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Write It or Lose It – Memoir Works

02/08/2011 By Leave a Comment
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 You know you have memories you don't want left behind...Learn how to move them into an unforgettable memoir.KEEPING SPIRITS ALIVE • with Lynn HenriksenMemoir Writing WorkshopWhere: Book Passage, Corte Madera, CA When: Saturday, March 5, 2011 -- 1:30-4:30 pm • $65Call Book Passage, Corte Madera (415) 927-0960 ext.1, to reserve.  If you don’t write it down, it will be lost. Wouldn’t that be a shame? Lynn Henriksen invites you to join her to embrace a special kind of memoir where you’ll capture the character and spirit of an important person in your life as only you can. On this journey of discovery you’ll find your unique voice, move a memory gem into memoir through intriguing prompts, guided activities, partner sharing, and feedback. Find out how truth and imagination merge with all ‘six’ of your senses to awaken understanding, and why you won’t let your loved ones simply slip away. Henriksen has guided hundreds to Tap Memory & Write Memoir and is the

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Meryl Streep Would Like Mother Memoir

01/26/2011 By Leave a Comment

“It’s so gratifying because it’s the audience that nobody really gives a shit about,” quipped Meryl Streep in an interview with Vanity Fair about her success in movies at the age of 60.  Women will buy tickets and books that actually interest them, but we all know that, don’t we? This same audience of ordinary women wants to be involved in a learning process that moves them to write memoir about significant people in their lives, whom they do give a shit about.The best way to do that is to answer the one question I ask all TellTale Souls to answer, “If you could tell just one small story that would capture the character and spirit of your mother and keep her memory alive for years to come, what would it be?” Women and men grow quiet and contemplative when asked this question. Changing emotions flicker across their faces, and they invariably say this is a powerful question; one they really would like to answer.Come along with me, we will look closely at the woman who was

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Destiny de Medici

01/07/2011 By 2 Comments
CW Gornter Catherine de Medici 2011

Okay, so I received a few books for Christmas that I can't help but tell you about. Here's The Story Woman's review of another great read:Once again, C.W. Gortner doesn’t disappoint. The Confessions of Catherine de Medici bring a terrible, bloody time in European history to light through the thoughts and actions of “the Italian Jezebel,” the label her detractors gleefully hung on her. As this intriguing, ambitious, intelligent, often desperate and deceitful woman struggled to maintain Valois–Medici power in France during the 16th century’s religious wars between the Catholics and the Huguenots, I was torn between appreciating Catherine’s heroism and being wary of her insensitivity toward both her immediate family and the thousands of innocent people who perished due to her treacherous, although often ineffective, conniving.Gortner skillfully marries fact and myth, pairs the seers, Catherine and Nostradamus, and places the duty of royalty above all else, in such a way that I

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Memories in Gray of a Mother and her Daughter

10/31/2010 By 2 Comments
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Grey some say. I always spell it gray, so I guess that means I'm one of those wayward Americans, which I am proud to be!—I’m told the King’s English uses an “e” to spell gray. Either way, gray or grey can be dispiriting. Would Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue have connected so powerfully with music lovers if it had been Rhapsody in Gray? Some of us cover the gray in our hair with coats of many colors, and when I hear "the graying of America," I can't help but visualize old, bent folks trudging along into oblivion, and I don’t think that’s the way people in their “Golden Years” ought to be portrayed. I revel in the eerie grayness of fog, and I dream of gray, rainy days when it’s okay to curl up with a book and not feel guilty. And then there are the early morning hours and those at dusk when the world seems to stand grayishly still for a time before giving us the day or the night. Those are often moments of forgiveness, even promise. Treasure to be sure. Gray

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Making a Memoir Teacher Blush

10/18/2010 By 2 Comments

What's a memoir teacher to do when a student makes her blush with humility and delight? Well, this one is going to share Marlene's kind words with you hoping you will follow her lead and write memoir: Dear Lynn,  Your workshop, Keeping Spirits Alive, was just an amazing experience!  Not only did my grandmother’s spirit come to life within me, you, dear heart, suffused my spirit with the passion, joy and unbound excitement to travel in time and space to converse with the many spirits who’ve touched my life over the years and to invite them to be heard and remembered. Your invitation to “look through their eyes;” to see, to hear, to viscerally experience my grandmother as if I were her was a profound experience for me.  What a rare gift you are.  I am so amazed that three hours could so change my life, my perspective and my journey here on this planet.    Thank you for the safe space you created to share myself.  Thank you for the wonderful teachings, tips, and

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Memory: The Conscious Currency

09/25/2010 By Leave a Comment

Memories are currency in more ways than one. What are we without memory? And what will happen to the important memories of our lives and the lives of those around us, if we don’t write them down? On a scrap of paper I recently came across on my cluttered desk, I’d written down a thought about memory I’d picked up somewhere, though I neglected to make note of where. I guess I thought I’d remember who said it—but can’t, so I’ll just say it, anyway. It went something like this, Memory was all I had, the only currency, the only proof that I was alive. I can see why I jotted it down—food for thought, certainly. It got me thinking about some of the elements involved in memory creation. Feelings are imprinted to memory. Often, when a memory is recalled, the exact feelings we felt at the time the memory etched a pathway in our brains is felt front and center. Our personal feelings about an incident or individual, then, are integral parts of each memory. Some memories fade

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Create Memoir with Potential Energy & Synergy

09/18/2010 By 2 Comments
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Think of your memories as potential energy—energy at rest. As we know, energy can neither be created nor destroyed. However, one form of energy can convert into another form of energy.Yes, you can turn your memories into a written memoir, and I’ve worked with hundreds of people to help them write their personal stories. This is where synergy comes in as a force, because synergy amounts to two or more people working together to produce results.The memories of significant people are waiting for you to capture them in a whole new way.  Let me help you Keep Spirits Alive for future generations in a short, true tale that’s uniquely yours.         Keeping Spirits Alive…       NEW WORKSHOP MARCH 5, 2011 The last one in October was so rewarding that we decided to do another one this spring.                                         TAP MEMORY & WRITE MOTHER MEMOIR Workshop           Where: Book Passage – Corte

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3 Fundamental Truths to Get Published

09/13/2010 By 2 Comments

What spirit and synergy! Our four panelists, genuine literary professionals all, were superb as they engaged and interacted with the audience to the nth degree.  I came away with three fundamental truths after yesterday's Zen and the Art of the Book Deal Publishing Panel that writers must have if they want to get published:      1) Work hard & never lose faith in yourself      2) Focus, edit, and target your work      3) Maintain your sense of humor if you want to thrive  This list is the short list, which has not departed much from the past, but now that the traditional publishing business is imploding and the avenues for self-publishing are exploding, these truths have never been more evident. Of course, there is a number 4, which should go without being said, but... 4)  Write something people want to read, and make sure every word you write is enjoyable and/or informative.  Sincere thanks to Bridget Kinsella, Peter Beren, Jennifer Joseph, and

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Write with your Imagination to find Passion and Emotion

08/30/2010 By Leave a Comment

In answer to the many questions I've received on how to infuse more passion and emotion into your stories, here are a few thoughts on how to make it happen. You set the tone of your story by injecting passion and emotion as you see it, as you feel it. We all have emotional memory, and it is best illuminated through the power of imagination, when we recall the emotions we felt at the time an incident occurred. We each see people and actions in a special light - a light stemming uniquely from the very core of each of us.  As a collector of stories, I revel in this light; it is this reflection of ourselves that ignites the radiant glow of colors making up the spectrum of our collective souls. The best way to write passion and emotion into your stories is to put yourself in your characters' shoes.  In each particular circumstance, take yourself to that place where the character you're writing about is. With a little practice, you will learn to use your innate powers of imagination

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Aha! Moments: Memoir Labyrinth Writing Series No. 10

08/13/2010 By Leave a Comment

Aha! We’re back to the power of words and how writing affects each of us. When we write stories, we stir memories, and to put those memories down on paper, we call on creative insight, which is triggered by a specific, scientifically traceable, kind of internal energy. When you to write short, true tales—bio-vignettes—about someone of significance in your life by finding the Aha! moment you will seize as the basis for your story, your creative instincts are jump started. It’s no wonder why, during one of my workshops, for instance, people move into a space of intense focus and high energy while writing their “Mother Memoirs,” as well as becoming completely tuned in to the work of other writers in the group. These power filled experiences come about as a direct result of finding and moving compelling memories to memoir. Let’s find that Aha! moment by walking through the labyrinth of our minds with this tried and true exercise: Tell yourself you are going on a

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