Leslie Ferguson joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about surviving childhood trauma and her mother’s psychosis, approaching her manuscript through an editorial lens, the toll of insecure attachment, how writing the story that forged her helped her shed some of the pain she carried, and her approach to choosing scenes that stayed in her memoir When I Was Her Daughter.

Also in this episode:

-the toll of abandonment 

-EMDR therapy

-Reparenting the self

Books mentioned in this episode:

Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls

Grand by Sarah Schaefer 

Blackout by Sarah Hepola

Love Sick  by Sue William Silverman

Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert 

Leslie Ferguson enjoyed a career as a high school English teacher and college writing instructor for two decades before relocating to San Diego to pursue work in the publishing industry. She holds an MFA in creative writing and an MA in English literature from Chapman University. Currently, Leslie sits on the Board of Directors of the International Memoir Writers Association, and she loves performing original stories and poems, which often center on hope and the consequences of trauma. As an editor and book doctor, one of Leslie’s passions is helping other writers tell their own stories with courage and emotional honesty. Her multi-award-winning debut memoir, When I Was Her Daughter, tells her story of madness, loss, and survival as a foster kid in the 1980s. 

Connect with Leslie:

Facebook Profile: https://www.facebook.com/leslie.ferguson.42/

Facebook Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/Lesliefergusonauthor/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/moreleslief/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leslie-ferguson-221a1890/

Website: LeslieFergusonAuthor.com

Buy When I Was Her Daughter:

Amazon :https://amzn.to/3SphWmY

https://www.amazon.com/When-I-Was-Her-Daughter/dp/195211277X/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=when+i+was+her+daughter&qid=1638573773&sr=8-1

Barnes and noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/when-i-was-her-daughter-leslie-ferguson/1140422898?ean=9781952112775

Applebooks: 

https://books.apple.com/us/book/when-i-was-her-daughter/id1592175515

Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/when-i-was-her-daughter

BOOKSHOP.ORG: https://bookshop.org/books/when-i-was-her-daughter/9781952112782

Warwick’s: https://www.warwicks.com/book/9781952112775

Diesel books: https://www.dieselbookstore.com/book/9781952112775

–

Ronit Plank is a writer, teacher, and editor whose work has been featured in The Atlantic, The Washington Post, The New York Times, Writer’s Digest, The Rumpus, American Literary Review, Hippocampus, The Iowa Review, and elsewhere. Her memoir WHEN SHE COMES BACK about the loss of her mother to the guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and their eventual reconciliation was named a 2021 Best True Crime Book by Book Riot and was a Finalist in the National Indie Excellence Awards, the Housatonic Book Awards, and the Book of the Year Awards. Her fiction and creative nonfiction have been nominated for Pushcart Prizes, the Best of the Net, and the Best Microfiction Anthology, and her short story collection HOME IS A MADE-UP PLACE won Hidden River Arts’ Eludia Award. She is creative nonfiction editor at The Citron Review and lives in Seattle with her family where she is working on her next book.

More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com

Sign up for monthly podcast and writing updates: https://bit.ly/33nyTKd

Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/

More about WHEN SHE COMES BACK, a memoir: https://ronitplank.com/book/

More about HOME IS A MADE-UP PLACE, a short story collection: https://ronitplank.com/home-is-a-made-up-place/

Connect with Ronit:

https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/

https://twitter.com/RonitPlank

https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank

Background photo: Canva

Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography

Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers