Rona Maynard joins Let’s Talk Memoir for a conversation about allowing ourselves to get lost in our writing, realizing you've actually been writing your book, observing our animal companions keenly, embracing surprises in our work, discovering joyful moments, looking for a narrative arc, using Scrivener, going more deeply, writing from the heart, and her memoir Starter Dog.

Also in this episode:

-taking in the world around us

-photographs as writing aids

-learning who we are

Books mentioned in this episode:

Travels with Charley by John Steinbeck

What Comes Next and How to Like It by Abigail Thomas

Truth and Beauty by Ann Patchet

In the Key of New York by Rebecca McClanahan

Rona Maynard found happiness at 65—a story she tells in her new memoir Starter Dog: My Path to Joy, Belonging and Loving This World. She first broke into print at 14 with a short story about bullying and still receives fan mail from teens who are reading it in class. Rona capped a stellar career in magazines with a decade at the helm of Chatelaine, Canada’s leading magazine for women. Her editor’s column garnered a loyal following. When she disclosed a struggle with depression, she helped kickstart a national conversation about mental health. When Rona stepped away from corporate life, she had to learn to unwind. Her best teacher was a rescue mutt who had received his basic training in a prison. She has been married more than 50 years to her best friend, tech advisor and driver on a cross continental art adventure that took them to 49 museums in five weeks. Rona says road trips go better with a dog in the back seat.

Connect with Rona:

Website: https://ronamaynard.com/

Medium: https://ronamaynard.medium.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rona.maynard/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ronamaynard3278/?hl=en

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ronamaynard/

Get Rona’s book:

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Starter-Dog-Belonging-Loving-World/dp/1770417230/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1690986860&sr=8-1

Bookshop.org: https://bookshop.org/p/books/starter-dog-my-path-to-joy-belonging-and-loving-this-world/18908036?ean=9781770417236&ref=https%3A%2F%2Fronamaynard.com%2F&source=IndieBound&title=Starter+Dog%3A+My+Path+to+Joy%2C+Belonging+and+Loving+This+World

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Ronit’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, The Iowa Review, Hippocampus, The Washington Post, Writer’s Digest, American Literary 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 Finalist in the 2021 Housatonic Awards Awards, the 2021 Indie Excellence Awards, and was a 2021 Book Riot Best True Crime Book. Her short story collection HOME IS A MADE-UP PLACE won Hidden River Arts’ 2020 Eludia Award and the 2023 Page Turner Awards for Short Stories. She earned an MFA in Nonfiction Writing at Pacific University, is Creative Nonfiction Editor at The Citron Review, and lives in Seattle with her family where she teaches memoir workshops and is working on her next book.

More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com

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

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Background photo credit: Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash

Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography

Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll’s Fingers