Magical Memoir Moments

100 New Beginnings: Your Chance to Be a Winner

Well folks, here we are. After reading 100 memoirs, writing 400 blog posts, and drafting page after page of memoir, we are entering the last trimester of labor. 100 Days Until Launch. Yea! Thank you, thank you, for sustaining me thus far. The best is yet to be. The goal has always been more than…

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Contests for Memoir Writers — And Resources to Help You Prepare

It’s the season to be jolly and give shout outs to other bloggers and teachers. First, let me tell you about a contest from one of my “oldest” online writing buddies, Sonia Marsh. She and I met at the Santa Barbara Writer’s Conference in 2008 — or was it 2009? At any rate, we’ve both…

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Memoir First Lines–A Contest for Readers of this Blog

Recently I had an inquiry from a writer who asked if I had a list of excellent first lines from memoirs. That sounded like something I should have. First words contain the vital “hook” that overcomes the reader’s resistance and skepticism. Think about how you challenge a book to speak to you when you gaze…

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Two Mother's Day Memoir Treats–In Case You Missed Them

“What We Nurture” with Sylvia Boorstein from On Being on Vimeo. I love Krista Tippett’s American Public Media show called On Being. The broadcast she did on Mother’s Day, seen in video above and in this online link–an interview with Sylvia Boorstein–allows the listener to experience the power derived from claiming motherhood (and grandmotherhood) as…

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City of Tranquil Light: A Fabulous Pre-Publication Book Giveaway

I’m so excited! Today I got three shiny new hard copies of Bo Caldwell’s brand new novel City of Tranquil Light.  Caldwell wrote the bestseller The Distant Land of My Father, her first novel set in WWII Shanghai, in 2001. This excellent new novel (I’ve read it) takes place in the north China plain and…

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Book Giveaway: Unfinished Business by Lee Kravitz

Time to give away another book!  This time the book is Unfinished Business by Lee Kravitz. You can visit Kravitz’s blog page here and listen to a three-minute video about the book. After you do this, please come back to this blog and leave a comment by midnight Wed. June 30. I will collect the…

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Tell Your Travel Story–Win a $3,000 Vacation

Can you tell a great story in 450 characters- just about three Tweets? If you entered the six-word memoir contest a few weeks ago, you should be in good shape to try this new contest from GoAhead Tours. They will give away 20 trips to lucky (and skillful!) players, so why not give it a try?…

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Chicken Soup for the Soul: A Potential Source for Memoir Writers

My friend Lanie Tankard discovered today that one of the stories she had published in the Chicken Soup for the Soul series has now been digitized by Google.  I recommend that you open this link and read “Rite of Passage,” her description of parting with her daughter on the one hand and mother on the…

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Announcing the Winner(s) of the Six-Word Memoir Contest

The six-word memoir contest ended at 5 p.m. today. There were 28 entries, three of which were posted on Facebook  and added into the comments section of the original post by me. Click here if you want to see all 28. I have selected the entry of Chin Pheng Oh “Watching her grow, I see…

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