this episode: Growing Up by Russell Baker One Writer’s Beginnings by Eudora Welty  Spare by Prince Harry the Duke of Sussex Bad Feminist by Roxane Gay Shrill by Lindy West   Joni B. Cole is the author of seven books, including the new release "Party Like It’s 2044: Finding the Funny in Life and Death," and two acclaimed writing guides: "Good Naked: How to Write More, Write Better, and Be Happier" (listed as a “Best Books for Writers” by Poets & Writers magazine) and "Toxic Feedback: Helping Writers Survive and Thrive" ("I can't imagine a better guide to writing's rewards and perils than this fine book,” American Book Review). For over twenty-five years she has taught creative writing to adults through her own writer’s center in White River Junction, Vermont, through the Dartmouth Writer’s Society, and at a diversity of academic and nonprofit programs across the country. She is a contributor to The Writer magazine and Jane Friedman blog, and hosts the podcast “Author, Can I Ask You?”    Connect with Joni: Website: www.jonibcole.com The Writer’s Center of WRJ: www.thewriterscenterwrj.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joni.b.colewriter Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/joni.cole.9   — Ronit’s writing has appeared 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 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 lives in Seattle with her family where she teaches memoir workshops and is working on her next book. More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com Sign up for monthly podcast and writing updates: https://bit.ly/33nyTKd   Follow Ronit: https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/ https://twitter.com/RonitPlank https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank   Background photo credit: Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers

22 Feb 202443min

Jane Wong joins Let’s Talk memoir for a conversation about the challenge of reflection in memoir, writing that teems with the specific and particular, capturing the experience of being a chinese american woman on the page, writing about exes and domestic violence, keeping ourselves safe while creating, constellations in our lives, avoiding sentimentality, and her new memoir which she calls a love song to her mother, Meet Me Tonight in Atlantic City. Also in this episode: -how she’s never funny in poems -the super secret Jane Wong’s been keeping -finding your people   Books mentioned in this episode: Seeing Ghosts by Kat Chow Tastes like War by Grace M. Cho Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner Dictee by Theresa Hak Kyung Cha The Grave on the Wall by Brandon Shimoda  Jane Wong is the author of the debut memoir, Meet Me Tonight in Atlantic City, out now from Tin House (2023). She is also the author of two books of poetry: How to Not Be Afraid of Everything from Alice James (2021) and Overpour from Action Books (2016).    She holds an M.F.A. in Poetry from the University of Iowa and a Ph.D. in English from the University of Washington and is an Associate Professor of Creative Writing at Western Washington University. Her poems can be found in places such as Best American Nonrequired Reading 2019, Best American Poetry 2015, The New York Times, American Poetry Review, POETRY, The Kenyon Review, New England Review, and others. Her essays have appeared in places such as McSweeney's, Black Warrior Review, Ecotone, The Common, The Georgia Review, Shenandoah, and Want: Women Writing About Desire (Catapult).   A Kundiman fellow, she is the recipient of a Pushcart Prize and fellowships and residencies from the U.S. Fulbright Program, Artist Trust, Harvard’s Woodberry Poetry Room, 4Culture, the Fine Arts Work Center, Bread Loaf, Hedgebrook, Willapa Bay, the Jentel Foundation, UCross, Mineral School, the Barbara Deming Memorial Fund, Loghaven, and others. She grew up in a Chinese American restaurant on the Jersey shore and lives in Seattle.   Connect with Jane: Website: https://janewongwriter.com/ Get Jane’s Book: https://tinhouse.com/book/meet-me-tonight-in-atlantic-city/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/paradeofcats   — Ronit’s writing has appeared 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 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 lives in Seattle with her family where she teaches memoir workshops and is working on her next book. More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com Sign up for monthly podcast and writing updates: https://bit.ly/33nyTKd   Follow Ronit: https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/ https://twitter.com/RonitPlank https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank   Background photo credit: Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers

20 Feb 202450min

Lisa Niver joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about disagreeing and then agreeing with your agent, her career in travel, accountability groups, working with developmental editors and book and proposal coaches, divorce, all the non-writerly jobs being a published memoirist requires, and her new book Brave-ish: One Breakup, Six Continents and Feeling Fearless After Fifty.   Also in this episode: -taking time to rest -switching where our memoirs begin -asking for help   Books mentioned in this episode: Getting Stones with the Savages by Maarten Troost The Henna Artist by Alka Joshi Super Survivors by David B, Feldman and  Lee Daniel Kravetz Group by Christie Tate BFF by Christie Tate Maybe You Should Talk With Someone by Lori Gottlieb   Lisa Niver is an award-winning travel expert who has explored 102 countries on six continents. This University of Pennsylvania graduate sailed across the seas for seven years with Princess Cruises, Royal Caribbean, and Renaissance Cruises and spent three years backpacking across Asia. Discover her articles in publications from AARP: The Magazine and AAA Explorer to WIRED and Wharton Magazine, as well as her site WeSaidGoTravel.   On her award nominated global podcast, Make Your Own Map, Niver has interviewed Deepak Chopra, Olympic medalists, and numerous bestselling authors, and as a journalist has been invited to both the Oscars and the United Nations. For her print and digital stories as well as her television segments, she has been awarded three Southern California Journalism Awards and two National Arts and Entertainment Journalism Awards and been a finalist twenty-two times.   Named a #3 travel influencer for 2023, Niver talks travel on broadcast television at KTLA TV Los Angeles, her YouTube channel with over 2 million views, and in her memoir, Brave-ish, One Breakup, Six Continents and Feeling Fearless After Fifty.   Connect with Lisa: Website: https://lisaniver.com/braveish/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lisaniver Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lisaniver Twitter: https://twitter.com/lisaniver Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lisa.niver Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/wesaidgotravel/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisaellenniver/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@LisaNiver We Said Go Travel: http://wesaidgotravel.com/ Lisa’s Series of articles: Navigating Book Promotion: Expert Tips from PR Pros https://www.wesaidgotravel.com/book-promotion/ Unlocking Book Promotion Success: Insider Strategies from PR Experts (Part 2) https://www.wesaidgotravel.com/book-promotion-2/ Mastering Book Promotion Strategies: Proven Insights from PR Experts (Part 3) https://www.wesaidgotravel.com/book-promotion-3/   — Ronit’s writing has appeared 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 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 lives in Seattle with her family where she teaches memoir workshops and is working on her next book. More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com Sign up for monthly podcast and writing updates: https://bit.ly/33nyTKd   Follow Ronit: https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/ https://twitter.com/RonitPlank https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank   Background photo credit: Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers

15 Feb 202439min