Exciting news! My award-winning memoir vignette, “1945,” which was selected for the Seasons of Our Lives anthology in 2014, is making a comeback on Amazon. My story was written from the point of view of my childhood alter ego, Nellie Quinn—the little girl who tells so many of my memories. In this one, she’s barely more than a toddler when she experiences one of the harsh realities of life. Another vignette, “Why Didn’t You Catch Me?” (told by the adult me) was selected in 2015 for the award-winning anthology, Tales of Our Lives: Reflection Pond. This story tells about my sister’s suicide and its immediate aftermath.
All of these anthologies—the Seasons series and the Tales series—were originally published as Kindle books, but you know, as great as e-books are, I still like the feel of a print book in my hands. The good news is that all four Seasons anthologies and the two Tales anthologies are available now in paperback. My sister memoir authors have written powerful stories in these anthologies, and I know you will get as much out of them as I have. Collectively, they speak to all our lives.
Those of you who are interested in writing memoir would do well to read the many vignettes included in these anthologies, along with the commentary that editors and memoir coaches, Matilda Butler and Kendra Bonnet, offer about our stories, along with their advice for aspiring memoirists. In fact, in the anthologies, you will find a mini-lesson following each story, something focused on the skills that story demonstrated.
Butler is the award-winning co-author of the collective memoir, Rosie’s Daughters: The “First Woman To” Generation Tells Its Story, Writing Alchemy: How to Write Fast and Deep, and other books. A psychologist, online and in-person memoir coach, and writing conference speaker, she writes and teaches in the Willamette Valley of Oregon.
Bonnett is the award-winning co-author of Rosie’s Daughters and Writing Alchemy and author/ghostwriter of nine books, a marketing executive, a speaker, and memoir coach. She regularly blogs with Matilda Butler at WomensMemoirs.com, writing and teaching from her home in Downeast Maine.
About Seasons of Our Lives, Susan Wittig Albert, bestselling author of Writing from Life, said, “It is true that each woman is a story waiting to be told—and in this outstanding collection of memoirs you’ll find many wonderful women’s stories. It is also true that each woman’s story is everywoman’s story, for we share so many of the same experiences. As I read these stories, I am reading bits and pieces from my own life, and I am inspired to write my own with a more passionate and compassionate heart. I hope you are, too.”
The paperback publisher, Knowledge Access Books, has listed these four volumes—Seasons of Our Lives (Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter)—at a special introductory price on Amazon for family and friends of the authors. My vignette featuring Nellie Quinn is in Seasons of Our Lives: Spring. If you are interested in getting a copy, the price is $9.97. Tales of Our Lives: Reflection Pond, which has the story of my sister’s suicide, is available for $19.97. After June 15, the prices will go up by $2.
I’d love for you to read the stories in the volumes—mine and those of the other authors as well, and if the spirit so moves you, post a review on Amazon and Goodreads.
Here are the links to the books with my stories:
Tales of Our Lives: Reflection Pond
The other anthologies are available at:
Tales of Our Lives: Fork in the Road
Sharon: Congratulations again on your award-winning stories in these anthologies. As I worked on the layout for these volumes, I carefully read each of the vignettes again and was once more struck with the power of these stories.