Newsletter

Special Events in May and June

Apr 25, 2025

Hi everyone, I know I just emailed yesterday with an anthology update, and I hope it doesn’t feel like I’m flooding your inbox. I just wanted to make sure you’re in the loop about our upcoming meetings, especially since a few are coming up soon and one is already...

Social Media for Authors

Mar 13, 2025

Social Media for Authors Share and Support There’s been a lot of conversation lately in our group about how memoirists can (or should) use social media, so I've scheduled an event on Thursday, May 1. The intent of this session is to share what we know, brainstorm...

Your Voice Belongs in Our Anthology!

Mar 6, 2025

Your Voice Belongs in our Anthology!Our anniversary anthology is shaping up to be something really special! If you haven’t submitted yet, now’s the time—the deadline is March 31, and I’d love for everyone who wants to be included to have a spot in the book. A...

More Memoir, More Meaning, More Ways to Grow

Feb 13, 2025

Hey everyone, Winter may still have its grip on us, but the longer days and occasional bursts of sunshine make it a great time to cozy up with a good book. If you didn’t get around to reading Paula Balzer’s Writing and Selling Your Memoir, this is the perfect chance...

Call for Submissions – Five Years of Memoir Mentors

Jan 10, 2025

Looking for stories for our first anthology! The theme is “The Day that Changed Everything”

Accountability & Goal-Setting Session: Reflect, Celebrate, and Plan for 2025

Jan 5, 2025

Starting Strong: Reflections, Goals, and an Exciting New Year AheadDearest Memorists, As we close 2024 and look ahead to 2025, I’ve been thinking about my writing journey and the incredible progress I’ve seen in this community. Like many of you, I start each year...

This Newsletter is Packed with Updates!

Dec 10, 2024

Writing & Selling Your Memoir - Book ClubDearest Memorists, Happy holidays to you and yours! As usual, the end of the year is coming at me in a rush. I can't believe the new year is right around the corner. As the year winds down, I’m reminded of how far we have...

What I Was Doing While You Were Breeding – Book Club Today!

Oct 3, 2024

What I Was Doing While You Were Breeding - Book Club today!Hello Memorists! I'm running late on sending this newsletter out. It's been a hectic time for me while I prepare to move to Berlin sometime in October. I'm looking forward to seeing some of you tonight for our...

New Store Launch, Word Tip, and Book Club Insights!

Aug 26, 2024

New Store Launch, Microsoft Word Tip, and Book Club Highlights Inside!Hello Memorists! I’m cautiously excited to share a new venture with you: a Memoir Mementos store! I’ve been working hard on creating some unique items, including journals, mugs, and more, to...

Making a Commitment to Your Writing

Jul 3, 2024

Showing up for yourself and commiting to your writingHello Memorists! Last week's Speaking Your Story session was, as usual, inspiring, entertaining, and wonderful. If you haven't come to one of these yet, you really should. They're free and are a highlight of my...

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Book Club Next Week, Author Q&A + Anthology & Community Ideas

Jun 6, 2025

Hi everyone,

Though I have hit the summer slump in writing, where I can’t seem to find the time to work on my memoir, I have sure been thinking about it a lot. Ideas are flowing, now if I can just get them to the page! I’ve also been thinking about how grateful I am to be surrounded by such a thoughtful, creative group of writers. Whether you’ve been coming for years or just dropped in recently, I am so glad you’re here.

There are a few exciting things coming up that I wanted to share—some gatherings, some updates, and a few new ideas I’d love your thoughts on.

First up: our next Book Club is coming up next week on June 12, and we’ll be discussing I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou. This was the first memoir I ever read, and it’s been powerful to come back to it now.
👉 Book Club – June 12

Also, I’m excited about our next book club choice. On July 31, we’ll be discussing: Junkyard Girl by Carlyn Montes De Oca. And even better—we’ll follow it with a live Author Q&A on August 7. Carlyn is one of those rare authors who loves marketing and has offered to share her tactics with us. I’ve just started reading and already feel drawn in by her honesty and voice. The early praise section alone is packed with heavy hitters.
👉 Book Club – July 31
👉 Author Q&A – August 7

💬 How Can We Promote Each Other’s Work? I’d Love Your Thoughts.

We’ve always chosen books by outside authors for our book club so everyone could speak freely, but I’ve been wondering if that’s something we might revisit. Maybe book club could also be a space where we highlight and support our own authors. There’s so much talent in this group—it feels worth celebrating. ❤️

This idea ties in with something we talked about at our recent Social Media for Authors event: a few folks shared that their biggest growth happened when someone else posted about them. That made me wonder—what if we helped promote each other’s work by writing on one another’s platforms?

If any of that resonates, or if you have other thoughts to share, I’d really love to hear from you:
👉 Feedback Form

Anthology Update

If you’ve been wondering what’s happening with the Memoir Mentors Anthology—thank you for your patience! It’s taken a bit longer than expected to gather final entries and complete the edits, and I’m still waiting on a couple of folks. In the meantime, I’ve been working behind the scenes on something I’m really excited about: creating a small imprint to publish it. I’ve been brainstorming names, sketching out ideas, and having some fun with cover designs.

Do any of you have experience with setting up your own imprint for publishing? I’d love to hear your experience. Please reply to this email if you have some lessons learned to share.

No official launch date just yet, but I’ll keep you posted as it comes together.

Thanks, as always, for being part of this community. It really is a joy to grow and write alongside you.

Warmly,
Christina

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June 12 Book Club: I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings

This time, we’ll be discussing:
I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou. This was the first memoir I read and it is still as powerful and compelling on the third read as it was on the first. I highly recommend you read this one. It’s poignant, painful, and raw but told with beauty and hope.

What it’s about:

Maya Angelou’s debut memoir is a modern American classic beloved worldwide. Her life story is told in the documentary film And Still I Rise, as seen on PBS’s American Masters.

Here is a book as joyous and painful, as mysterious and memorable, as childhood itself. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings captures the longing of lonely children, the brute insult of bigotry, and the wonder of words that can make the world right. Maya Angelou’s debut memoir is a modern American classic beloved worldwide.

Sent by their mother to live with their devout, self-sufficient grandmother in a small Southern town, Maya and her brother, Bailey, endure the ache of abandonment and the prejudice of the local “powhitetrash.” At eight years old and back at her mother’s side in St. Louis, Maya is attacked by a man many times her age—and has to live with the consequences for a lifetime. Years later, in San Francisco, Maya learns that love for herself, the kindness of others, her own strong spirit, and the ideas of great authors (“I met and fell in love with William Shakespeare”) will allow her to be free instead of imprisoned.

Poetic and powerful, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings will touch hearts and change minds for as long as people read.

Find our Book Club Questions here: https://memoirmentors.com/book-club-questions/