Maralys Wills

Welcome to the second in our continuing series called: Memoir Moment. This week, I interviewed Maralys Wills, published author in six different genres and writing coach. She discusses several ways to begin a memoir. In her first book, Higher than Eagles, she used a dramatic moment. In her third memoir, A Clown in the Trunk, she started with attitude. To understand what she means by attitude and to hear her many ideas for memoir writing, listen to her interview: 

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*If you wish to forward/rewind this mp3 file, please allow the file to fully load first, then simply place your mouse-cursor over the progress bar in the middle of the player (shows up in gray). You can then drag the gray area from left to right.

Want to read her memoirs? Here are links to all three. At the end is a link to her new book about writing entitled Damn the Rejections, Full Speed Ahead: The Bumpy Road to Getting Published.

Higher Than Eagles: The Tragedy and Triumph of an American Family

Here is a link to Maralys’ 2008 well-received book about writing and publishing:

We hope you enjoyed this interview and we’d love to hear from you. Please write your comments below. Have questions you’d like me to ask memoir authors? Let me know and I’ll add them to my list.
Until next time…

Want to hear advice about writing your memoir from successful memoir authors?

This fall’s East of Eden Writers Conference, held in Salinas, CA, John Steinbeck’s home, was a big success. I was fortunate to serve as the moderator for the Night Owl Memoir Panel. You got that right. We started at 9PM after two long days of sessions and workshops. However, there was great enthusiasm for our topic and we had a wonderful audience. I hope that the questions I asked and those asked by the audience will help you on your writing writing path.

Because the panel lasted about 1 1/2 hours, I’ve edited the audio file into several parts — each around 15 minutes. I post them all in the coming weeks. In this first segment, you will hear the introduction of the panelists — Linda Joy Myers, Phyllis Matson, Maralys Wills, Kendra Bonnett, and Betty Auchard — as well as responses to the first two questions posed.

I’ll share photos of the panels at the same time that I ask them a question.

Maralys Wills answered the first question: What was the most difficult part of writing your memoir and how did you overcome it?

Linda Joy Myers responds to the question: It is said that the process of writing a memoir changes the author. In what ways was this true for you?

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

*If you wish to forward/rewind this mp3 file, please allow the file to fully load first, then simply place your mouse-cursor over the progress bar in the middle of the player (shows up in gray). You can then drag the gray area from left to right.
Download MP3: Memoir Panel [18:16m] Right-click on the link to save this file into your computer.