Writing on HuffPo, Blessed by Patty Chang Anker

The storm clouds gather outside my window as I write. My heart does that fast-beating thing. In the midst of this Handling the Truth launch day, I am calmed by the words of a very dear friend, Patty Chang Anker, whose own book, Some Nerve, is set to launch in October, in a wondrous yellow jacket. It's going to soar.

Patty, thank you for reading Handling, and for taking the time, in your own super crazy life, to write about it on this very day. I love your reflections (and you). An excerpt:

HANDLING THE TRUTH draws on her teaching of creative nonfiction at the University of Pennsylvania - my alma mater - oh how I wish I could have taken this course way back when! But now, I can - we all can!  Here are writing prompts that will actually make you want to write, discrete assignments that make a gargantuan task manageable (Empty your pockets. Choose the thing that matters most. "Tell me about the irreplaceable by telling your chosen object's story.").  Here are mind-opening exercises like taking a picture and then zooming in on a piece of the background as the center of your scene, or listening to a tango (or a sacred chant, or any unfamiliar music) as a route to memories you didn't remember you had. Here are examples of great writing by recognized masters and undergraduate students alike, reminding us credentials are not prerequisites for rendering an unforgettable story.  And perhaps most tantalizing, here is Beth's reading list, which will likely guide my book purchases for the foreseeable future.

And since I am here, with Patty, I will share these eight memoir-writing tips I wrote for Huffington Post on the making of memoir. A huge thank you to HuffPo for being part of this celebration party. And, again, thank you, Patty.