The Power of Memoir by Linda Joy Myers, Ph.D.

The Power of Memoir: How to Write Your Healing Story Memoir Writing Workshop

Date: Saturday May 15, 2010

Time: 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM

Location: Book Passage

51 Tamal Vista Blvd.
Corte Madera, CA 94925
(415) 927-0960
(800) 999-7909

Cost:  $105–Click Here to Register

Writing a memoir is a powerful act of faith, courage, and skill. What is the theme of your memoir? How do you feel about writing your truth? Is your goal to get even or get healed? We will talk about all these issues, and use the turning point, timeline, and arc of narrative tools to find the right stories for your theme and intent. Linda Joy Myers, Ph.D., MFT, is author of The Power of Memoir: How to Write Your Healing Story.

The Power of Memoir is a groundbreaking book that presents an innovative step-by-step program using memoir writing on the journey of emotional and physical healing. By drawing upon the eight steps outlined in The Power of Memoir, you’ll learn how to choose the significant milestones in your life and weave together your personal story. You’ll discover how writing your truths and shaping your narrative propel you toward a life-changing transformation. The Power of Memoir offers the tools you need to heal the pain of the past and create a better present and brighter future.

Click Here to buy this book from Book from Book Passage.

Linda Joy Myers Ph.D. is president of the National Association of Memoir Writers and a practicing psychotherapist. She is the author of Don’t Call Me Mother: Breaking the Chain of Mother Daughter Abandonment, which won the Gold Medal Award from the Bay Area Independent Publishing Association in 2007.

Alan Rinzler & Verna Dreisbach

Agent & Editor Help You Learn How to Attract and Agent & Publisher
Sign Up Below (we’re sorry, this promotion is no longer available)Alan Rinzler and Verna Dreisbach have worked with hundreds of authors to help them bring their ideas into the larger world. An agent’s role is to recognize an idea or work in progress that needs an audience, and that contributes something to the public. The editor at the publishing house is in the position to listen to the agent’s pitch and decide whether to take on the author. An important factor in this process is to determine if the book can sell. Both of them intersect with writers and help to develop a book that can reach hundreds of thousands, even millions of people. Yet not all books, or authors, are ready for this step.

1. What does an agent look for?
2. What is a proposal, and why is it important?
3. What is the editor need to see to consider publishing a book?
4. Is there an ideal kind of client that the agent and publisher look for?
5. Does your book need to be finished to present to an agent or publisher?
6. What kinds of books are getting published now?

Alan Rinzler is the Executive Editor at Jossey-Bass, an imprint of John Wiley & Sons. Alan has edited and published Toni Morrison, Hunter S. Thompson, Tom Robbins, Shirley MacLaine, Irv Yalom, Jerzy Kosinski, Bob Dylan, Phyllis Chesler, Clive Cussler.

Verna Dreisbach, of Dreisbach Literary Management, is an agent, author and educator. Her Seal Press anthology, Why We Ride will be released May, 2010. Verna is the founder and president of Capitol City Young Writers, a non-profit organization that supports and encourages creative writing in aspiring youth. Verna represents both fiction and non-fiction authors with a particular interest in books with a political, economic or social context.

Session 5 of the 2010 National Association of Memoir Writers Memoir Writing Telesummit—From Transformation to Publication

Topic: Write Important Books—Attract an Agent and Publisher
Speakers: Verna Dreisbach, Literary Agent and Alan Rinzler, Executive Editor at Jossey Bass publishers
Date: Friday April 16, 2010
Time: 3:00 PM PDT | 4:00 PM MDT | 5:00 PM CDT | 6:00 PM EDT
Session Length: 1 Hour

You can participate in this or any of the other 4 sessions during this day long memoir writing event, LIVE, via telephone or receive the link to download the audio by simply signing up here below. We look forward to having you join us for this wonderful, informative day with professionals who will help you get to your important next steps in your memoir journey.

SIGN UP HERE. (we’re sorry, this promotion is no longer available)

Click here to view the NAMW Telesummit 2010 Schedule. ]]> http://www.namw.org/articles/namw-telesummit2010-session5-verna-dreisbach-alan-rinzler/feed/ 0 http://www.namw.org/articles/namw-telesummit2010-session4-shiela-bender/ http://www.namw.org/articles/namw-telesummit2010-session4-shiela-bender/#comments Thu, 04 Mar 2010 05:20:26 +0000 NAMW Web Team http://www.namw.org/?p=4655

Shiela Bender

Learn How to Make Your Memoir Compelling

Sign Up Below! (we’re sorry, this promotion is no longer available)When you begin the journey of writing your memoir, you need to draw upon your emotional motivation and your passion to write your story. Sheila Bender’s memoir The New Theology: Turning to Poetry in a Time of Grief was a transition from writing poetry, personal essay and instructional work, she will talk about what she learned over the seven years she worked on her memoir. Included in the discussion will be story structure, the purpose of memoir, and what she as an author has to offer others. She will talk about how you might shape your memoir, and how to write toward an ending you don’t yet know.

These points will be covered:

1. Know what’s at stake
2. Have a time frame
3. Educate others about something they’ll be interested in
4. What to do if you don’t have the answers to the first three questions
5. How to work from personal essay to memoir

Bio: Sheila Bender, MA, is a renowned poet, essayist, and workshop leader. She has been published in Poetry Northwest, The Seattle Review, The Bellingham Review, Tiny Lights, and Tidepools among others. Her newest book, A New Theology: Turning to Poetry in a Time of Grief, is out from Imago Press in Tucson, AZ

Session 4 of the 2010 National Association of Memoir Writers Memoir Writing Telesummit—From Transformation to Publication

Topic: Making a Memoir Compelling
Speaker: Sheila Bender, MA, renowned poet, essayist, and workshop leader
Date: Friday April 16, 2010
Time: 1:45 PM PDT | 2: 45 PM MDT | 3: 45 PM CDT | 4:45 PM EDT
Session Length: 1 Hour

You can participate in this or any of the other 4 sessions during this day long memoir writing event, LIVE, via telephone or receive the link to download the audio by simply signing up here below. We look forward to having you join us for this wonderful, informative day with professionals who will help you get to your important next steps in your memoir journey.

SIGN UP HERE.  (we’re sorry, this promotion is no longer available)

Click here to view the NAMW Telesummit 2010 Schedule. ]]> http://www.namw.org/articles/namw-telesummit2010-session4-shiela-bender/feed/ 0 http://www.namw.org/articles/namw-telesummit2010-session3-kay-adams/ http://www.namw.org/articles/namw-telesummit2010-session3-kay-adams/#comments Thu, 04 Mar 2010 04:51:33 +0000 NAMW Web Team http://www.namw.org/?p=4647

Kay Adams

Kay Helps Writers Get Results from their Vision for Memoir
Sign Up Below (we’re sorry, this promotion is no longer available)You’ve got the vision of the memoir in your head, journal, heart and pen — but the result? Not so much!
In this energy-packed hour, Kay Adams will share the secrets of manifesting the vision for your memoir. Using practical techniques drawn from applied science, she’ll give you the first steps for turning your thinking upside-down and getting immediately different (and better) results!

Kay will talk about:

1. A simple technique to move “current reality” in the direction of “vision”
2. How to use this technique to blast through writer’s block, boredom, paralysis, and fear
3. Four fundamental choices that will keep you aligned with best possible outcomes. Come prepared with your notebook or journal and a sturdy rubber band. Adapted from the work of Robert Fritz, The Path of Least Resistance.

Kathleen Adams, LPC, is the Director of the Center for Journal Therapy. She studied with Robert Fritz in the mid-1980s, and since then Kay has used these techniques to create the Center for Journal Therapy, six books, global leadership in the field of journal therapy, three credentialing programs in therapeutic writing, two journal conferences, a beautiful flower garden, and much more. www.journaltherapy.com

Session 3 of the 2010 National Association of Memoir Writers Memoir Writing Telesummit—From Transformation to Publication

Topic: Manifesting Your Memoir
Speaker: Kay Adams, LPC, Director of Center for Journal Therapy
Date: Friday April 16, 2010
Time: 12:30 PM PDT | 1:30 PM MDT | 2:30 PM CDT | 3:30 PM EDT
Session Length: 1 Hour

You can participate in this or any of the other 4 sessions during this day long memoir writing event, LIVE, via telephone or receive the link to download the audio by simply signing up here below. We look forward to having you join us for this wonderful, informative day with professionals who will help you get to your important next steps in your memoir journey.

SIGN UP HERE. (we’re sorry, this promotion is no longer available)

Click here to view the NAMW Telesummit 2010 Schedule. ]]> http://www.namw.org/articles/namw-telesummit2010-session3-kay-adams/feed/ 0 http://www.namw.org/articles/namw-telesummit2010-session2-denis-ledoux/ http://www.namw.org/articles/namw-telesummit2010-session2-denis-ledoux/#comments Thu, 04 Mar 2010 04:21:20 +0000 NAMW Web Team http://www.namw.org/?p=4638

Denis LeDoux

Denis Shares His Experience and Advice for Transforming a Journal Into Memoir

Sign Up Below! (we’re sorry, this promotion is no longer available)

The journal is a natural source of material for a memoir. But, even more, it can be the text of a memoir. In your journal, you may have much of your book already written, if not digested. In this session, I Denis will help to smooth the process of going from journal to memoir.

1. Think about what to write in your journal today. Save time now! Note what you want to take out later.
2. How to mine an existing journal. Don’t overlook the obvious.
3. Structure and format to choose for the resulting memoir.
4. Generating material that’s not in the journal. Especially challenging is when it’s someone else’s journal. How do you supplement?
5. Unifying the disparate elements. Your journal is a hodgepodge—that’s its beauty. A memoir calls for you to create unity out of that hodgepodge.
6. Being patient with the healing process. It’s not separate from the work—it’s all connected.

Denis’ life companion and work mate at Soleil Lifestory Network, Martha Blowen, died on August 18th, 2008, of metastasized breast cancer. Beginning before we Denis and Martha met and continuing through the decades we they lived and worked together, both Martha and Iand Denis kept journals. Before Marthashe died, I Denis asked Martha for permission to use her journals to incorporate into a book about the experience of her cancer. I amDenis is currently creating a manuscript that combines both of our journalsthe journals of Denis and Martha into a book. Our Denis and Martha’s (almost) daily writing was a way to understand, experience (or interpret) and accept Martha’s illness. Compiling the book is an opportunity for me Denis to come to terms with herMartha’s death.

In addition, from January to the end of July 2008, Martha regularly drew triptychs of her dreams, feelings, and hopes and fears. Her artwork will also figure in the two books that will ultimately come out of the journals. The current book, which will cover the first year of her illness, is tentatively called The Meaning of Meaninglessness.

Bio: Denis Ledoux, MA, founded The Soleil Lifestory Network in 1988. He is the author of Turning Memories Into Memoir / A Handbook for Writing Lifestories. The book is available for $24.95 with free shipping for everyone on the call.

Session 2 of the 2010 National Association of Memoir Writers Memoir Writing Telesummit—From Transformation to Publication

Topic: Transforming a Journal Into Memoir – click here to learn more!
Speaker: Denis LeDoux, MA, Founder The Soleil Lifestory Network
Time: 11:15 AM PDT | 12:15 PM MDT | 1:15 PM CDT | 2:15 PM EDT
Date: Friday April 16, 2010
Session Length: 1 Hour

You can participate in this or any of the other 4 sessions during this day long memoir writing event, LIVE, via telephone or receive the link to download the audio by simply signing up here below. We look forward to having you join us for this wonderful, informative day with professionals who will help you get to your important next steps in your memoir journey.

SIGN UP HERE. (we’re sorry, this promotion is no longer available)

Click here to view the NAMW Telesummit 2010 Schedule. ]]> http://www.namw.org/articles/namw-telesummit2010-session2-denis-ledoux/feed/ 0 http://www.namw.org/articles/namw-telesummit2010-session1-lindajoymyers/ http://www.namw.org/articles/namw-telesummit2010-session1-lindajoymyers/#comments Thu, 04 Mar 2010 03:26:19 +0000 NAMW Web Team http://www.namw.org/?p=4607

Linda Joy Myers, Ph.D.

Linda Joy Myers in Exclusive Interview with Kay Adams about the Power of Memoir to Heal and Transform. Sign Up Below!Memoir writing is a pathway toward greater inner knowledge and personal freedom. Research shows that writing untangles old neural pathways and makes it possible to heal traumas and unresolved issues, as well as help people write themselves into a positive present and future.

Linda Joy knows about the path toward healing from personal experience, through her own therapy and through writing her memoir Don’t Call Me Mother, along with her thirty years as a therapist working on healing with clients. Her books about writing and healing reveal the important steps to take to not only write a memoir that can help to heal, but eventually can reach out to others and inspire them toward their own growth.

Kay Adams, interviewer for this session and Telesummit presenter during our 12:30 PDT Session later in the day wrote the Foreword to The Power of Memoir, Linda Joy’s most recent publication. She has been familiar with Linda Joy and her work for many years. Linda and Kay will talk about the important elements of writing a memoir, and how people who aren’t “writers” can learn how to put their stories on the page. They will discuss issues such as truth, families, shame and guilt, and the arc of narrative and emotional healing, and how to get started writing your healing stories.

Session 1 of the 2010 National Association of Memoir Writers Memoir Writing Telesummit

Topic: The Power of Memoir to Heal and Transform: An Interview with the Author
Speaker: Linda Joy Myers, Ph.D., NAMW Founder & President, Interviewed by Kay Adams, Director of Center for Journal Therapy
Date: Friday April 16, 2010
Time: 10:00 AM PDT | 11:00 AM MDT | Noon CDT | 1:00 EDT

You can participate in this or any of the other 4 sessions during this day long memoir writing event, LIVE, via telephone or receive the link to download the audio by simply signing up here below. We look forward to having you join us for this wonderful, informative day with professionals who will help you get to your important next steps in your memoir journey.

SIGN UP HERE. (we’re sorry, this promotion is no longer available)

Event: National Association of Memoir Writers Day-Long Free Virtual ConferenceTelesummit
Topic: Memoir Writing—From Transformation to Publication
Cost: FREE
Date: Friday April 16, 2010
Time: 10 AM PDT-4 PM PDT

Please join us for our annual free National Association of Memoir Writers Virtual Teleconference on Friday April 16, 2010! At NAMW, we know Iit’s important to join the a community of talented writers, creators, editors, and publishers as you develop your knowledge of craft. Learning how to create a memoir from bits of memory, fragments of poetry, dreams, and journals is an important step in your literary life. Many memoir writers are lost when it comes to making the transition from transformational writing into the world of a completed work, to finding an agent and a publisher. So in this teleconference lead bywith respected experts you will discover the knowledge you need to create your memoir and birth it into the world—from transformation to publication.

We’ve summarized each of the sessions below, but be sure to click on the topic hyperlink for each session to learn more about the topic of discussion as well as the presenters for each respective topic.

We’ve assembled some of the best and the brightest talent in memoir writing for this exciting one day event!

The virtual teleconference will be audio tape-recorded and by signing up below you will receive the link to an audio download within a few days following the completion of the last session–of the entire conferenceafter the conference is over. That’s right, not just a free download of one session, but of all 5 teleconference sessions!