by Marilyn | Feb 18, 2015 | Conscious writing, Embodied Writing, Memoir, Women's Memoir, Writing as Presence, Writing Exercise
I’ve “found” my voice, then, just where it ought to have been, in the body-warmed breath escaping my lungs and throat. Nancy Mairs One of my mentoring clients mentioned recently that a writing teacher once told her 90 percent of writing comes down to “butt in...
by Marilyn | Feb 11, 2015 | Conscious writing, Gratitude, Memoir, Truth, Voice, Writing love
There are two basic motivating forces: fear and love. When we are afraid, we pull back from life. When we are in love, we open to all that life has to offer with passion, excitement, and acceptance. We need to learn to love ourselves first, in all our glory and our...
by Marilyn | Jan 27, 2015 | Claim Your Subject, Memoir
Nothing makes my day more than to see a client’s work published. So, yes, I shouted with glee when I recently received an email from my long-time mentoring client, Magin LaSov Gregg, announcing that her OpEd piece “Community college changed my mom’s life—and...
by Marilyn | Dec 10, 2014 | Conscious writing, craft, Memoir, Reflective Voice, Uncategorized, Voice
In writing memoir, the trick, it seems to me, is to establish a double perspective, that will allow the reader to participate vicariously in the experience as it was lived (the confusions and misapprehensions of the child one was, say), while conveying the...
by Marilyn | Dec 3, 2014 | Book reviews, Judith Kitchen, Memoir
A review of Judith Kitchen’s The Circus Train (Ovenbird Books) I am honored to have written a review of the late Judith Kitchen’s The Circus Train for River Teeth: A Journal of Narrative Nonfiction. Kitchen wrote The Circus Train, a memoir composed...
by Marilyn | Nov 26, 2014 | Conscious writing, Gratitude, Memoir
I love the week leading up to Thanksgiving, when expressions of gratitude dominate social media and I am reminded many times a day to slow down and notice the blessings in my life. The simple act of noticing requires presence. And when we are present, we see our own...
