7. Writing Your Story for Yourself featuring Melissa Gould

Melissa Gould joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about how writing was a way back to herself after she became a widow unexpectedly and at a young age, making the jump from screenwriting to nonfiction, when she knew she had a memoir, and how she protected her daughter in her writing. Also in this episode: -Melissa’s experience leading workshops -how writing helps transform grief -what it’s like to have your book optioned for TV.   Memoirs mentioned in this episode: Wild by Cheryl Strayed Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert Educated by Tara Westover Maid by Stephanie Land   Melissa Gould’s memoir, Widowish, is an Amazon best seller and Editor's Pick for best memoir, a Goodreads Top Book of 2021, and has been named one of BookAuthority's 100 Best Grief Books of All Time!  Her essays have been published in the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, the Washington Post, the Hollywood Reporter, Buzzfeed and more. She is an award-winning screenwriter who has worked on shows such as Bill Nye the Science Guy, Beverly Hills 90210, Party of Five, and Lizzie McGuire. Widowish is available wherever books are sold. Find Melissa at www.widowish.com and on Instagram at MelissaGould_Author. Amazon link: https://www.amazon.com/Widowish-Memoir-Melissa-Gould/dp/1542018781/ref=tmm_hrd_title_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr= Website link: www.widowish.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/melissagould_author/   Ronit’s essays and fiction have been featured in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, The Iowa Review, The Washington Post, Writer’s Digest, American Literary Review, and elsewhere. Her memoir WHEN SHE COMES BACK about the loss of her mother to the guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and their eventual reconciliation was named Finalist in both the 2021 Best Book Awards and the 2021 Book of the Year Award and a 2021 Best True Crime Book by Book Riot. Her short story collection HOME IS A MADE-UP PLACE won Hidden River Arts’ 2020 Eludia Award and will be published in 2022. She is host and producer of the podcasts And Then Everything Changed and The Body Myth. More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com More about WHEN SHE COMES BACK, a memoir: https://ronitplank.com/book/ Sign up for monthly podcast and writing updates: https://bit.ly/33nyTKd   Follow Ronit: https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/ https://twitter.com/RonitPlank https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank   Background photo credit: Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers