Introduce Yourself > Likes and Comments

Hello friends and welcome... please feel free to tell us a little about yourself and what made you a writer!

Hello, everyone. I'm Sharon E. Cathcart. I've been writing for as long as I can remember, so it's hard to say what made me a writer. I am a former journalist and newspaper editor, so essays and non-fiction seemed a logical fit. However, my fans seem to like my fiction best. :-) I will share my past and present work in the appropriate thread.

Thanks for sharing Sharon. You know the funny thing with me is, that I never considered myself a writer. A storyteller, yes, I have spent my life telling stories. But my husband and his sister were the writers, the artists, the musicians. Then my story happened to me and I began to write a journal... and it became a book and so I became a writer. During that time, a journalism job landed in my lap and I began writing about local events, restaurants and people for the lifestyle section of a local newspaper. My book was published last week, so now I guess I can officially call myself... a writer!

Hi, I'm Benjamin J. Carey. I've enjoyed writing since grade school. I was working on my first memoir when I was diagnosed with a life threatening conditioning out of nowhere. I put the original memoir on hold and wrote a short book about facing mortality at a young age which was published this past March. I've gone back to writing the original memoir, and look forward to getting to know everyone here in the forum. Thanks for the group Leila!

Hi Benjamin, I wouldn't say 190 pages is a short book! Looking forward to reading it... and it's a pleasure (o:

Hi, I’m Jane Rowan. My parents gave me a love of good books and of excellence in writing. For about 35 years I’ve kept a journal and kept my sanity by writing down my confusion. In 2001 I joined a local writers group where the leader encouraged us to find our voices by writing poetry or prose or whatever came to us. I write poetry pretty consistently and love the condensation and freedom with words that poetry brings.

My inspiration to write my memoir, The River of Forgetting: A Memoir of Healing from Sexual Abuse, was gratitude for the transformations in my life that followed from my intense work on my childhood problems. I suspect many of us are inspired to write memoirs because we have undergone transformative experiences.
The River Of ForgettingJane Rowan

Wonderful Jane, my book also began as a journal. Writing is healing in itself, or it was for me. I'd love to read your book.
Cheers,
Leila

Hello, my name is Chris Bullock.
My desire to write stemmed from my interest in Family History.
For many years I had collected data about my ancestors - just dry facts and figures really. I started to wonder what life was like in those times, and over a period of 5 years I found out as much as I could about the people, environment and events of those times of my ancestors.
My first story (Living through Hope!) is an Historical Romance about my great great grandmother, who survived the Irish Famine and moved to England in the nineteenth century. Certainly a time of deprivation, but out of which came love and a determination to build a future.
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view...

From this starting point I planned a further twelve stories based on my ancestors lives.
My second story (The Waggoner) is an Historical Family Saga starting in a farming community in Worcestershire and building a business during the Industrial Revolution.
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view...

So far, these have been published as eBooks. I have tried Agents and Publishers in print, but unfortunately no success as yet.
I would appreciate any comments and suggestions on a way forward.
Chris

Hi Chris and welcome!
It seems that eBooks are very popular and the way forward. I recently self-published through Amazon's Create Space in paperback, first and then on Amazon Kindle. I'm waiting to see which does better. Keep us updated with your books.
Kindest,
Leila

Hi Everyone!

My name is Jonna. I recently completed my memoir "Will Love For Crumbs." I wanted to connect with other writers who are working on memoirs.

I too will be publishing on Kindle in January 2012.

Congrats Jonna for finishing your memoir! It's quite a mammoth task! What is your story about?
Leila

Will Love For Crumbs is about the mystifying and often ridiculous journey I took from Los Angeles to Texas, to the swamps of Louisiana and eventually to the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas. All along the way, I was chasing love while simultaneously tossing aside my own self worth.

Ultimately I learned no matter how far or how fast I ran, I could never get out of my own skin.

Hello!

Thanks to Leila for starting this group. I'm passionate about writing and teaching memoir, and I'm always eager to hear others' experiences. My books are SWINGING ON THE GARDEN GATE and ON THE THRESHOLD. If anyone here is interested in spiritual memoir, there's also a small goodreads group for that, too. I've written a book on writing spiritual memoir called WRITING THE SACRED JOURNEY. And now I'm busy writing about revision.

Isn't it fabulous that memoir is so popular and so accessible these days?

Elizabeth Jarrett Andrew

Hi Elizabeth,

I will check out your books. Yes, it is so exciting that memoirs are now so available. I'm in love with all the various ways people were able to self publish.

Jonna

Hello fellow memoir authors,

Leila, thank you for starting this group. Can't seem to find too many memoir enthusiasts in my daily real world, and so glad to come across this group on goodreads.

I knew I wanted to write since I was 9 years old, but didn't believe in my talent. It took me 30 years to build up the confidence. Over Christmas weekend I had a short story anthology of memoirs published. I liken the stories to "Chicken Soup for the Soul" type tales, with a touch of humor.

Happy New Year to all,
Lori

Leila wrote: "Hello friends and welcome... please feel free to tell us a little about yourself and what made you a writer!"

Memoir author

I have always known that I had a talent for writing but the drive to use the talent lay dormant for over two decades until the life stresses created a need to write with a purpose:

In 1987, I was forced to flee for my life from a homicidal abuser with five small children in tow when I was twenty-nine years old. In 1995, the pressures of dealing with troubled, one of whom was suicidal, led to my beginning the first book of the Torn Trilogy: Torn From the Inside Out.

Over the next fifteen years, my drive to master my fate and kill the 'dog' that bit me, led to The Journey and Out of the Maelstrom, the final books of the 1200 page Torn Trilogy (completed recently).

I am also a book lover, an avid reader as I am sure most if not all of you are (or you probably would not be on this site), with a taste for any good writing in any genre. I especially love most of the classics and my writing style naturally gravitates toward literary narrative style.

Lori wrote: "Hello fellow memoir authors,

Leila, thank you for starting this group. Can't seem to find too many memoir enthusiasts in my daily real world, and so glad to come across this group on goodreads.

..."
Lori, your talent has waited thirty years-you probably have a lot of stoked up passion to write with. Congratulations!

Sara (Josephine)

Leila wrote: "Thanks for sharing Sharon. You know the funny thing with me is, that I never considered myself a writer. A storyteller, yes, I have spent my life telling stories. But my husband and his sister were..."

Congratulations! Agatha Christie was about thirty when she began to write and she said this

“I have enjoyed greatly the second blooming that comes when you finish the life of the emotions and of personal relations; and suddenly you find—at the age of fifty, say—that a whole new life has opened before you, filled with things you can think about, study, or read about.... It is as if a fresh sap of ideas and thoughts was rising in you.”—An Autobiography (1977).

I have to agree with her...I believe the best writing comes when you have done some living.
Sara

Will Love For Crumbs - A Memoir

Here is the link to my memoir Will Love For Crumbs in case anyone wanted to check it out.

Thanks!!

Welcome Elizabeth, Lori, and Sara... so lovely that this group is growing! I can't wait to check out all your memoirs. If you haven't already, please add your books to the group favorites. xx

Hi everyone, my name is Gail Kavanagh, and I am currently revising my memoir. I plan to self publish through Lulu and Kindle as I have a number of books published this way already. So glad to have found this group, as I love reading memoirs and biographies - currently I am reading Stieg and Me by Eva Gabrielsson. I will add my book as well when I have the thing done :-) never satisfied!

Hi Gail, good luck for the final edit! It can go on forever. In the end, I had to give myself a deadline or I never would have stopped editing. I put my book up for pre-purchase on Amazon and set a publishing date, that's the only way I forced myself to stop! All the best and let us know as soon as it's out there. x

Leila wrote: "Hello friends and welcome... please feel free to tell us a little about yourself and what made you a writer!"

Hello, everyone! I'm so excited this group exists. My name is Stephen Paul Register and I have recently finished my first book, a military memoir entitled Meantime: The Aesthetics of Soldiering. You guys can check out my Goodreads author page for more of my personal history (i.e. I was in the Army National Guard for 8 years, just graduated from Yale Divinity School, etc). I did not begin to understand fully that I was a writer until this time last year--when I began seriously working on my memoir. I've always had artistic qualities and, as I look back on it now, see myself as having something akin to an artist's soul. I decided to write a book about my military experience when my tour of duty in Baghdad in from 2003 to 2004 was extended an extra three months past our original departure date. But even then, even knowing that I would write the book, I still did not see myself as a writer. It was only eight years later, upon the completion of that book (this past autumn), that I truly understood myself as a writer. A writer, to me, is someone with an artist's soul and a technical proficiency for writing. I had the proficiency, but it took the writing of the book to realize I actually had something of the artist within me, and thus something to contribute.

That's probably enough for now. Again, really excited about this group and looking forward to some great discussions. Feel free to reach out and say hello, I would love to chat about writing or otherwise.

Hi Stephen, I'm glad you found us! I think it's great for memoirists to have a place to connect. It's such a personal thing, writing about your own life. Congrats on completing your memoir. I just visited your page and you already have so many great reviews! Well done!
Kindest,
Leila

Hello Everyone,

I'm new to Goodreads and very glad to find this group. I finished my book, Great Space of Desire: Writing for Personal Evolution, in 2010. After working with a wonderful agent for about a year, I decided to go the self-pub route in 2011.

Though it's a huge learning curve, I'm excited to be learning so much new stuff and also to discover interesting gatherings like this one.

Great Space is about a lot of different things -- race, dance, emotional dysfunction and healing through creative expression -- is the simplest summary I can find.

Two different excerpts are available at www.Greatspaceofdesire.com and on Amazon

http://www.amazon.com/Great-Space-Des...

I look forward to getting to know folks and joining some great chats.

@Jonna, I've just seen your book is available for free on Kindle today, and I've downloaded it. Haven't got my Kindle yet, but am collecting good free books as they come, so I'll have plenty to read when I get one! Your book was at number 3 of the top 100 best selling free memoirs! Well done. And could you share with us how you managed to get all your reviews. I see you have plenty and good ones!
Kindest,
Leila

Hi Dara,
Welcome! Glad you found us, your book certainly sounds interesting, love the 'writing for personal evolution'! I'll add the book to this group now.
Leila

Hi Dara,
Welcome! Glad you found us, your book certainly sounds interesting, love the 'writing for personal evolution'! I'll add the book to this group now.
Leila

Leila wrote: "Hi Dara,
Welcome! Glad you found us, your book certainly sounds interesting, love the 'writing for personal evolution'! I'll add the book to this group now.
Leila"

Hi Leila,
Nice to hear from you. The 'Writing for Personal Evolution' part of the title is both about my intention in writing and also refers to the creative worksheets incorporated into the book.

Can you explain how the group reading & discussion take place?

Dara

Hello Everyone,

I too am a newby to Goodreads and wanting to engage more with others on my authorship experiences.

My motivational memoir, Navigating Life's Roadways:Stories of Insight from My Odyssey and Inspiration for Your Journey, was published July 2011. It chronicles my setbacks and successes in creative narratives that are relateable and helpful to readers.

I've always loved to write and even in college would ask professors if I could do a paper for extra credit. The space to capture my experiences and thoughts keeps me putting my words in form. More books to come.

Hello All,

I'm happy to find this group and look forward to getting to know everyone. I've been working on my memoir about my experience as an adoptee four four years. This is the year it will finally be published.

Best,
Linda

Leila wrote: "@Jonna, I've just seen your book is available for free on Kindle today, and I've downloaded it. Haven't got my Kindle yet, but am collecting good free books as they come, so I'll have plenty to rea..."

Hi Leila!

I'm so sorry I somehow missed your post. To be honest with you I don't really know where the reviews are coming from, but I am beyond grateful that I am getting them. I did a three day Kindle giveaway and had over 21,000 downloads, after that the reviews on Amazon and Goodreads started to show up.

I'm thrilled with the response and that women (and some men, a very few) have begun to reach out to me through Facebook and tell me that they too have felt as I did, or experienced a similar relationship that I did in my memior.

I think more than anything in this life most people just want to feel that they are not alone, that at least one other person can say, "I understand how you feel." My hope is that Will Love For Crumbs does that.

Hiya,

I'm glad I've found this group. I'm new to being a writer. I've had myalgic encephalomyelitis (M.E.) for over 8 years now and in 2010 did something completely nuts, I started to learn to horse ride. Two years later, I love riding horses and the freedom it gives me from my condition, even for just the short space of time I get to ride.

When I first started I wanted to know what was possible with my condition and when I looked there was nothing out there. As time's gone on I started to be brave and write 'diary' entries to myself on my facebook page. A few friends commented that they thought they were good. Just recently after still searching to see whats out there on the subject of 'riding with an invisible illness' I find there is nothing.

The other week I took the first step and started my own blog, http://borrowing-freedom.blogspot.com/ I approached it with the intention of sharing my experiences in the hope that it may be of some use to someone and give them an idea of whats possible. I've also had a book publisher who's asked me to submit a proposal to them for an e-book on the subject of riding with an invisible illness. They think its a great idea for a book. My next step over the next week or so is to start getting a proposal together. Nervous and excited doesn't begin to describe how I feel.

I'd like to engage with other writers and their experiences of being published. Its all completely new to me.

Irene x

Hey, guys. A visual artist friend of mine has hand crafted a beautiful copy of my book Meantime: The Aesthetics of Soldiering that we are going to be donating to the Yale Library. If you guys would like to see the pics of this spectacular book (handwoven binding, plexiglass cover, etc), I've posted them on the MEANTIME Facebook Fan Page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Meantim...

Hi. I'm new to Goodreads and am enjoying browsing. I am a memoirist (never heard that word before but it's better than memoiriser I guess). My memoir is called Wordjazz for Stevie. Stevie was born with Down Syndrome, had to have an open heart op at the age of 6 months - suffered brain damage due to momentary post op oxygen deprivation. This left her epileptic, blind and so profoundly disabled that she was unable to even sit up by herself. She lived for 8 years. A tale of tragedy? For her undoubtedly yes. But for me, her father, an experience of such profound life changing energies and emotions that I cannot fully express it in words even today. Round about the time Stevie was dying so too was my wife from cancer. Wordjazz for Stevie has been called 'beautiful' and 'the most moving story you will ever read'. I'd love for people to read it.

I'm new here. I'm looking for ways to connect with other memoir writers. My memoir is finished but not published yet. Cheers.

Grace
www.gracepete.com

Jonathan wrote: "Hi. I'm new to Goodreads and am enjoying browsing. I am a memoirist (never heard that word before but it's better than memoiriser I guess). My memoir is called Wordjazz for Stevie. Stevie was born ..."

Jonathan – I saw the word ‘memoirist’ somewhere and liked it, not sure if it’s a real word! I’m very interested in reading your memoir! Wow! Stevie must have been a very special soul. I have read before that sometimes these souls come to be with us for a short time to give us the opportunities to learn the most amazing things, unconditional love being one of them! But to have that and your wife dying of cancer at the same time, that’s quite a journey. And you are quite a person (amazing!) for living through this, writing about it and staying positive. I really commend you, and can’t wait to read your book. When I am faced with people like you, I am truly humbled. Thank you for sharing your book with us.
Much love,
Leila

@ Irene – welcome and congrats. I think that writing is not only healing to ourselves, but helpful to others who might also be going through similar experiences. I commend you for your positive outlook in spite of your debilitating illness. Horses are amazing creatures aren’t they?! My daughters and I have been to two equine therapy workshops, which were amazing. The lady who ran the courses, works quite a bit with children who have been through horrible experiences, or should I say the horses work with them (o: Your blog is wonderful, just keep writing. I would love to see some photos on there of you riding… I can just picture how beautiful that would look, hair flying in the wind. That is really great news about the book publisher! Usually, for memoir, a proposal is written and submitted after a book is complete (the same as fiction). So it might be quite a challenge for you but will certainly help you to focus and make it a reality. All the best, and do keep us updated as to the progress. I look forward to your book!

@Grace – welcome! Good luck with publishing your memoir, are you going to self-publish it?

@Steven – the book looks fantastic!

Hi Leila, Thank you for the nice welcome. I think I would self publish if I could get a good rate on an editor but they're not cheap, although I'm sure they're worth every penny. If I can get a publisher to foot the bill, all the better. Agents don't like me and most small presses don't seem interested but I've got one that could be promising...we'll see. I'm curious to read what others have written and how they've jumped the hurdles to publication. This like a great site. I need to take some time and look around. Thanks again for the welcome.

Hi Grace,
My experience with professional editors wasn't great. I did a lot of research before spending the money to hire one. I chose a well respected company and sadly received my manuscript back after only a few days with lots of comments and opinions about how I should have handled my husband's depression (!) but very little about grammar or writing style. Her opening comment was something like - 'This is a well-written and crafted book, but it caters to a very small audience, namely you, your daughters and your late husband'!!! I also found two errors in the manuscript that she had missed! Although I was grateful for her few grammatical suggestions (maybe 15), I didn't feel it was worth the $1000 I spent. AND she was wrong about the small audience as can be seen in my book reviews!

What I did find helpful was the 'unprofessional' edit I had done by a fellow writer before that. She went through chapter by chapter and made very helpful suggestions, as well as picking up punctuation errors etc. She only charged $400 and honestly, it was so much more helpful than the 'professional' edit. I am currently considering offering this service on my website, as it was invaluable to me and I've already done it for some friends.

With regards to publishing vs self-publishing, I have so much to say that I don't think I'll even start. But just quickly, it is extremely difficult to find an agent and a publisher, especially for memoir, unless you are somebody famous. Self-publishing also allows you to have full control over your work, as well as earn a lot more money per sale. Just some things to think about. There are many articles written on the pros and cons that you could google.

Anyway, that's it for now. Keep us updated!
Kindest,
Leila

btw Grace, what is your memoir about?

Like your "unprofessional" editor, I have a writer-friend and we read each other's manuscripts and noted any errors. I think my ms is in pretty good shape but I don't want to risk having it out there without the professional edits but I won't be asking for a referral from your professional service. Wow. Sorry you got so duped.

I've done a lot of reading on the subject of self publishing and it sounds very positive on many fronts. The big drawbacks are, like we said before, the cost of editors. Also the stigma that self published books still have and the fact that many bookstores won't carry them.

My book is about growing up with an anxiety disorder that led to postpartum psychosis. Rather than take the road more traveled, I opted to seek help from an exorcist. This led to 7 years of mind control. Then I write about getting help from a psychologist. My working title is Phantom's Murmur: From Raw Nerves to Reality.

And what is your book titled? I'd like to get a hold of it. Memoir is my preferred choice of reading genre.

Never mind, Leila. I went to your site and found your book. It's now in my queue. My best friend committed suicide in 2005. I wrote a short story about it in The Moment I Knew. Suicide is such a horrendous thing. I look forward to reading about your experience.

Hi Grace
Your book (and experiences) sound fascinating! One thought I had about professional editors... it seems there are two types of editing. The more expensive one is the full edit. This involves things like plot, story-line, character development as well as grammar and spelling. It sounds to me like what you need (and what I needed) was a quick professional run through to make sure there are no grammar or punctuation errors before printing. I'm sure there are editors out there who will do this for a small fee. It only requires a quick read through to the trained eye. I actually met a man once who was a university professor and writer who offered this service. I think you should look out for that, rather than a full, and more expensive, edit.

Self-publishing does make it more difficult, if not impossible, to get into book stores, BUT having a book for sale online only is not too bad. I'm sad to say that most people are only buying e-books now anyway, and not hard copies. I've sold about 45 paperbacks and over 2000 e-books! It's quick and easy to self-publish and free!

I saw on your profile that you contributed to a book, writing about your best friend's suicide. It is truly amazing how many people have had a personal experience with suicide. Shocking actually. I'm sorry to hear about your friend and hope you have found some healing, over the past few years, as I have.

Much love,
Leila

p.s. if you have a Kindle, wait for my next free promotion to download my book, it'll be around the 20th March. I'll let everyone know. (o:

Hi Everyone,
I'd like to thank Leila for inviting me to this group. I self-published a memoir last October and am struggling right now to promote it.

I can already see by a glance through of this thread that this is a good group for me.

I'll post more about my memoir as soon as I figure out the best place to do that here.

Jonathan wrote: "Hi. I'm new to Goodreads and am enjoying browsing. I am a memoirist (never heard that word before but it's better than memoiriser I guess). My memoir is called Wordjazz for Stevie. Stevie was born ..."

You're book sounds heart-warming and inspiring. My memoir is about my sister who was born with severe brain damage. Doctors only predicted she'd live for eight years, but she survived under the loving care of our parents for 51 years. My memoir, Dancing in Heaven, is about Annie's life and death and the impact she had on those of us who loved her. As I'm sure you well know.

Hi Christine and welcome to our group (o:
Your book sounds really interesting and I'd love to read it! I'm off to check out your other posts now.
love Leila

Hello All,

I'd love to join this group and tell you a little bit about my new non fiction book, .An Agoraphobic's Guide to Hollywood: How Michael Jackson Got Me Out of the House Well, the title pretty much explains what the book is about - it chronicles my struggles with agoraphobia when I was a professional screenwriter in Hollywood. I had been hired to work on a "top secret" film project – a musical film adaptation of Peter Pan to be directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Michael Jackson. It was the biggest and most important assignment of my career – If I could just get out of the house to make the meetings with Michael. I posted the Introduction to the book up on my blog here at Goodreads, if any of you would like to read the opening.

Although I've spent many years at writing scripts, books seem so much more difficult. There are so many words! And writing memoir is particularly dicey because it's so personal. It's one thing when a reader doesn't like a character you've created, but when that "character" is you, it can really hurt. I think anyone who has written from their own point of view, and their own life story is a very brave soul. I commend all of you for your courage.

Hi Darlene
Great to meet you, and thanks for the friend request! Your book sounds fascinating. You are right about writing memoir, it's all I've written (o: I'm off to check out your book now.
Kindest,
Leila