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There are a lot of great questions and interview at Women on Writing and Women’s Memoirs. People are stopping by to comment, to leave a question, and so far I’m keeping up with them!

The blog tour at WOW–Women on Writing–lasts all month. Stay tuned this week at Women’s Memoirs for audio posts, a book review, and a recipe and photo scrapbook, along with some great ideas and questions from the hosts at Women’s Memoirs.

The topics on the blog tour include: How to Write Your Memoir and Go Home for the Holidays, Write a Healing Memoir, Truth and Secrets in Memoir Writing, how to manage writing a memoir and the inner and outer critics, and much more.

In the meantime, begin your own memoir with,  “I remember the day that everything changed…”

Be brave–write your story!

To view a complete schedule and links for the Blog Tour, CLICK HERE.

Linda Joy Myers, Ph.D.

Healing Memoir and Spiritual Autobiography with Linda Joy Myers, Ph.D.

Schedule: Saturdays, 10am-1pm PDT
8 Sessions starting from Mar 27 to June 5, 2010.
Price: $380.00

As a group, we write about the important moments in our lives–childhood memories, careers, love and family, and spiritual quests. Some writers use poetry and prose to capture memories and to explore the richness of life. We write about important turning points–the lighter, humorous moments along with the dark nights of the soul. There is laughter and a few tears, and most of all the witnessing of our stories, an important part of transformational writing. People of every age learn from each other’s experiences and inspires each other to keep writing insightful and thoughtful true stories. You will learn how to choose your scenes, how to use fictional tools, and ways to keep the inner critic at bay. We write during class, and share our work in a supportive atmosphere.

Linda Joy Myers, Ph.D.

With Linda Joy Myers, Ph.D.
Period: FRIDAYS, March 26 to June 11, 2010
Times: 8am pacific / 9am mountain / 10am central / 11am eastern

Intermediate to Advanced Workshops
If you have been writing for a while and enjoy the process of understanding yourself through memoir writing, contact Linda Joy. She will help you determine how you might fit into the level of workshop that meets that session. Various factors help to determine how you will fit into one of the ongoing workshops, and we like to help you find one that works for where you are in your writing life.

The format: write your story for that week, email it to the workshop members. Write your feedback to each participant, and email it to them. Gather on the conference call once a week to discuss the work, get feedback from Linda and others on the call, and develop new ideas for your stories. Handouts are sent by email for new writing prompts or lessons.

Linda Joy Myers, Ph.D.

With Linda Joy Myers, Ph.D.
Period:

MONDAYS, Apr 5 and ending June 14
Times: Two (2) timeslots with schedules beginning at 11am and 3pm

FRIDAYS, March 26 to June 11, 2010
Times: 8am pacific / 9am mountain / 10am central / 11am eastern

(Please view table below for timezone guides)

Intermediate to Advanced Workshops
If you have been writing for a while and enjoy the process of understanding yourself through memoir writing, contact Linda Joy. She will help you determine how you might fit into the level of workshop that meets that session. Various factors help to determine how you will fit into one of the ongoing workshops, and we like to help you find one that works for where you are in your writing life.

The format: write your story for that week, email it to the workshop members. Write your feedback to each participant, and email it to them. Gather on the conference call once a week to discuss the work, get feedback from Linda and others on the call, and develop new ideas for your stories. Handouts are sent by email for new writing prompts or lessons.

Nine years ago, I decided to write my first book, which became Becoming Whole: Writing your Healing Story. I organized this book from the workshops I’d been teaching therapists for several years, and wrote it in five months. I researched editors, joined self-publishing groups, and learned about the book world step by confusing step. The book was published first by a very small press, but the experience was rife with misunderstandings and problems for three years. During that time I learned about publicity: what you have to do to get people to buy books. I gave talks, workshops, and book events all over the bay area, and even in a few independent bookstores in the Midwest.

Once I was free of the contract, I went on to self-publish the book again under my own press, still learning the ropes of the self-publishing world. I learned about ISBN numbers, Bowker, The Library of Congress, Lightning Source, Amazon, layout, design, paper, fonts, print companies, shipping, and distribution. Most of all, I discovered that a whole world existed about publishing and books that I had always taken for granted. No longer!

In the meantime, I’d started my organization The National Association of Memoir Writers because of my passion to support and develop the world of memoir writing, and eager to become involved with writers like you. I wanted to create a world of memoir writers that I could participate in every day and share my knowledge of how to begin, develop, and complete a memoir. In my writing life, I was writing a novel about WWII, and had traveled to England twice and to Germany to research it. Finally, the first draft was done, and I decided to pitch the novel at the East of Eden Conference in 2008, hoping to be published the traditional way, which I knew was best for a novel.

I was teaching a workshop at the conference, so I grabbed a few extra moments to have an appointment with Verna Dreisbach, one of the agents at the Speed Dating with Agents event where you get five minutes with an agent or editor. I’d learned to always bring with me a copy of my books and the brochure for NAMW. Verna is a warm, friendly young woman with wise eyes, a soft voice, and a cascade of lovely red hair. I felt comfortable with her. I noticed that as I pitched the novel, she kept glancing at Becoming Whole and my brochure. Finally she pulled them toward her and said, “That all sounds good, but tell me about this.”

To make a long story slightly shorter—she was impressed by my organization and liked Becoming Whole. She said to sit with her at lunch, and in the meantime, she’d look at the book. Wow. I was shocked to receive this kind of reception after having gone through at least 50 agents already for my various books.

At the end of lunch, she said, “I’ll be happy to represent you.” I stared at her in shock, seeing her mouth form the words. I mumbled something, trying to make sure I wasn’t imagining this. I had virtually no expectation that I would find an agent that day. I guess having tried for so long, I thought I’d just talk to a couple of agents as a matter of course since they were there, but I’d learned along the way not to have high expectations.

She smiled, and nodded, and I realized: I have an agent! You could hear the whoops and hollers from my writing group friends all over the hall.

Later, Verna told me that one of the reasons she signed me was because I was, “Bigger than just the book.” She was talking about platform—that there was more going on than just Linda Joy Myers who had written a book. I had an organization behind me, and had created a larger network. These days in the publishing world, that is what we have to think about. NAMW is part of your platform, and there are many ways of creating your network that in future articles and workshops we’ll be talking about.

Within two months, I’d written a proposal for a new book, similar to Becoming Whole, but different. Alan Rinzler, the Executive Editor at Jossey-Bass, a division of Wiley in New York asked to meet me, and supported my book to be accepted for publication. Well, I was in shock all over again, and deeply happy.

In the cold early months of 2009, I wrote a new book, drawing upon all I’d learned in the last nine years about writing, healing, transformation, and the impressive research about how writing changes the brain. I included other things that I’d discovered through my teaching: when we place ourselves through our imagination in the body of the child we once were as we write in scene, we have a new experience. The narrator of now and the child of then each have a point of view; each has a wisdom that needs to be integrated in the mind of the author.  It is this weaving, this process of going back and forth through time, of entering the world of memory that helps to change our perspective. This process gives us new eyes through which to see the world, and we become transformed, no longer experiencing our traumas, the past, or ourselves in the same way. This is a multilayered process that takes time.

I find the idea that we witness ourselves through compassionate eyes as we write ourselves backward very powerful. When we share our writing with others, we witness each other. This witnessing, according to a Swiss psychologist Alice Miller, is a very powerful part of the healing process.

Another important point that I wanted to make is the structure of story, It starts with a problem, goes through the complex layers of solving the problem or situation, then resolves, even if messily, at the end. This is the arc of the story, also called the arc of narrative. Just as your narrative goes through an arc of change, so does the writer, and eventually, the reader.

My book and I have both gone through an arc of transformation through writing and publishing The Power of Memoir. Now that my book now has a life of its own, I will do my best to guide it to the right places, and I hope to share it with many open hearts who want to be free of old restraints. It stands on its own now in bookstores and online, a book about memoir that has its own secret story.

She slipped into the café and was sitting alone. I only knew her from her photograph, but I knew it was Heather. I had read her memoir Sixty Five Roses, and felt that I knew her in some ways at least, as I think we all feel when we are invited into someone’s life through words. And we had played email tag for some time along the way. When I introduced myself, she gave me a big hug!

Once we started talking, we nearly began finishing each other’s sentences. There were so many things in common about teaching, the process of writing a memoir, and the healing that is possible through this amazing process. It was hard to believe at the end that we’d just met! For several days we had extended conversations about how we can help memoir writers, how to develop more creativity in writers, and how to mine the deep stories. She inspired me to develop new ideas and we plan to connect soon to talk about the seedlings we planted.

There was a lot of soul shaking going on at the conference in so many great ways—with many wonderful presentations, techniques, and deep heartful connections made. I made several new friends, and even got some new writing done! Most of all, I experienced the great group energy and that enlivens us and provides us with new possibilities. I’m planting all those little seeds now that began just last week, and I know the garden is going to be beautiful.

Next is the San Francisco Writing conference—where I’m part of the “book doctors” tables. Every five minutes I meet and talk with a write about his or her book, their ideas, plans, outlines, and titles. I love the process! Also my new book The Power of Memoir will be for sale! This is a terrific conference, and if you get a chance to come some year, it will be very much worth it. Besides, you get to see one of the best cities in the world and tramp up high hills, and ride a cable car!

My newest book The Power of Memoir—How to Write Your Healing Story has just been released by Jossey-Bass. I’m thrilled about this, because the road to getting to a large publisher has been long and confusing. Often I had to traverse through unknown terrains to get where I am now: holding a brand new copy of my book. The cover is soft and silky, it glows in colors of amber, the pages smell good inside. Confession: I’m a book sniffer.

Nine years ago, I decided to write my first book, which became Becoming Whole: Writing your Healing Story. I organized this book from the workshops I’d been teaching therapists for several years, and wrote it in five months. I researched editors, joined self-publishing groups, and learned about the book world step by confusing step. The book was published first by a very small press, but the experience was rife with misunderstandings and problems for three years. During that time I learned about publicity: what you have to do to get people to buy books. I gave talks, workshops, and book events all over the bay area, and even in a few independent bookstores in the Midwest.

Once I was free of the contract, I went on to self-publish the book again under my own press, still learning the ropes of the self-publishing world. I learned about ISBN numbers, Bowker, The Library of Congress, Lightning Source, Amazon, layout, design, paper, fonts, print companies, shipping, and distribution. Most of all, I discovered that a whole world existed about publishing and books that I had always taken for granted. No longer!

In the meantime, I’d started my organization The National Association of Memoir Writers because of my passion to support and develop the world of memoir writing, and eager to become involved with writers like you. I wanted to create a world of memoir writers that I could participate in every day and share my knowledge of how to begin, develop, and complete a memoir. In my writing life, I was writing a novel about WWII, and had traveled to England twice and to Germany to research it. Finally, the first draft was done, and I decided to pitch the novel at the East of Eden Conference in 2008, hoping to be published the traditional way, which I knew was best for a novel.

I was teaching a workshop at the conference, so I grabbed a few extra moments to have an appointment with Verna Dreisbach, one of the agents at the Speed Dating with Agents event where you get five minutes with an agent or editor. I’d learned to always bring with me a copy of my books and the brochure for NAMW. Verna is a warm, friendly young woman with wise eyes, a soft voice, and a cascade of lovely red hair. I felt comfortable with her. I noticed that as I pitched the novel, she kept glancing at Becoming Whole and my brochure. Finally she pulled them toward her and said, “That all sounds good, but tell me about this.”

To make a long story slightly shorter—she was impressed by my organization and liked Becoming Whole. She said to sit with her at lunch, and in the meantime, she’d look at the book. Wow. I was shocked to receive this kind of reception after having gone through at least 50 agents already for my various books.

At the end of lunch, she said, “I’ll be happy to represent you.” I stared at her in shock, seeing her mouth form the words. I mumbled something, trying to make sure I wasn’t imagining this. I had virtually no expectation that I would find an agent that day. I guess having tried for so long, I thought I’d just talk to a couple of agents as a matter of course since they were there, but I’d learned along the way not to have high expectations.

She smiled, and nodded, and I realized: I have an agent! You could hear the whoops and hollers from my writing group friends all over the hall.

Later, Verna told me that one of the reasons she signed me was because I was, “Bigger than just the book.” She was talking about platform—that there was more going on than just Linda Joy Myers who had written a book. I had an organization behind me, and had created a larger network. These days in the publishing world, that is what we have to think about. NAMW is part of your platform, and there are many ways of creating your network that in future articles and workshops we’ll be talking about.

Within two months, I’d written a proposal for a new book, similar to Becoming Whole, but different. Alan Rinzler, the Executive Editor at Jossey-Bass, a division of Wiley in New York asked to meet me, and supported my book to be accepted for publication. Well, I was in shock all over again, and deeply happy.

In the cold early months of 2009, I wrote a new book, drawing upon all I’d learned in the last nine years about writing, healing, transformation, and the impressive research about how writing changes the brain. I included other things that I’d discovered through my teaching: when we place ourselves through our imagination in the body of the child we once were as we write in scene, we have a new experience. The narrator of now and the child of then each have a point of view; each has a wisdom that needs to be integrated in the mind of the author. It is this weaving, this process of going back and forth through time, of entering the world of memory that helps to change our perspective. This process gives us new eyes through which to see the world, and we become transformed, no longer experiencing our traumas, the past, or ourselves in the same way. This is a multilayered process that takes time.

I find the idea that we witness ourselves through compassionate eyes as we write ourselves backward very powerful. When we share our writing with others, we witness each other. This witnessing, according to a Swiss psychologist Alice Miller, is a very powerful part of the healing process.

Another important point that I wanted to make is the structure of story, It starts with a problem, goes through the complex layers of solving the problem or situation, then resolves, even if messily, at the end. This is the arc of the story, also called the arc of narrative. Just as your narrative goes through an arc of change, so does the writer, and eventually, the reader.

My book and I have both gone through an arc of transformation through writing and publishing The Power of Memoir. Now that my book now has a life of its own, I will do my best to guide it to the right places, and I hope to share it with many open hearts who want to be free of old restraints. It stands on its own now in bookstores and online, a book about memoir that has its own The Personal History of a Book’s Life – The Power of Memoir



Sunday, February 21, 4:00 p.m.
The Power of Memoir—How to Write Your Healing Story
Mrs. Dalloway’s Bookstore
Berkeley, CA

If you wish to place an order for The Power of Memoir at Mrs. Dalloway’s, you can order books from them by phone (510.704.8222), fax (510.704.8228) or e-mail (ord...@mrsdalloways.com). They offer free delivery in the Elmwood (and to Alta Bates Hospital), and they ship worldwide.

Linda Joy Myers reads from The Power of Memoir: How to Write Your Healing Story (Jossey Bass, $16.95), her groundbreaking work for healing long-term emotional problems. This is a pioneering how-to book that provides a new step-by-step program to use memoir writing as a therapeutic process. By going through these steps you’ll learn how to choose the significant milestones and turning points that make up a coherent story leading to a life-changing epiphany. Included are sections that help uncover the secret stories that are the keys to healing; explore the dynamics and roles of dysfunctional families; and heal old wounds, creating a better present and brighter future.Using many examples from her students and clients, Myers shows how creative, well-planned, and carefully researched memoir writing can offer a process for sorting out the truth from lies and family myths. Click here to learn more from source.

It is an act of courage and personal power to dare to write the truths you hold, to carve a space in the vast realms of time and dive in, using only words as ballast. To enter into memory, to find the body of the child you once were and to dare to listen to him or her–that is courageous, and in this act, new tendrils of self are launched across the abyss from past to present. As we balance on the fine lines of truth, memory, and story, we discover ourselves, we uncover layers that we didn’t know existed. The writing is the key, writing that comes from soul and heart, writing that launches us out from our comfort zone, and into the unknown. There we find wisdom, there we find who we really are.