Sailing into Memoir Writing

My first love, or rather my first love-hate relationship, was with my journal. I began writing in my late teens when my love of horses was replaced by self-doubt and angst as I left the family farm at 17. Love because it was my new friend. Hate because it was inescapable, the clingy friend who just won't leave you in peace, not even for a single day.

But I was no writer. It wasn't until 2002 at the ripe age of 48 when I stumbled on a connection between all those years of journaling and the art of memoir: a course description linking journals and memoirs in a non-threatening manner that appealed to my fragile soul. I enrolled in the year-long course in hopes of making sense of a life tangled by tragedy. My first book, The Thirty-Ninth Victim (Blue Feather Books 2008, Booktrope re-pub TBA), and my second manuscript, Moving Mom(Booktrope pub date TBA), are both memoirs. Now, after completing The Alki Trilogy, I return to the world of memoir.
In my new work-in-progress, I revisit my Mexico City years. A memoir, right? I'd like to include a dear friend's point-of-view because our stories blend, but she was lost to cancer. I cannot write her memoir, so her thoughts, her voice, her world view can only be fictionalized. Or, I must stick to my own.
As I embark on this new writing adventure, I hope you will join me. I'll be setting sail in Duvall, WA.What? No water, you say? We'll fictionalize water.

I'll be at the helm of a one-evening-only memoir writing adventure. Whether you are a new or experienced writer, bring your notebook and pen to this hands-on workshop. Learn how to turn off your internal editor to get your story on the page, decide how to organize your work, and even what to do with that completed manuscript. Welcome aboard! 
Duvall Library
Memoir Writing Workshop
15508 Main Street NE
Duvall, WA 98019
425.788.1173
Tuesday, June 16, 2015
7:00 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.