"Thank you Marcie. My journey was the embodiment of the double standard. I feel like the prototype. I'm a big fan of Marion Roach Smith. I've read her book, follow her blog and read her postings on SW. I appreciate your input."
Cris Beam's Page
Latest Activity
Marcie Bridges commented on the blog post 'I could only write my memoir…After my mother had died'
"Carolyn, I think your overview sounds wonderful. I do have a question for you to think about: is your memoir actually about the double-standard that exists or is it about your journey? To me, those are two different things.
Just this past week,…"
Heather Marsten commented on the blog post 'I could only write my memoir…After my mother had died'
"Thank you, that is my goal, to make my past into something that helps others - to redeem the past. Have a blessed day."
P.Allen Jones commented on the blog post 'I could only write my memoir…After my mother had died'
"@Heather, my family didn't see the abuse I endured either because they were blinded by their own experiences. For that reason, I chose to change their names to tell MY story & not theirs. And, to help my children deal with the truth. This…"
Heather Marsten commented on the blog post 'I could only write my memoir…After my mother had died'
"I am working on my memoir - my parents are dead and my sister and brother are older, and sickly. I have show my memoir to my brother and he never knew the extent of the abuse I received. His comment was, "Now I know why Shirley…"
Carolyn Barbre commented on the blog post 'I could only write my memoir…After my mother had died'
"I’m struggling right now with writing a platform for my memoir, SHOW-CAUSE: A Bicoastal Kidnapping Custody Battle. I’ve started the overview as follows:
More than two million women share a shameful secret that engenders perennial…"
Taneisa Grier commented on the blog post 'I could only write my memoir…After my mother had died'
" “your silence will not protect you.”
Chris, this resonated with me. I'm not sure why. But you're right. In a very intimate sense, silence doesn't protect you from your own emotions...and speaking,…"
Irene Bynum commented on the blog post 'I could only write my memoir…After my mother had died'
"Excuse me, Cris, not Chris."
Irene Bynum commented on the blog post 'I could only write my memoir…After my mother had died'
"Chris, thank you for sharing your thoughts on this. I have been struggling to write my "Memoirs of the Mad Manicurist" because of that very reason. Most of my inspiration comes from my daily dealings with very colorful clients…"
Sarah Steinberg commented on the blog post 'I could only write my memoir…After my mother had died'
"Cris, I started writing when I finally believed in myself enough and allowed my voice to emerge and trust the process. The piece I'm working on is a one-woman show about mental illness and it was bubbling under the surface for years. It was…"
Linda Wisniewski commented on the blog post 'I could only write my memoir…After my mother had died'
"Cris, I started to write about my mom while she was still living, but I wasn't ready to publish anything til after she died, mainly because I still hadn't reached that balance between enmeshment and equanimity, as you so beautifully…"
Jeannette LeSure commented on the blog post 'I could only write my memoir…After my mother had died'
"My father's death opened the closet of horrible memories and I began to write "ugly" as I called it then. I began to reach for some honesty in my writing as I went through three years of frequent flashbacks--not of HIM, but of another…"
Cris Beam commented on the blog post 'I could only write my memoir…After my mother had died'
"Wow, what wonderful responses! And what a range. I'm really humbled here, by all the reasons we have for writing--and not writing--until we're ready. I love the image "tight as lace" (yet full of holes!) and the Anne Lamott…"
Susan Pohlman commented on the blog post 'I could only write my memoir…After my mother had died'
"Great Post~ Thank you"
Profile Information
- Who I am:
- I'm an author and professor in New York. I've published three books: one literary nonfiction book about transgender teenagers (Transparent/Harcourt/2007); one young adult novel (I Am J/Little, Brown/2011) and one short memoir (Mother, Stranger/The Atavist/2012). I've contributed to several anthologies and national magazines and radio shows, and also teach creative writing at Columbia, NYU and Bayview Women's Correctional Facility.
- Connect with me online! My site, blog, or Twitter handle are:
- www.crisbeam.com
- Books I've written, anthologies I've contributed to, and any scripts or plays I've authored:
- Mother, Stranger (The Atavist, 2012)
I Am J (Little, Brown, 2011)
Transparent: Love,Family and Living the T with Transgender Teenagers (Harcourt, 2007)
Anthologies:
The Letter Q: Queer Writers' Notes to Their Younger Selves (2012)
Best Lesbian Erotica (2012)
Dirty Words: A Literary Encyclopedia Of Sex (2008)
- Media outlets that I currently write for:
- This American Life, Marie Claire, Huffington Post
- My writing is:
- Fiction, Nonfiction, Memoir
- Services I offer to other writers:
- I teach private lessons, and offer private manuscript consultations and editing services. I also teach creative writing at NYU, Columbia University, the New School and Bayview Women's Correctional Facility.
- I found out about She Writes from:
- Kamy!
Cris Beam's Blog
I could only write my memoir…After my mother had died
Posted on February 8, 2012 at 8:30pm 38 Comments 11 Likes
I teach a family memoir class at NYU and, year after year, it’s always over-enrolled. The twenty year-olds carry around a limitless store of tales about their parents, their siblings, and the wrongs they’ve been done. But will they publish them? Probably not right away. A public airing of past struggle can be therapeutic in a class, but terrifying in the broader arena of publication—especially when that struggle implicates the living. Relatives, after all, are easily hurt or angered, they…
ContinueComment Wall (1 comment)
- At 9:57am on October 6, 2010,
Meg Waite Clayton said… - Cris, Adding my voice to the welcome. If you’re looking for a place to jump in, we’d love to have you join us in the Novelists – Struggling or Not group.
Enjoy the site!
Meg Waite Clayton
Moderator, Publishing Industry News, and Novelist Group
Author of the national bestseller, The Wednesday Sisters, and the forthcoming The Four Ms. Bradwells (Ballantine, March 2011)
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"It certainly is, Patricia. And you might be surprised what you can do in a different genre."
ermine cunningham posted a status"Can they put me in jail for using that picture? It just makes me laugh when I see it."
Patricia IluvMr Edwards replied to the discussion 'Show Me Your Novel and I'll Show You Mine' in the group Novelists (Struggling or Not)"You could have a section of the story where you explain the character name.
For example: in my stories I have a character whose name is Gill. She is a girl and her name is pronounced Jill short for Jillian (Gillian). In the beginning of the current…"
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