Albert and I Decide to Marry
In February of 1944, Albert was given a seventeen-day furlough and, during that time, we became engaged to marry. We did not set a date, but we talked of a wedding…
My father-in-law’s 100th birthday
On February 24, 2013, I celebrated my father-in-law’s 100th birthday. Arthur Blowen has been gone now for 28 years, and the people who were his peers and friends are mostly gone. There are many family stories about him. They are told as mythic journeys, Arthur slaying the dragons that assailed him. Here’s the plot line […]
Getting My Dream Coat
From We Were Not Spoiled, the memoir of Lucille Verreault Ledoux as told to Denis Ledoux. My mother-in-law had a lovely black Persian lamb coat. It had large buttons that were very fashionable at the time. That coat was heavy and warm, and Mrs. Ledoux wore it everywhere. She looked good in it. Rhéa had a raccoon coat […]
The First Months of My Marriage
e left Lewiston and our wedding guests to travel to Albert’s base in Syracuse, New York, at 1:30. Since it was still summer…
The Story of Why My Parents Came Down
While my parents were immigrants to the US, they had not really come to be immigrants. My father’s health had been affected by the tiny, deadly filaments called asbestos dust in his hometown…
The Importance of Education: High School Memories – 1930s
As I was finishing my sophomore year in June of 1937, Robert was graduating from Holy Family School. As when I graduated, my parents did nothing special to mark the occasion…
Suspects and Prospects in the Marketing Pipeline
Making consistent use of your marketing pipeline has to be a paramount focus if you are to succeed as a memoir professional. When people contact you as a result of your general outreach, they enter your pipeline. Some people who enter your pipeline only want general info while others are ready to hire help for […]
Branding Yourself: Making a Public Presence for Your Work
“Branding”—isn’t that about steers? Or Coca-Cola and Nike? What’s that got to do with the home-based lifewriting practitioner? Do I really need to be concerned with mega-corporate buzzwords like “branding”? In a word, yes. Why? Because if you are making a public presence for your work, your brand is being made whether you are aware […]
Mary Anne Benedetto: Amazon Best Seller Two Days in a Row!
A note from Mary Anne Benedetto, a Soleil Memoir Professional from Murrell’s Inlet, SC. about the recent success of her novel Eyelash on Amazon. Hang onto your hats…