Linda Joy Myers, Ph.D., MFT, is president and founder of the National Association of Memoir Writers. Her first memoir, Don’t Call Me Mother: A Daughter’s Journey from Abandonment to Forgiveness, was a finalist in the Foreword Book of the Year Award and the IndieExcellence Awards, and a BAIPA Gold Medal award winner. Her most recent memoir Song of the Plains was a finalist in the Best Book Awards. Author of The Power of Memoir—How to Write Your Healing Story, Journey of Memoir, and Becoming Whole, her prize-winning fiction, nonfiction, and memoir pieces have been published in literary journals and online. She writes for the Huffington Post, and is co-author with Brooke Warner of Breaking Ground on Your Memoir. Linda Joy has been a therapist for 40 years, where the power of story is part of the healing process. A memoir coach for two decades, Myers helps people dive deep into writing their truths while crafting a publishable story. Her monthly programs on NAMW offer writers tools about breaking silence, developing a powerful story, and finding the best publishing path.
Brooke Warner is publisher of She Writes Press and president of Warner Coaching Inc, where she coaches writers to publication. Brooke is passionate about books and helping writers finish their books and get published. Brooke has been in the publishing industry for 23 years, including eight years as the Executive Editor of Seal Press. She’s guided hundreds of authors from idea to publication with her blend of upbeat encouragement and firm direction. Brooke has witnessed every form of procrastination, saboteur, and excuse that holds writers back from their goal of finishing their book and getting published. She is committed to the writing process and to helping writers become creative entrepreneurs and thought leaders, a message conveyed in her 2017 TEDx talk, “Green-Light Revolution.” She also has a popular weekly podcast for writers, “Write-minded: Weekly Inspiration for Writers,” co-hosted with Grant Faulkner of NaNoWriMo. She also writes a regular column for Publishers Weekly. She’s the author of Write On, Sisters! Voice, Courage, and Claiming Your Place at the Table (2019), Green-Light Your Book: How Writers Can Succeed in the New Era of Publishing (2016) What’s Your Book? A Step-by-Step Guide to Get You from Idea to Published Author (2012), and How to Sell Your Memoir: 12 Steps to a Perfect Book Proposal. Brooke lives and works in Berkeley, California.
Together, Linda Joy Myers and Brooke Warner co-teach the six-month intensive course, Write Your Memoir in Six Months, as well as their popular best-selling memoir series.
They are the co-authors of Breaking Ground on Your Memoir: Craft and Motivation for Memoir Writers. This book is a good introduction to our work, and touches upon many of the aspects of craft and process that are cornerstones of our work.
They are also the co-editors of The Magic of Memoir: Inspiration for the Writing Journey, a collection of interviews with best-selling memorists and writers of memoir. This book was inspired by their work with memoirists, and their understanding that all writers need a companion on the journey of writing memoir. This is a stunning and inspiring volume—a must-read for all aspiring memoirists.