What inspired you to write your memoir?
I have always been a storyteller, after many years of listening to my stories and making people laugh at the comedy of errors that is my life, my friends began to encourage me to write them down. Then one day about three years ago, I sat down and began to write.
About your Book:
Many years ago my friends and I would sit around and play what we called “Jerry Springer: the Home Game”. The object of the game was to see how many upcoming shows we qualified for, with the story to support our claim, and whoever had the most at the end of the program won. I was the reigning champion. This book started off as just a lighthearted collection of anecdotes, stories shared with friends over the years to both the horror and delight of my audience. But as I began to write I realized that the humor of my life comes not from the light moments, but the dark, and without those moments being included much of the humor would be lost without that context. This book is a bit darker than I initially intended, but I hope that while reading this I can make you smile, even on occasion laugh out loud at the ridiculousness of the situations I have found myself in over the years, and that you, like me, can find the humor in all the dark places. I do not believe I have any wisdom to share in this telling, nor is it even an inspirational tale of achievement by overcoming adversity, it is simply my life that I have survived. For better or worse, this is the mostly true, fairly accurate, and almost completely factual account of my life. Some liberties have been taken to protect the somewhat innocent and a few small embellishments were made for the sake of a good story.
How did you decide how to publish your book and where is it published through:
I am a self-published Indie Author through Amazon. I guess I decided I would rather have my book out and available, gaining an audience as I go, rather than waiting for a publishing house (which often do not take unsolicited works) to finally notice my book.
How do you see writing a Memoir as different from writing other genres of books?
That you are constrained to the truth (if it’s an honest memoir) and that like life, you have no control over where the story is going, you’re along for the ride so to speak, hanging in there until the bitter end. Writing a memoir is a very internal journey, sometimes taking you to places you might very well want to forget, but write about anyway. Sometimes you have to accept that you are not the hero of the story, if you’re going to be honest, and that can be a hard obstetrical to overcome, because everyone want to be the hero of their own narrative. You have to expose yourself in a very real way to convey the story, opening yourself up to possible ridicule for your actions and your choices, leaving you vulnerable to your readers.
Author Bio:
I was born in Galesburg, IL in 1969. I was moved by her parents (without even asking!) to Quincy as a small child. Bouncing from parent to parent, and house to house until at 16 when I was given a broader tour of the state courtesy of foster care. At 18, I voluntarily left for Phoenix with a high school friend where I lived for three years.
After returning to Quincy, I went to college and earned an Associates of Arts in Psychology, with a minor in Art. Over the years I have held many jobs, but never quite found the right one. I have written poetry and short stories on a variety of subjects from raising children to finance for online publication. Finally in 2013, after much urging from my friends for years, I sat down one day and started writing about my life.
I am the mother of five children, all grown and gone, except my youngest. Which I am sure is trying to drive me mad (as all teenagers do) and I have plans to write another book in the future about their childhood, much to their anticipated dismay.
I currently live in my hometown, in the house I love, and at the center of the chaos I enjoy so much. I’m often surrounded by my children, my loves, friends and the strays (both two legged and four) I take in. I continue to seek out new adventures, misadventures and new mistakes to fill the pages of my next book, laughing as I go.
Website(s)
Link To Book On Amazon
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