Start Your Year Right, Right Now! Memoir Contest Anthology Released — Just $ .99, That’s Right!

by Matilda Butler on January 8, 2016

catnav-news-active-3Post #118 – Memoir Writing News – Matilda Butler



Can You Believe It is Already 2016?

I can’t. It really doesn’t seem that long ago we were all talking about Y2K. And here we are…16 years later. Time slips by. My “to do” list flows from one into the next. I have items on my current “to do” that I first listed when the new millennium arrived. What about you?

Not everyone takes their goals casually. I know a fantastic group of women who took their lists seriously and that’s the news I want to share with you today.

memoir writingLAST YEAR, we had a memoir writing contest and received more entries than we could have imagined. We got them from women who didn’t just let the years slide by, who took action on their lists. One women recently told me that publishing her story was the most important item on her bucket list. All of these women wanted to not only write about their lives but to share the stories with others. We are in awe of these women and their memoir vignettes that won our contest and our hearts.

TODAY, we are pleased to announce the launch of TALES OF OUR LIVES, the two-volume anthology of the award-winning entries. We’re excited about these stories and especially hope you will congratulate the winners (be sure to leave them a note in the comments section below) and that you will consider helping your fellow writers get their stories out…to you, to your friends, to your social media contacts.

The complete list of authors is at the bottom of this email.

New Memoir Anthology Now Available

[UPDATE: The special Amazon countdown pricing has ended. However, each volume is still a great price — just $3.99 each. You can learn all about these two volumes below. We hope you’ll consider getting one or both of them. We’ve designed them to be a great learning tool.]

Join the others who have already helped make these volumes a success.

Tales of Our Lives: Fork in the Road

Tales of Our Lives: Reflection Pond

TALES OF OUR LIVES, a two-volume anthology series of 81 inspiring true stories, informs woman’s desire to record, examine, understand, and report life journeys. In an era of reality shows that aren’t close to reality, the authentic voices of these authors stand out, clearly conveying their heartfelt stories. As you read, you’ll find yourself laughing, crying, even cheering the women on.

Why Read These Stories? These are beautifully written stories that emotionally involve you and help you reflect on your life. AND, if you are compiling your own stories and want to improve your writing in 2016, you’ll find a bonus writing tool included–Introduction to Writing Alchemy–the document that helped these women go deeper into their own stories. 

TALES OF OUR LIVES, published by Knowledge Access Books, brings you life stories in two anthology volumes — Fork in the Road and Reflection Pond. Put on your comfortable walking shoes for in Volume 1: Fork in the Road, you’ll travel down life’s path with the authors as they reveal the people and events that made all the difference in their lives, the stories that made them who they are. In Volume 2: Reflection Pond, pull up a chair so you can sit with the authors as they think about their lives across the years–the stories, big and small, that they recall. 

HERE’S HOW IT ALL BEGAN

The award-winning stories in the two volumes of TALES OF OUR LIVES are part fascinating read and part learning tool. WomensMemoirs.com conducted a contest for the best written and most engaging life stories. The writers selected from the first round won the right to take part in the second round where they used a new methodology called Writing Alchemy to revise their stories. The Introduction to Writing Alchemy (based on the award-winning book by the same name) guided the rewrites, helping the authors delve more deeply into their stories and make them more powerful and compelling. 

These inspiring stories stand on their own and may also serve as a springboard to help you write your life legacy vignettes. As a reader of these two anthologies, you receive the same material on how to use Writing Alchemy as the authors did (included FREE as Appendix A in each volume of the anthology). It is a gift to you so that you can use this dynamic writing methodology to shine a light on the moments that helped shape you.  

AND STILL MORE. In addition to giving you a full description of Writing Alchemy, you also can use these two anthology volumes to enhance your writing skills in two more ways:

–First, each section includes a series of writing prompts based on the types of stories shared in that part. Volume 1 gives you 42 prompts and Volume 2 includes 56 prompts.

–Second, you can study these stories to learn about effective openings, titles that foreshadow the story, character descriptions, emotions that pull the reader in, dialogue that moves the story forward, sensory details that bring story scenes to life, and time/place elements that serve as backdrop or become as important as the main characters.

THE ANTHOLOGY AUTHORS provide you life narratives that will delight, entertain, and enthrall you. The telling of these extraordinary stories of ordinary women may trigger memories of your life for these authors speak to our collective experiences as much as they do their own.  

EBook Specs and Availability
TALES OF OUR LIVES is a two-volume series (Fork in the Road and Reflection Pond) edited by award-winning author and memoir coach Matilda Butler. Kindle-version: $3.99 each.

SPECIAL LIMITED TIME OFFER:
$.99 each for 53 hours beginning today at 8 am PST January 8, 2016

About the limited time offer: 6 am HST 8 am PST 9 am MST 10 am CST 11 am EST

Each volume will be $ .99 for the first 53 hours; $1.99 for the second 53 hours; $2.99 for the third 53 hours, and then the regular price of $3.99.

Don’t Live in the US? We’ve Got You Covered

Amazon permits the special pricing only when ordering through the US and the UK Amazon stores. Below are the correct links to use. Then, for convenience, we’ve also included the links to many other countries and specify if special pricing is permitted. But no worries. We’ve kept the regular price low — just $3.99 in the US.

At the bottom of this post, we provide links for:

Australia
Canada
France
Germany
India
Ireland
Israel
Italy
Norway
Philippines
South Africa
Switzerland
UAE
United Kingdom
United States

United States

Tales of Our Lives: Fork in the Road
http://amzn.to/20VYNJq

Tales of Our Lives: Reflection Pond
http://amzn.to/1MQGKdk

United Kingdom

Tales of Our Lives: Fork in the Road (UK)
http://amzn.to/1Jt3gh5

Tales of Our Lives: Reflection Pond (UK)
http://amzn.to/1Pezv07

Canada

Tales of Our Lives: Fork in the Road (Canada)
http://amzn.to/1SyPM5q

Tales of Our Lives: Reflection Pond (Canada)
http://amzn.to/1mEVE0s

Get your copies today.
Get the best price possible.
Get inspired for your writing, right now!

Tales of Our Lives: Fork in the Road includes 42 award-winning stories in 6 parts with 42 writing prompts, 381 pages.
Tales of Our Lives: Reflection Pond includes 39 award-winning stories in 8 parts with 56 writing prompts, 373 pages.

Tales of Our Lives-Fork in the Road TABLES OF CONTENTS

VOLUME 1 — TALES OF OUR LIVES: FORK IN THE ROAD

Introduction by Matilda Butler

PART 1: Growing Up

Life Will Be So Different by Cleopatra Lim
The Scent of Transformation by Caitlin Gemmell
The Curtain Rises by Alison Shuman
The Eternal Lake by Lydia Huth
House of Tiki by Cindy Small
The Continental Divide by Manda Levine
Blood, Ripples, and Loss by Pamela Williamson

PART 2: How I Met…How I Left

One Pack of Cigarettes by Sherrey Meyer
The Invisible Red Thread by Phung Hollifield
Good for One by Jacqueline Lauri
Eye on the Prize by L. Susan Buckwell
Violets Are Not Blue by Judy Conibear Kohnen
Riding into the Future by Ronna L. Edelstein
He Said, She Said by Ingrid Littmann-Tai
First Time, Shame on You… by Kathleen Kline
Losing It by Ellen Berman
Rediscovered Sunset by Ashley Bass
Pas De Deux by Maureen C. Berry

PART 3: Making Lemonade

Hardball by Katharine Valentino
How Cheating Saved My Relationship by Meredith Miller
I Swear I’m Blind by S.J. Coleman

PART 4: From Weakness Strength

Speaking Up by Barbara Ruth
Crip Cargo Hook-Up by Heidi Johnson-Wright
Windows by Jennifer Chertow
Recovery: Italian Style by Susan Darin Pohl
Dead on Arrival by Jeri D. Walker-Boone
Hospitals, Depression, and Forgiveness by Jeri D. Walker-Boone

PART 5: Departures

A Time to Lose, a Time to Heal by Martha Graham-Waldon
The Last Gift by Margaret Peterson
Sharing Death by Marie Mound
Mother, Shattered by Sally Stillson Bartlett
The Accident by Karen Stapleton
The Miracle of One by Robin L. Chodak
The Plum Pie Lady, Paula and Me by Ann Fiegen

PART 6: Life Mosaic

Living in a Danger Zone by J. Moffett Walker
The Gift of Compassion by Micki Peluso
Wind at My Back by Rita Pomade
Survival Instincts by Marilyn June Janson
A Night I’ll Never Forget by Carol D’Agostino
Horse Sense by Laureen Andrews
To Feel Again by Christina Dudley
Payback by Maria Rodero

Tales of Our Lives-Reflection PondVOLUME 2 — TALES OF OUR LIVES: REFLECTION POND

Introduction by Matilda Butler

PART 1: Leaving Childhood

Farewell to Childhood by Renee Howard Cassese
My New Loft by T.L.Way
Good Girls and Whores by Patricia Hamilton

PART 2: Consonance and Dissonance

Gerlinda’s Wish by Emily-Jane Hills Orford
Iris and Me by Heidi Johnson-Wright
Kashagoud…Kasha by Ann Bennett
Burying Sara Teasdale by Renee Howard Cassese

PART 3: Tour, Trials, and Treks…Peregrination

Blessing Bikes by Ann Bennett
Scary Mountains by Nancy Nolan
My Last Bad Decision by Bianca Santini

PART 4: I Remember Mama (and Others)

Side by Side by Marcy N. Jubach
Best Friend by Peifong Ren
Dad Remembered by Christine Kingshott
Barbies in the Snow by Claudia Becker
Semper Fi by Nina Fosati
Extra Salt on the Fries by Katie Reid

PART 5: Disturbance

Seeking a Diagnosis by Judy Lawless
All Dressed Up by Renee Winter
Fire-Breathing Yellow Jackets by Sharon MaHarry

PART 6: Not Older, Better Through Grace, Love and Humor

She Walks by Johnine M. Simpson
Bratwurst Arms by Diane Caldwell
Blessed Be the Crone by Diana M. Amadeo
Blame It on Menopause by Viga Boland

PART 7: Loss and Longing

Take Care of the Kids by Caryn Kelly
On the Wings of a Butterfly by Linda Greeley
Why Didn’t You Catch Me? by Sharon K. Miller
One Last Visit by Allison Wilson Lee
When Death Comes Knocking by Patsy O’Shea
Thoughts on Being Good by Ginny Hull
The Greatest Wedding Gifts by Lauren Reidy Scheib
A Rose by Any Other Name by Kaila Weingarten

PART 8: Tessellated Tales

Lost in the Haight by Catherine Marshall
Kernel by Molly Krause
Letter to an Unborn Child by Caroline Allen
The Summer of 62 by Renee Winter
Green-Striped Hat Box by Ellen S. Barnes
Perfection or Rejection by Elsi Dodge
Shedding Old Skin by Nilda Benavides
Breaking the Rules by Hazel S. Muller

AND DON’T FORGET — GET YOUR COPIES TODAY.

Tales of Our Lives: Fork in the Road includes 42 award-winning stories in 6 parts with 42 writing prompts, 381 pages.
Tales of Our Lives: Reflection Pond includes 39 award-winning stories in 8 parts with 56 writing prompts, 373 pages.

What Readers are Saying:

TALES OF OUR LIVES offers an important look at life through its kaleidoscope of personal perspectives. Girls write about standout experiences of childhood and women write about turning points throughout their lives, engaging and teaching us about what happens and what’s possible. ~Suzanne Sherman, author 100 YEARS IN THE LIFE OF AN AMERICAN GIRL: TRUE STORIES 1910-2010 (www.100yearsinthelife.com)

TALES OF OUR LIVES is another important collection of women’s lifestories from WomensMemoirs.com, showing us, once again, that story is more than a mere record of an experience, it is the discovery of its special significance. ~Susan Wittig Albert, bestselling author of WRITING FROM LIFE, New York Times bestselling China Bayles series, two memoirs, AN EXTRAORDINARY YEAR OF ORDINARY DAYS and TOGETHER, ALONE: A MEMOIR OF MARRIAGE AND PLACE, and the nonfiction book A WILDER ROSE

Matilda Butler’s TALES OF OUR LIVES is an outstanding and mesmerizing anthology (I couldn’t put it down!) and an invaluable handbook on writing our own life stories.
~Pamela Jane, author of the memoir, AN INCREDIBLE TALENT FOR EXISTING: A WRITER’S STORY (February 2016) and many children’s books including her new Christmas book, LITTLE ELFIE ONE illustrated by Jane Manning, (Harper)

Following is the list of links for other countries. We’ve had special requests for these. If you need a link for another country, just let me know and I’ll get it for you. We currently have links for:

Australia
Canada
France
Germany
India
Ireland
Israel
Italy
Norway
Philippines
South Africa
Switzerland
UAE
United Kingdom
United States

#1 — US, Philippines, Norway, Israel, France, UAE, South Africa

Tales of Our Lives: Fork in the Road (US, Philippines, Norway, Israel, France, UAE, South Africa)
http://amzn.to/20VYNJq

Tales of Our Lives: Reflection Pond (US, Philippines, Norway, Israel, France, UAE, South Africa)
http://amzn.to/1MQGKdk

#2 — United Kingdom, Ireland

Tales of Our Lives: Fork in the Road (UK, Ireland)
http://amzn.to/1Jt3gh5

Tales of Our Lives: Reflection Pond (UK, Ireland)
http://amzn.to/1Pezv07

#3 — Canada

Tales of Our Lives: Fork in the Road (Canada)
http://amzn.to/1SyPM5q

Tales of Our Lives: Reflection Pond (Canada)
http://amzn.to/1mEVE0s

#4 — Italy

Tales of Our Lives: Fork in the Road (Italy)
http://amzn.to/1OdcoTN

Tales of Our Lives: Reflection Pond (Italy)
http://amzn.to/1JwFEbo

#5 — Germany and Switzerland

Tales of Our Lives: Fork in the Road (Switzerland, Germany, Austria)
http://amzn.to/1THHKpt

Tales of Our Lives: Reflection Pond (Switzerland, Germany, Austria)
http://amzn.to/1ZQ9An5

#6 — India

Tales of Our Lives: Fork in the Road (India)
http://amzn.to/1THNM9o

Tales of Our Lives: Reflection Pond (India)
http://amzn.to/1RlQ9RO

#7 — Australia

Tales of Our Lives: Fork in the Road
http://bit.ly/1ITAd6A

Tales of Our Lives: Reflection Pond
http://bit.ly/1RcFZTa

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