March 2011 National Association of Memoir Writers Digital Newsletter

In this Issue: Welcome & Updates Upcoming NAMW Events NAMW Featured Members Call for Guest Writers & Nominations for Featured Members for Calendar Year 2011 Writing Prompts & Inspiration for March 2011 Events Outside of NAMW Resources NAMW Website Benefits of Membership Login to Member’s Area Read Stories in the NAMW Cafe The Power of Memoir Links to Free Articles About Memoir Writing Become a Member Contact us About NAMW Follow NAMW on Twitter Become Our Fan On Facebook March 2011 Newsletter | Issue #43 Welcome to the National Association of Memoir Writers March 2011 Newsletter Welcome to all of our new and existing NAMW members and to the new subscribers to our newsletter! We love connecting with you and learning about your memoir writing life, challenges and questions. We were thrilled to have Julia McCutchen and Jerry Waxler as our March roundtable guests speaking on the topic of Creative Nonfiction. And MJ Rose helped us learn more about the Business of Being and Author. Members of NAMW can find a recordning of MJ’s audio as well as the audio recording from the Roundtable discussion on Creative Nonfiction within the Audio Download page of the Member’s Area (you’ll need to login to the Member’s Area to access the file).  Be sure to check out the other 40+ audio files available for download in this area on the healing craft, art, technique and business of memoir writing. We are pleased to announce our speaker line-up for our FREE Spring 2011 Day-Long Memoir Writing Tele-summit, scheduled for April 8, 2011 from 10 AM to 4 PM PDT. Simply click here for full registration details as well as the steps you can take to receive access to the audio recordings of the event if you are unavailable to attend the live call. We hope you can join us this month, beginning TODAY, Thursday March 10th, for our FREE Memoir Writing Roundtable as well as our Member-only Memoir Writing Teleseminar on Friday March 18, 2011, with our special guest, Mark Matousek. Remember–be brave, write your stories! Fondly, Linda Joy Myers NAMW President & Founder Upcoming NAMW Events We are excited about the upcoming events we’re planning for 2011! You can find all of our March & April 2011 events outlined below, but please be sure to visit the NAMW website often for new additions and for the schedule of events beyond February.  Have a topic that you would like to see covered within a workshop, teleseminar or roundtable?  Drop us a note at info@namw.org with the details.  We truly appreciate your feedback and suggestions. March Writing Roundtable Teleconversation: TODAY! Thursday March 10, 2011: Publicity 101 for Memoir with Kim Dower, Sharon Lippincott & Linda Joy Myers| Cost: FREE FOR EVERYONE |Pre-Registration Required:  Click Here to Register |Can’t Make the Live Event? Click Here to Sign up to receive a link to a Streaming Audio File via email after the live call. March NAMW Member-only Teleseminar: Friday March 18, 2011: Spirituality & Memoir with Mark Matousek NAMW Monthly Member-only Teleseminar / Conference Call–become a member to participate for free! –Click Here for Full Details! Intermediate to Advanced Healing Memoir & Spiritual Autobiography Telephone-based workshops – 9 sessions with Linda Joy Myers, Ph.D., NAMW President $375 for NAMW Lifetime Members / $390 for NAMW Annual members/ $525 for non-NAMW members | Become a member to receive a discount! 9 TUESDAYS at 3:00 PM PDT 4/05/11-6/14/11 NAMW Day-long Spring 2011 Memoir Writing Tele-Summit: Friday April 8, 2011:  Creative Nonfiction and Memoir—Craft, Ethics, and Process 5 Sessions with Audio Recordings of Each Session Available for ALL Pre-registrants & NAMW Members! Cost:   FREE for EVERYONE: Pre-Registration Required–Click Here to Learn More! | Can’t Make the Live Event? Click Here to Receive Audio Recordings of the Event! April NAMW Member-only Teleseminar: Friday April 29, 2011: Social Media for Authors with Dana Lynn Smith NAMW Monthly Member-only Teleseminar / Conference Call–become a member to participate for free! MORE DETAILS COMING SOON! We are pleased to recognize our NAMW Featured Members for January 2011, February 2011 and March 2011 January 2011 – Marjorie Webb—Click Here to Read our Interview with Marjorie! February 2011 – Mary Knippel–Interview COMING SOON! Watch the NAMW Website March 2011 – Kristi Woodworth–Interview COMING SOON! Watch the NAMW Website Congratulations!  We are very proud to have each of you as NAMW members! Call for Guest Writers as Well as Nominations for NAMW Featured Members for Calendar Year 2011 NAMW Featured Members The National Association of Memoir Writers is accepting nominations for our Featured Memoir Writers of the Month. Nominees must be current NAMW members, and it is acceptable to self nominate. For further details and to download the questionnaire in Microsoft Word format that is used in the selection process, simply click here. If you have trouble accessing this, please email info@namw.org and we will be happy to send you a copy. If you would like to nominate someone other than yourself, please send via email to info@namw.org the name and email address of the individual you wish to nominate and we will contact the NAMW member directly with an invitation to apply. If selected as an NAMW Featured Member, your the answers to your questionnaire will appear on the NAMW website on your own NAMW Featured Member page in interview format. NAMW Featured Members are also given the opportunity to contribute an article on the topic of memoir writing that may appear on the NAMW website and/or Monthly Newsletter. Featured Members also receive a Featured Member logo to use in print or digital communications/media. We love learning about our members! Be sure to apply or nominate today. Call for Guest Writers, Featured Bloggers, Book Reviews & Regular Column Contributors We are currently also seeking writers who would like to submit articles that might be of interest to individuals interested in memoir writing. Articles can be in the form of critical reviews of memoirs or books related to the writing of memoirs, “top 10 lists/tips,” “how to,” articles, pieces on the memoir writing experience, author interviews or any other topic related to the art, craft or business of memoir writing. Submissions can be anywhere from 300-1000 words long, depending on the topic and tone of the article. In return for your submission you will receive writing credit as well as a link to the blog post or web based published event of your choosing. If you are interested in writing for NAMW in any type of capacity, you may submit completed articles to Staci@NAMW.org or direct questions regarding this opportunity to the same email, with a subject line of “Guest Writer.” We are looking forward to hearing from anyone who might be interested in building their author platform or sharing their writing via the NAMW website! Writing Prompts & Inspiration Daffodils, Tomatoes, and Spring It’s March in California–the morning light splashes the yellow daffodils, creating sun spots in the yard. A nodding, smiling garden responds to the warmth of the ever increasing sun. It’s wonderful to experience this opening of the life force—even if your daffodils are peeking up between snow mounds. All of us eagerly look forward to more light. Writers and all creative artists create patterns of light with their work, searching to bring warmth into the light and into dark corners of the soul.  Memoir writers ask me how I write—with computer or by hand. I believe that writing by hand helps us to slow down, to connect deeply with the body-mind that is creating the writing. Along the way, surprising topics, words, and sentences appear. You might begin writing about a birthday party, but suddenly a dark memory shows up—unbidden and unwelcome. We soldier on, trying to rein ourselves back to the topic we selected, only to find the body has its own wisdom. A kernel of gold shows up under the dirt when we discover a new insight, a new way to look at life. That’s the magic of writing! It’s important to keep your eye on the light while dig into your story, listening to what the story wants to tell you. Dr. James Pennebaker, the premier researcher about the healing power of writing says, “Story is a way of knowledge.”  Writing your stories will educate you, inspire you, and take you to new places in yourself. It truly is a path of knowledge. Capture your turning points—the positive moments that changed your life—using scent, sounds, and description to bring scenes to life. It’s a joy to relive treasured moments through writing. Writing toward the light, writing the special moments of love, connection, and transcendence, is a way to make life brighter and juicily creative! Happy Spring! May your writing life be fertile and abundant with new growth. Writing Prompts Write about spring smells, tastes, colors, and sounds. Choose a scent, a taste, a color and a sound and write about each one. See if your vignettes develop into a story. What rituals did your family undertake in the spring—Easter eggs, Passover, spring cleaning? Did you help? How did you feel about these rituals? How did you feel when you were a young child alone on a spring day? What might you do? Does this time of year have a spiritual significance for you? Be specific and create a scene showing what you do and how you feel about it. Professional Writers of Prescott 2011 Writing Contest Professional Writers of Prescott (PWP) is pleased to announce their call for entries for the 2011 Writing Contest for Fiction, Non-Fiction and Poetry. Monetary prizes will be awarded in each category for first, second and third place winners of original work, not previously published. All winners will be invited to read from their entries at the November meeting for Professional Writers of Prescott . Deadline: May 31, 2011. The Center for Journal Therapy Therapeutic Writing Institute: Spring Term Begins April 4, 2011 Course W523.1 The Power of Memoir Instructor: Linda Joy Myers, Ph.D. You’ll learn an 8-step plan to create your own memoir, experiment with writing exercises that will demonstrate how writing your truth and shaping your narrative can propel you toward life-changing discoveries, and learn lots of tips, techniques and tools for your own personal or group work. REQUIRED TEXT: The Power of Memoir: How to Write Your Healing Story, Linda Joy Myers Please Click Here to Learn More! Spring Session Term: April 4 – May 27 Soul Making Literary Competition Awards Event Come congratulate NAMW member Linda Missouri as she receives her Memoir writing prize on March 20, 2011, at the Koret Auditorium in the new San Francisco Main Library, Civic Center. Visit http://www.ThePowerOfMemoir.com Keep writing! If you have any questions, or would like to suggest a workshop, teleseminar or roundtable topic please let us know. Email us at: info@namw.org. Warm regards, Linda Joy Myers, Ph.D., MFT President & Founder National Association of Memoir Writers http://www.NAMW.org Remember, be brave. Write your stories!