Author of memoir, inspirational, self-help and poetry books from major publishers offers encouragement, guidance, planning (setting up structure), editing, and emotional support
Here to do a memoir for client. Snowy day and lots of work ahead. Great story but needs shaping to most important period. Lots there. Determined that showing her family’s love and loyalty to each other most important and relying safety information important too. Questions about publishing first in essays in well-known and small press magazines.
Yes, it’s a good idea. Keep it to a third of manuscript.
Just saw Alison Bechtel at San Francisco’s Booksmith Height Street. (What a neighborhood to remind us of the 60′s and the “flower children” we once were.) It was a crowd of all ages and orientations and the store actually felt warm and inviting with the energy of the crowd coming from folks that wanted connecting. This is what Alison does for us. She helps us connect with her experiences of family and allows us to appreciate the truth in what we have lived, rather than the illusions of our defense.
As she tells the story of her mother, she answers the title’s real question, who am I? Her wavering sense of self is displayed and we understand what it’s like to be with her mother and how that relationship helped form her.
As a graphic art memoir, she brings a whole new audience to reading books and shows her talent through text and drawing. She is remarkably talented and a boon to outsiders everywhere. A lesbian who shows who she is and asks us to share with her.
Reading her form from a memoir editor’s eye,I see she plays with time as associated memories, it shows one of the many ways we can approach our own story. She shows us that just as our experiences are unique so can our approach to the retelling be done in our own way.
The passing of poet, Adrienne Rich is a milestone. A time that has come to an end when she is among us to talk of sexism and with the courage to “tell her truth.” . She was always the voice of the oppressed and the one of few women let through the “old boys network” to have her work be part of the poetry canon. I believe her talent but also her great intelligence found a way to her acceptance. I met her once in San Francisco at a reading for Diving into the Wreck. She was a wordsmith for sure.
There will be a celebration of her writings at the San Francisco Main Library the evening of April 25, 2012 at 7 pm.
Celebrate the talented among us for they shall lead the way!
Linda was one of the readers at 333 in Sausalito, CA, Thursday night reading from her memoir, Half in Love: A Story of Surviving Suicide. Her famous mother took her own life when Linda was twenty, after years of depression. Linda, struggled with her own depression and suicide attempts, and writes of her life with honesty and compassion to her troubled mother and herself.
She shows us that depression and mental instability is a generational problem and that the person suffering today may have generations of relatives who suffered from depression or mental illness. What is important with Linda and others is that they can decided to get treatment and stop the hurtful patterns for their family. She is doing well today and writes well of her road to recovery.
I talked to her at some length and she is open-hearted to other writers who are trying to get out the message of healing.
In ghost writing or “as told to…” you have a story to tell and it may be difficult for you to write it down. Maybe you trust the story but not your own writing. Maybe you don’t have time but want a book out in your name. When you work with a ghost writer or “as told to…” writer, it is up to you of how you want to be helped and whether you want her name on your book.
I’ve worked in various ways and currently am trying to use a new software, Dragon, so the author can tell me her story on the microphone that comes with the software and is put on a Word.doc. the Word.doc, of course, can be sent to Apple or a PC. What the author has said is on the document and the ghost can edit the language, add to it, subtract from it, and/or note where there are flat sections and ask the author to flush out the scene a bit more. The ghost my also explain how to write a scene, establish a physical setting, or write better dialogue. Or, the ghost may write it better herself.
It really is up to the author/story teller. The payment is done in all kinds of ways. I charge by the hour and ask for a deposit. We sign a simple contract that states if the author or ghost is having any troubles with working together after the lst chapter has been sent to the author, the contract is voided. This way you don’t go too far into the process and not like your ghosts writing. It is also a way to relieve yourself from someone difficult. Then the remained of the deposit is returned. All fair in writing and between those who have an investment in books!
Hope this helps you know the various services you can hire. Maybe next time I’ll write about what a writing coach does.
Best in writing.
