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Comment by Edwin Thompson on May 2, 2013 at 2:41pm

I have finished writing my memoir, still in the "typing" phase though.

Comment by LuAnn M Billett on December 18, 2012 at 7:55am

I recently finished my Memoir about my experience with an unexpected triplet pregnancy and the death of my husband which occurred a few short months after the birth of our three babies. I've been working the traditional route of querying agents and trying to make connections. In addition, I want to start marketing myself via social media, etc... The following is a snapshot of my story and I'm looking for any advice/suggestions on how to personally market such a thing. 

At 34 LuAnn was living the dream. She was married to her childhood sweetheart, teaching, photographing, and on top of her little world. Who would have guessed that a triplet pregnancy, insecurity, fear, and crack cocaine would threaten to destroy her within one short year? After an extremely difficult and high risk pregnancy she gave birth to two handsome boys and one tiny, tenacious girl. After a two month neo-natal unit stay, and a quarter of a million dollar hospital bill all of her premature babies were healthy enough to come home. A week later, LuAnn discovered her husband smoking crack cocaine in their basement. Two weeks later, she found him dead in the family room. I should also mention that LuAnn is me.

Polishing with Ashes is the true account of the cyclonic events of 2007, and significant flashes of my life prior to that time, as well as the quest to return to a life I could recognize as my own. Through my painful experiences I was able to not only get back on my feet, learn to laugh again, and, for the first time in my life I was able to find a comfortable, safe place within my own life. Polishing with Ashes may be best described as the DutchYarn Bomb of memoirs. It is surprising, funny, sometimes complex, colorful, well constructed, and most of all, meaningful.

Comment by Janet Starr Hull on October 9, 2012 at 9:13pm

Hi, TR. Welcome. I think you'll really enjoy WAE. And good going, Shelley. 

Comment by T.R. threston on October 9, 2012 at 8:58am

Hi Everyone, I just joined.  Please feel free to add me or send a message to say hi :)

Comment by shelley colquitt on September 3, 2012 at 1:48pm

Thanks Guys I just had my first piece published  tell me what you all think .. It is just an e -mag but it is something http://articles.complexchild.com/sept2012/00407.html

Comment by Janet Starr Hull on August 21, 2012 at 4:12pm

Shelley, write from the heart and tell it like it is. To get started on such an emotional project, just vomit on the page, as we say, and don't worry about grammar or if "it sounds right" during this early stage - you'll get stuck at this beginning point. Getting the finite details on paper (those that you forget over time) will add to the texture to your story, and after you have written the basic outline or the first chapter or two, then you can go back and re-read, re-organize, and edit.

When I was writing Sweet Poison, my personal near-death story, I began excising all kinds of emotions that I had locked away inside. Just going over my experience with pen and paper brought them all out again, and once you start this process, your writing will take on its own life. From this point, and after all the guts of your emotional message are documented, you can then look at the book from "outside of the box" and begin molding the emotions and editing the writing for a mainstream format. 

Just know that this book will resurrect lots of emotions as you write it, so get them all out, and edit them from there.

Comment by Lynn Garthwaite on August 20, 2012 at 3:30pm

Wow, what a challenge Shelley.  Best wishes to your whole family as you continue to make your way through an almost uncharted terrain.  

As for your question about how to write this I would strongly recommend attending a class or two about writing memoirs.  A good instructor will give you good tips on how to tell a really personal story in a way that engages your readers.  Bring in the point of view of several different people - whether it is both you and your daughter's father, siblings, medical caregivers who have been closely involved, grandparents.  Not a zillion different people, but a handful of the people who have been the closest to your daughter's journey.

And read a lot of other memoirs so you can get a real feel for how others have told their stories.  The more you read, the better you will be at writing your own book.

Comment by shelley colquitt on August 20, 2012 at 1:46pm

My 11-year-old daughter, Mighty Z, is affected with a rare disease that affects only 800 children worldwide.  Her disease does not discriminate on the basis of race or gender, and it is known by two different names:  Ondine's Curse (its first and oldest name) and Congenital Central Hypoventilation Syndrome or CCHS (its modern name).  CCHS is a central nervous system disorder in which the autonomic (involuntary) control of breathing is low.  For Mighty Z and other CCHS patients, this means that the respiratory response to oxygen and carbon dioxide is sluggish at best during the day, and it is absent at night, when sick, or when stressed.

Comment by Deborah Herman on August 20, 2012 at 9:36am

Hi Shelley, 

I would love to know more. How is it that she can be off the life support during the day? It shows the power of a mother's love. 

Comment by Joan Diehl on August 20, 2012 at 8:38am

Hi Shelley,

Your daughter's story can make a great book that will arouse empathy in readers, especially moms. Start at the beginning of her life, and use lots of dialogue. When you think you're finished, revise, revise, revise! Then get others to critique your work, preferably strangers. You may want to join a workshop. If you don't find one in your area, there are several online .

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