Author and writing coach, Suzette Mullen shares tips for structuring your memoir, navigating the dark night of the soul, living with integrity, and learning to listen to your inner voice.

Suzette’s Bio: Suzette Mullen (she/her) is a memoir and nonfiction book coach, retreat leader, and the author of the memoir The Only Way Through Is Out (University of Wisconsin Press, 2024), named one of February’s “most anticipated” releases by Lambda Literary. Foreword Reviews calls The Only Way Through Is Out: “Candid, inspirational… An emotive memoir that issues a stirring call to women to choose self-actualization.” Suzette’s essays have appeared in the New York Times, today.com, and Brevity, among other outlets. In her work as a book coach, Suzette guides writers to find their deeper stories and define their big ideas. She co-hosts the Mainely Memoir Retreat for women memoir writers and supports LGBTQ+ writers through her group mentorship program, Write Yourself Out. A graduate of Harvard Law School and Wellesley College, Suzette is working on her next book, a memoir about the costs and joys of living authentically.

Resources Mentioned In this Episode:

Save the Cat! Writes a Novel by Jessica Brody

Suzette’s Free Companion Guide/E-book

Why Preparing a TED Talk Makes You a Better Memoirist (Even If You Never Intend to Get on Stage)

Official Transcript

Episode Highlights
2:00 Exploring Cover Design

7:00 The Mid-Life Coming-of-Age Story

11:00 Identifying Your Inner Voice

17:00 Learning to Listen to Yourself

22:00 Integrity and Seeing Clearly

26:30 Living Through the Dark Night of the Soul

30:00 Beating Out Your Story and Cutting Your Darlings

34:00 Building a Behind-the Scenes Guide

36:00 Deciding What’s for Public Consumption

Connect with Suzette:

Website: https://www.yourstoryfinder.com/ and https://www.mainelymemoir.com/

Instagram: @urstoryfinder
Facebook: Suzette Mullen, Author
Facebook: Your Story Finder
LinkedIn: Suzette Mullen, LGBTQ Book Coach, Memoir

Connect with your host, Lisa:

Get Your Free Copy of Write

More, Fret Less

Website: https://lisacooperellison.com/

Instagram:

@lisacooperellison

YouTube: @lisacooperellison

Facebook: @lisacooperellison

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisa-ellison-b5483840/

Sign up for Psychology of Character Development for Memoirists: https://janefriedman.com/the-psychology-of-character-development-for-memoirists-with-lisa-cooper-ellison/

Produced by Espresso Podcast

Production: https://www.espressopodcastproduction.com

Natalie MacLean joins the Writing Your Resilience podcast to talk about surviving a social media witch hunt, how it impacted her relationship with alcohol, threading a theme through her memoir and marketing your book like a pro.

Natalie’s Bio: Natalie MacLean, named the World's Best Drinks Journalist, has also won four James Beard Foundation Journalism Awards. She’s the bestselling author of Red, White and Drunk All Over. Her new memoir, Wine Witch on Fire: Rising from the Ashes of Divorce, Defamation, and Drinking Too Much has just become a national bestseller and has been described as “This decade’s Eat Pray Love.”

She hosts the NYT recommended podcast, Unreserved Wine Talk, and offers popular online wine and food pairing classes at www.nataliemaclean.com.

Resources Mentioned During This Episode

Natalie’s Juicy Book Bonuses

Natalie’s Reader Guide

Five Takeaways From the Time’s Investigation into Child Influencers

Signs of Alcoholism or Alcohol Use Disorder

SAMHSA’s National Helpline

Official Transcript

Episode Highlights

4:00 Developing Your Voice

5:52: Dealing with an Online Pile On

10:00 Caring For Yourself While Writing a Tough Story

13:00 Re-evaluating Your Relationship with Alcohol

21:00 The Struggles of Working in the Male-Dominated Wine Industry

27:00 Threading the Witch Theme into This Story

32:00 The Power of Book Club Guides and Bonuses

38:00 Rebuilding Your Relationship to Social Media After a Pile On

Connect with Natalie:

Instagram

Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

TikTok

Goodreads

YouTube

Threads

Unreserved Wine Talk Podcast

Natalie’s Book Bub Page

Connect with your host, Lisa:

Get Your Free Copy of Write More, Fret Less

Website

Instagram

YouTube

Facebook

LinkedIn

Sign up for Psychology of Character Development for Memoirists

Produced by Espresso Podcast Production

Lennie Echterling joins the Writing Your Resilience podcast to talk about the lessons he learned from landmine survivors, the difference between empathy and toxic positivity, the importance of fostering your posttraumatic growth, and how to use writing to build your resilience.

Lennie’s Bio: Lennie Echterling, Ph.D., is a Professor Emeritus at James Madison University with more than 40 years of experience in promoting resilience, particularly during crises and disasters. He has served as crisis counselor, consultant, and trainer following many traumatic stress events, including tornadoes and floods throughout the United States, Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the tsunami in India, the 9/11 attacks at the Pentagon, the shootings at Virginia Tech, and landmine explosions in the Middle East. His awards include JMU’s Distinguished Faculty Award, Virginia Counselors Association’s Humanitarian Award, Virginia’s Outstanding Faculty Award, Virginia Counselors Career Service Award among many others.

Resources mentioned during this episode:

The Paradox of Empathy: When Empathy Hurts

Thriving in a Time of Crisis

The Book of Forgiving: The Four-Fold Path Four Healing Ourselves and Our World by Desmond Tutu and Mpho Tutu

Writing to Heal with Laura Davis

Good Night Jung by Lennie Echterling

Episode Highlights

4:41 Lessons from Landmine Survivors

10:00 Triggers for Resilience

12:00 Defining Posttraumatic Growth

15:00 The Problem of Toxic Positivity

22:00 The Power of Being with Another Person’s Story

27:00 The Struggle to Trust

30:00 Embracing and Exploring the Chaos Story

35:00 The Role of Neuroplasticity in Storytelling

38:00 Lessons Learned from Final Conversations

42:00 Making Every Day Valentine’s Day

47:00 The Power of Expressing Gratitude

54:40 Lennie’s Best Writing Advice

56:20 Lennie’s Resilience Practice

Connect with Lennie:

Email: echterlg@jmu.edu

Connect with your host, Lisa:

Get Your Free Copy of Write More, Fret Less

Website

Instagram

YouTube

Facebook

LinkedIn

Sign up for Psychology of Character Development for Memoirists.

Produced by Espresso Podcast Production