Readers of my memoir, Swimming with Maya, often approach and say something like, “After reading your story, I feel as if I know you as an intimate friend. Wasn’t it hard to be so open about your life?” Now, I find myself tested again as I put my marriage under the...
books
A Calling Not A Job
Last month I celebrated five years of retirement from corporate editing. It seems like a lifetime ago – I don’t live where I used to, or think like I used to, or do what I used to. And the world has shifted radically in five years. Everything looks different now. Work...
Building my Website – Behind the Scenes
As with any construction project, it took longer and cost more than my initial plans, pitting a beautiful vision against the reality of time constraints, competing priorities, and hard work. Rebranding myself as a writer was challenging – and a lot of fun. The project...
Memoir: Teasing Meaning from a Messy Life
Readers of my memoir, Swimming with Maya, often approach and say something like, “After reading your story, I feel as if I know you as an intimate friend. Wasn’t it hard to be so open about your life?” I readily admit that yes, it was hard – the striptease of writing...
An Unexpected Gift
by September Vaudrey My guest on "That's the Way Life Lives," September Vaudrey, is a warm, engaging writer. We first met through social media and this blog. After several years of "virtual friendship," I met September last May while doing a reading in Chicago. Our...
It’s a brave new – digital – world for authors
Many writers are excited about publishing and promoting their work online. So many options, so little time. It can seem overwhelming. So when fellow Dream of Things author Madeline Sharples asked me to join her on a panel at the Greater Los Angeles Writers Conference,...
Letting go
As we greet 2016, I'm celebrating a clean slate - emotionally, physically, financially, and spiritually. The past year was a parade (some might say a circus!) of "let goes" which brought an avalanche of good into my life. If only it was easy. But part of the value of...
Points of Inspiration
In her very fine visual memoir, painter LeeAnn Brook weaves tales about creativity that go deep into her own process. Each image in the book has a story, and a history that links it to other images and to the artist's life and her previous work. The beauty of Brook's...
Trust your instincts when you revise
Faced with conflicting feedback, what's a writer to do? My answer is simple but not easy: Trust your instincts and be willing to revise your work. My former agent Laurie Harper consults with authors to help them shape their books and their careers. She recently asked...
Author Interview
http://lameredith.com/2014/09/swimming-with-maya-interview-with-author-eleanor-vincent/ Lizbeth Meredith recently interviewed me for her blog, LAMeredith, and here is the result - some insights about writing, publication, promotion, and how to detach enough to write a...