People are driven to express themselves. Each of us has a story and an urge to tell it. In my estimation no other medium is as effective in revealing the self as the irreplaceable memoir. Below are thoughts of various media for self-expression. Flash Memoir In a world of texting and Twitter, the urge to self-express is constricted but still vibrant. A new ‘literary genre’ called Flash Memoir has emerged: storytelling within the confines of six words. (It’s close relative is Flash Fiction!) The most famous of these Flash Writings is “For sale: baby shoes. Never worn.” Attributed to Mr. (more…)

Life in a parsonage for my family was a 1950’s middle-class existence. It is what I believe my father was striving for when he worked those years in Enfield, CT, after high school and before Bates College, those years at Bates working at the telephone switchboard at Central Maine General Hospital, serving as kitchen and dining room help at President Clifton Daggett Gray’s house in exchange for board and a room on the third floor. Neither my father nor my mother were materialistic people and they did not see their educations, I believe, as passports to more “things.” For them, (more…)

Today would have been my parents’ wedding anniversary. They are both gone now—my mother having passed on May 5th of 2015. I included a eulogy in a previous blog post. Theirs was a 1940s Franco-American wedding. For this post, I am providing you with a link to the blog archives where I My mother’s book has found its audience. have posted many excerpted stories from her book We Were Not Spoiled, which I wrote with her and published in November of 2013. A hard copy of the book is available on Amazon.com (more…)

There are many free books, MP3s, and PDFs in our My Memoir Education area for you to enjoy. If you have not been to the downloads section lately, check it out. Here are a couple available to you at no charge. 1. First FreeMemoir Writing 101 : 10 Steps to Crafting a Compelling Memoir This book’s ten action steps can help you write a memoir or improve the one you are working on. While this is a basic text, we believe it can correct any memoir writing course and get you to a finished product more quickly. Easy but very (more…)

DL—This is the fourth excerpt from A Sugary Frosting, the memoir of Martha Blowen, my lifemate and business partner who died in 2008 of metastatic intraductal breast cancer. The previous posts (first, second, third) covered Martha’s premature birth and her family’s recent move to Worcester, Massachusetts, where her father had taken on to serve as minister of Congregational church there and her grandparents’ demanding stay with them and their precipitous departure. This excerpt presents early memories. Isolated memories that seem too ordinary for a memoir can be a challenge to incorporate into a memoir as they usually lack inherent drama. (more…)

Some people manage to write a lot of memoir text during the same period of time that others hardly produce anything. Often, those who don’t write but who say they try to write have really valid reasons: company to cook for and entertain, a bad cold, “the kids are in drama workshops and I have to taxi them around,” “the computer wasn’t working all week,” cleaning house, buying a new car, etc. It comes down to this: they really “tried,” but you know how it is, they didn’t get to write a single word. Others who are producing memoir text, (more…)

DL—This is the third excerpt from A Sugary Frosting, the memoir of Martha Blowen, my lifemate and business partner who died in 2008 of metastatic intraductal breast cancer. The previous posts (first, second) covered Martha’s premature birth and her family’s recent move to Worcester, Massachusetts, where her father had taken on to serve as minister of Congregational church there and her grandparents’ stay. — As it turned out, my mother’s choice—albeit unconscious—of my grandparents over me proved to be a wrong one. By coming to Worcester, my father was closer physically to his half-siblings who, if I remember right, lived (more…)

DL: On July 7, 2015, the Writers Fun Zone ran an interview with me that I want to be sure you got to read. — 1. Tell us who you are and how you help writers in 100 words or less. I help writers to write memoir with more focus, joy and skills. Many writers start their project with enthusiasm and then get bogged down in the problems inherent in any long writing project. They become discouraged. They doubt their ability to proceed and ultimately to finish. They second guess their vision and theme. I see my role as the (more…)

DL—This is an excerpt from A Sugary Frosting, the memoir of Martha Blowen, my lifemate and business partner who died in 2008 of metastatic intraductal breast cancer. The previous post covered Martha’s premature birth and her family’s recent move to Worcester, Massachusetts, where her father had taken on to serve as minister of Congregational church there. — Taking her cue from others and their needs, my mother was not a person to take care of herself. In spite of her pregnancy, she had agreed to have my ailing grandparents, Enos and Emily Simmonds Yeomans Blowen, live in her home. This (more…)

The Irreplaceable Memoir

By John Adams

People are driven to express themselves. Each of us has a story and an urge to tell it. No other style is as effective as the irreplaceable memoir. (more…)

Can Life Get Better in the Parsonage?

By Martha Blowen

Life in Worcester for my family was a 1950’s middle-class existence. It is what I believe my father was striving for when he worked those years in Enfield, CT, after high school and before Bates, those years at Bates working at the telephone switchboard at Central Maine General Hospital, serving as kitchen and dining room […]

71 years ago today…

By Denis Ledoux

Free books in My Memoir Education area

By Denis Ledoux

There are many free books, MP3s, and PDFs in My Memoir Education area for you to enjoy. If you have not been to the downloads section lately, check it out. (more…)

Is a Life Ever Too Ordinary for a Memoir?

By Martha Blowen

Isolated memories that seem too ordinary for a memoir can be a challenge to incorporate into a memoir as they usually lack inherent drama. How to place early memories into a narrative so that they give a sense of the foundation of a life without turning the reader off. Let me know in the comments […]

Stop “Trying” to Write Your Memoir

By Denis Ledoux

Are you a person who is trying to write your memoir or are you a person who is writing it? Your family will likely be left without your memoir if what you do is “try to write a memoir.” This post is full of ideas for going from trying to write to writing. (more…)

My Uncles Rescue My Grandparents

By Martha Blowen

My uncles came into the parsonage, made their announcement of the decision to remove my grandparents which was a fait accompli that they were not willing to discuss, packed my grandparents up and drove away with them. My parents were in shock. (more…)

My Interview at Writer Fun Zone

By Denis Ledoux

Tell us who you are and how you help authors. I help writers to write memoir with more focus, joy and skills. Many writers start their project with enthusiasm and then get bogged down in the problems inherent in any long writing project. They become discouraged. They doubt their ability to proceed and ultimately to […]

My Mother Chooses Between Me and My Grandparents

By Martha Blowen

This is an excerpt from the as-yet-unnamed memoir of Martha Blowen, my lifemate and business partner who died in 2008 of metastatic intraductal breast cancer. The previous post covered Martha’s premature birth and her family’s recent move to Worcester, Massachusetts, where her father had taken on to serve as minister of Congregational church there. (more…)