If You Did Not Know Mother, Imagine Her – TellTale Souls’ Bio-Vignette No. 10

05/01/2013 By 1 Comment
Lynn Scott & Mother 2009

What if you never really knew your mother? You can still write a meaningful story. The following story excerpted from my guidebook, TellTale Souls Writing the Mother Memoir: How to Tap Memory and Write Your Story Capturing Character & Spirit is an excellent example of how one woman did just that.  This story begins on page 99 of Act Three in the section entitled “Using Descriptive Imagery.” You can easily find other stories I’ve posted from the book by searching “Bio-Vignette No.” To run after a shadow and learn to describe it is exceptionally rewarding because you have brought a dim memory or fragments of remembrances into the light and have become wiser for the effort. TellTale Soul Lynn Scott uses this approach as she weaves together her Mother Memoir. I’m Imagining My Mother ~Lynn Scott I am imagining my mother at three…a softly rounded little girl with huge blue eyes, set deep under lids like her papa’s. Her hair a thatch of white-blond,

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A Memoir on the Meaning of Life and Death – A Walk Through the Churchyard

04/17/2013 By 2 Comments
a Walk through the Churchyard

The Rev. Rob Gieselmann is someone I’d call a TellTale Soul.  He’s written a truly heartfelt memoir looking at the  space in between life and death as an insider who has intimately walked the walk.  If you know anyone who has lost a loved one or needs a shoulder to lean on when death looks on, I highly recommend this little book.  The following is the review I couldn’t resist writing and posting on his page on Amazon. I didn’t read  “a Walk through the Churchyard toward a spirituality of Christian death”, I “felt” this memoir seep into every part of my being as I took in Rev. Rob Gieselmann’s experiences and listened to his messages.  They will stay with me, always. Eloquent and honest, this little book, of only 119 pages, is a beautifully moving memoir of extraordinary power.  I was deeply touched as Rev. Rob Gieselmann gathered poignant thoughts and expressed intimate feelings, often by putting forth questions—some resolved, some not—about death. 

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The Story Woman Connects with Baby Boomers on Boomer Café

04/08/2013 By 2 Comments
Journey with me into writing memoir...

The minds of Baby Boomers are known to be teeming with ideas and, more often than not, they’re feeling the need to write memoir. That’s why I felt honored when the creators of the wildly popular website, Boomer Café, invited me to contribute some of the memoir writing wisdom I’ve gathered for well over a decade. As one Baby Boomer to a host of other Boomers, my hope is to inspire and encourage them to write memoir—even those who don’t think they have what it takes to write. They do! I know writing memoir is more than possible, it’s downright doable. When I teach “Keeping Spirits Alive” writing classes, I’m thrilled each time I witness daughters and sons discovering newly found memories and then moving those special gems into unforgettable bio-vignettes, stories of substance, only they can write. Follow my lead. Join me on a journey of discovery into a new dimension in the world of memoir. I'st a space where daughters and sons are shown how to tap memory

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Capture a Memory, Write a Memoir, Connect to the Universal Mother

03/27/2013 By 2 Comments
Connect to the Universal Mother

Capture It!  Write It!  Connect It!  These are the catchwords I used when creating the TellTale Souls website in the year 2000.  2009 was the birth of The Story Woman blog, where I began posting tips, lessons, and secrets on how to tap memory and write memoir, while sprinkling it with reviews of books that grabbed my attention and guest posts by authors and artists of interest. Closest to my heart is “Keeping Spirits Alive,” through teaching the writing of a special kind of memoir, the Mother Memoir, to daughters and sons who craft intimate bio-vignettes straight from their hearts. From showing folks how to Capture It! to teaching them how to Write It!, it was time to Connect It!  So folks had an easy way to connect, I strategically wove 40 bio-vignettes throughout TellTale Souls Writing the Mother Memoir: How to Tap Memory and Write Your Story Capturing Character & Spirit, published almost a year ago.  Many stories are also being posted, over time, on the this blog

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Grandmother’s Voice in a Lullaby – TellTale Souls’ Bio-Vignette No. 9

03/14/2013 By Leave a Comment
Robin's GRANDMA 2009

It’s time for a lullaby on The Story Woman Blog. Time to enjoy another story excerpted from my guidebook, TellTale Souls Writing the Mother Memoir: How to Tap Memory and Write Your Story Capturing Character & Spirit.  This story begins on page 95 of Act Three in the section entitled “Adding Depth, Design, and Color.” You can easily find other stories I’ve posted from the book by searching “Bio-Vignette No.” In the first stages of writing as a Telltale Soul, Robin began to hear bits of melody and some of the words from childhood lullabies sung to her by her grandmother. Astonishingly, the songs floated into consciousness on the very voice of her grandmother. Lullabies ~Robin Monigold Dressed up in a gown that trails on the floor In a picture hat your mommy wore Living in a world that you never knew My little lady, make-believe.   What a pair of shoes for two tiny feet What a pair of gloves, the fingers don't meet Posing in the glass, your

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12 Secrets at the Soul of Writing Memoir Well – Yours Free

02/28/2013 By Leave a Comment
Lynn The Story Woman characature

I gave away free copies last weekend of the Kindle version of my award-winning guidebook, TellTale Souls Writing the Mother Memoir: How to Tap Memory and Write Your Story Capturing Character & Spirit.  I hope you got yours! That felt good, so now I'm happy to give you the Secrets at the Soul of Writing Mother Memoir, once again, free for the taking.  But with a added bonus. Follow me... For a long time now my secrets to writing well included 10 Secrets. Last fall I added the 11th Secret. Today I’m adding Secret No. 12: Secret No. 12, INNERSEARCH : Search inside yourself for memories and their meaning. Use Innersearch to go deep inside the realm of your subconscious mind. Let go the outside world and open yourself up to a new awareness. The next two paragraphs, which define what I call Innersearch, are taken directly from my book. Reading the book, however, is the only way to master this technique. Innersearch begins as a conscious, truth seeking effort into the

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Complimentary Copy: How to Tap Memory & Write Memoir, Amazon Kindle Free – 3 Days Only

02/22/2013 By 4 Comments
3 19cvr 3-30-12

How to write memoir demystified—for just a click, no cost—Fri., Sat., Sun., February 22, 23, 24—only on Amazon Kindle.  The award-winning guidebook, TellTale Souls Writing the Mother Memoir: How to Tap Memory and Write Your Story Capturing Character & Spirit, is yours free. It has the power to move people and change awareness. This guidebook demystifies the writing process for people new to writing, and professional authors will encounter abundant food for thought and innovative techniques to get their creative juices flowing. As an intuitive leader, Henriksen discovered a profound way to keep spirits alive after witnessing Alzheimer’s disease ravage her mother’s mind. She has helped hundreds of daughters and sons capture in brief memoirs the memories and feeling they never thought they could record.  It draws people deep into the heart and soul of writing. The author believes to write anything well, be that memoir or fiction, the best place to start is learning to

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San Francisco Writers Conference 2013: Gateway to Better Writing

02/16/2013 By 2 Comments
Golden Gate Bridge

THE GATEWAY TO BETTER WRITING, PUBLISHING, & CONNECTING A CELEBRATION OF CRAFT, COMMERCE, AND COMMUNITY! This headline for The San Francisco Writers Conference 2013 will provide exactly that and more. Click the link above for the line-up of inspiring bestselling authors, legendary agents, writing intensive workshops, classes on craft galore, and to register. As The Story Woman and a TellTale Soul, I can’t think of any place I’d rather be. Hope to see you sometime during the 5 day extravaganza, February 14-17, 2013. 2013 Heralds the 10th Anniversary of the SFWC! Join us February 14th – 17th, 2013, and help us celebrate at the Intercontinental Mark Hopkins Hotel, Mason & California, San Francisco! Bestselling author R.L. Stine will be the keynote speaker for 2013 Top Ten Reasons for Writers to Attend the 2013 San Francisco Writers Conference Launch your writing career…or take it to a more professional level…with direction from bestselling

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Dog Water Free: A Mother-Son Memoir of Consequence

02/06/2013 By Leave a Comment
Michael Jay Dog Water Free 2013

TellTale Souls tap emotional memory when writing Mother Memoir, as they discover intimate truths deep within their first relationship—of this you’re well aware. In the same spirit, new author Michael Jay will touch you as he reveals how one mother’s son, Mikee, taps emotional memory in a innocently powerful way. Read on… Meet Joe Black visits The Wonder Years in the true story of DOG WATER FREE, a coming-of-age saga that delivers on its promise. It’s a tale about hope and faith and a young mother’s love that fosters an improbable journey to find emotional truth. It chronicles an adventure by a boy named Mikee that lands a dumbstruck orphan from the unlikely side of Detroit front and center before England’s Queen, America’s Maestro and the first non-Italian Pontiff in more than 400 years.  I’m pleased to welcome debut author Michael Jay to share a few insights about his mom and about how his journey begins. It’s the era of MadMen.  *   *   *  

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Discover What The Red Ledger Holds in TellTale Souls’ Bio-Vignette No. 8

01/31/2013 By Leave a Comment
Red Ledger

Yes!  It’s story time on The Story Woman Blog, enjoy another story excerpt from my guidebook, TellTale Souls Writing the Mother Memoir: How to Tap Memory and Write Your Story Capturing Character & Spirit.  This story begins on page 81 of Act Two in the section entitled “Trusting the Message and the Messenger.” You can easily find the stories I’ve posted from the book by searching “Bio-Vignette No.” TellTale Soul Marie, the messenger of the story below, tells us about growing up with an untrustworthy, self-centered, and jealous mother who did not have her daughter’s best interests at heart. Although Marie found she could not trust her mother, she learned to trust herself. Through writing her bio-vignette, Marie came to realize she had never truly owned or given adult perspective to her emotional responses regarding her mother’s actions toward her. Marie chose not to add a photo. The Red Ledger           by Marie Wells Hers was a jaunty step like

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