Books

BOOKS

We stand at the crossroads of two remarkable eras: the golden age of memoir and the golden age of publishing. This is an exciting time for memoir readers. However, for memoir writers, it presents a formidable challenge. In a saturated market brimming with competition, how do you captivate the hearts of readers and the discerning eyes of publishers?

Cheryl Strayed, the celebrated author of the wildly successful memoir Wild, reveals a crucial secret: “The most powerful strand in memoir is . . . tapping into your universality.” You mine “your” story for “our” story, the universal inside of the unique, the archetypal inside of the personal—that’s where the gold lies.

While many books on memoir writing acknowledge this, none are dedicated to showing you precisely how to and where to tap into the universal. Until now. In Deep Memoir, author and popular memoir teacher Jennifer Leigh Selig distills decades of experience in writing, teaching, and research into nine chapters focused on the archetypes essential to memoir writing:

• The Storyteller
• Structure
• The Journey
• Character
• Truth
• Meaning
• Image
• Transformation
• Community

Deep Memoir is not just a book; it's an odyssey into the heart of memoir writing. Enriched with examples from over 140 memoirs and the stories of their creators, and enhanced by cutting-edge neuroscience about our brain's affinity and affection for archetypal patterns, this book is an indispensable companion for all memoir writers seeking to enrich their storytelling and expand their reach.

From the introduction of Everyday Reverence:

"Everyday reverence is an attitude we bring to the world that seeks to see the spiritual everywhere, in all our values and activities and experiences, in all people, and in the whole of the sensual and natural worlds. To practice everyday reverence is to see all of nature as an altar, to perform any activity as worship, to hear the sensual world as a hymn, to view people as fellow pilgrims on a holy path, to seek experience rather than dogma, and make of our values a creed."

After offering an introduction to each of the one hundred ways, Jennifer curates a selection of quotations from wildly divergent sources meant to inspire and encourage us to experience the sacred every day out in our every where world.

NOTE: This book is a revised and updated edition of Thinking Outside the Church: 110 Ways to Connect With Your Spiritual Nature.

Also released in 2019, co-authored with Deborah Anne Quibell and Dennis Patrick Slattery

FROM THE PUBLISHER'S DESCRIPTION: A deeply intimate exploration of the "Seven Ways" to creativity led by three authors whose collaboration provides meditations on the creative process as well as practical and reflective exercises.

Reignite your creative spark with accessible meditations and practices developed by three experts on creativity and collaboration across three generations. Whether you’re a filmmaker, writer, musician, artist, graphic designer, dabbler, or doodler, all creative people face the challenges of myriad distractions and pressure to produce. Devoting space for the creative spark has become increasingly difficult. Deep Creativity is a call for making that space and an invitation to intentionally and introspectively engage with the creative life through seven time-tested pathways, available to you right where you are. The authors’ novel approach includes fifteen principles of creativity that not only inspire but also set you up for a lifetime of self-expression. This highly resourceful book offers practical guidance as well as deep reflection on the creative process.

To read more about the book, and to follow Deborah, Jennifer, and Dennis as they teach the principles of deep creativity, visit www.deepcreativity.com