Monday, November 07, 2016

Please and thank you. Many heart emojis.

Hi friends!

I have a favor to ask you. It is not about the election.

In fact, it is entirely about me. Surprise!

I know you are all readers, and that you're smart and interesting and have great senses of humor and an appreciation for the peculiar. I know this because I have great taste in friends, and because you would not have stuck around if this were not the case.

True facts.

OK. So. Here's what I'm wondering.

If you were to put my writing in a category with other writers, where would you put me? Like, if I were to aspire to cozy up to other books you've read and liked, what would they be? Or other authors, if you don't have specific books in mind.

I'm asking this for two reasons.

One, I'm in search of memoirs that help inform my writing, and that I think would likely be in the same category, except that my category, as I currently see it, would be a combo of mental illness/suicide and internet dating/comedy.

Suicide attempts are never funny, obviously, but sometimes you're in a private room near the ER waiting for them to tell you if your dad is still alive and you're so upset that you accidentally dial phone sex.

I'm not quite sure how that goes down. But it is true and real and part of the journey.

My list currently includes: The Suicide Index; An Unquiet Mind; Prozac Nation; as well as a re-read of Girl, Interrupted. Also flipping through my copy of Furiously Happy for fun and research purposes.

I'm focusing on mental illness, but I don't want to overlook memoirs that might be similar-ish or helpful, even if not specifically focused on mental illness. I'm thinking along the lines of Wild, my Cheryl Strayed. I saw the movie but haven't read the book, but the healing journey resonates with me.

That kind of thing. I know I'm being a little bit broad.

The second and realer reason is that I'm working on a proposal and I have to figure out who I might aspire to compete with and/or snuggle in with. Obviously, my voice is my own and I am not trying to change it, and I couldn't make it like someone else's if I tried.

But, for example, I'm looking for author X, as in, "If you like X, then you'd probably like Lisa's writing."

Like, I would love to put myself in with The Glass Castle. Jeannette Walls is an extraordinary writer, and she describes traumatic events without a drop of self-pity. Mary Kerr does this as well. Those are aspirational cozy-up buddies.

Turns out I've always been drawn to traumatic childhood memoirs. It just took me well into adulthood and many years of therapy to know that I had and figure out why.

Why so oblivious for so long, Lisa?

Anyway.

It occurred to me that asking you, people who both like my writing and are not living in my head, or dealing with my fears and insecurities, made a lot of sense.

I would super duper appreciate your thoughts and suggestions.

Hugs! Love! Thanks!

12 comments:

  1. Allie Brosh, Augusten Burroughs, and Wil Wheaton all fit into the same bookshelf with you and Jenny Lawson.

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    1. Oh my god! Hyperbole and a Half! She is one of the funniest humans on the planet! And I had forgotten about Augusten Burroughs; this is a great reminder. And I do not know Wil Wheaton! Thank you for this hugely helpful comment, Jen!

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    2. I can just *see* that dried kernel of corn under her refrigerator . . .

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  2. david sedaris and douglas coupland

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    1. Love David Sedaris and hadn't heard of Douglas Coupland! I am checking him out! Thank you!

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  3. Read this if you haven't already:
    https://www.amazon.com/Wave-Sonali-Deraniyagala/dp/0345804317

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    1. Liz, I haven't! I didn't know about it! Thanks!

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  4. I just heard an NPR interview with this Iranian-American Muslim commedian and it totally made me think of you. She calls herself the social justice comedian. And the segment made me think that you are sort of a mental health comedian. I mean this in the highest way - Your search for truth with authentic reflection done with a spirit of joy and laughter. That makes for a powerful combination for any subject matter.

    http://www.refinery29.com/2016/05/110852/muslim-comedian-negin-farsad-how-to-make-white-people-laugh

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    1. Oh, thank you, Andrea! I am totally delighted to be called a mental health comedian! In fact, I love it! Hugs!

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  5. Your strength is your pitch perfect humour. You have the talent to make people laugh loudly while reading. Gloria Steinem does that. Good penis humour too. I once read a fantastically funny autobiography of a young american woman living in Rome living la dolce vita in the 1960s. I picked it up in a second-hand bookstore. It was out of print. It was so funny. I lost the book when the genocide started in rwanda. I have been searching for a copy of that book ever since. She could write humour like you. Unfortunately, with Alzheimerlight, i cannot recall her name or thw book.

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    1. Thank you so much, Cecilia! That's very complimentary and very constructive for me! I really appreciate it. And dying to know what this hilarious book was. I didn't realize you had to flee Rwanda! (Or if I did know that at some point, the fact was long gone from my brain...) Hugs!

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  6. Maybe Glennon Melton? She is a bit Jesus-y but she writes with a similar honesty that you do.

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