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Many writers find themselves wrestling with experiences that fall outside linear time, logic, or the way stories are “supposed” to unfold. In this final Ask Me Anything episode of 2025, I sit down with my student Linda to talk about how to weave the spiritual, the uncanny, and the beyond-belief into memoir with clarity, groundedness, and literary intention. From magical realism to lyric memoir, we explore the craft choices that honor your truth while still guiding your readers. 

Episode Highlights

• 2:24: Writing About the Spiritual and Mystical
• 6:12: Magical Realism in Memoir
• 11:11: Tackling the Mystical Through the Lyric Memoir

Resources for this Episode: 

• Ditch Your Inner Critic Now
• Telling the Truth: Memoir, Myth and Magical Realism
• 10 Lyrical Memoirs That Will Enchant You
• Beloved by Toni Morrison (novel)
• The Warrior Woman by Maxine Hong Kingston (memoir)
• On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong (autofiction)
• Craving Spring by Anne Batchelder (memoir)
• We The Animals by Justin Torres (autofiction)
• Be with Me Always by Randon Billings Noble (lyric memoir/essay collection)
• The Men We Reaped by Jesmyn Ward (lyric memoir)
• The Chronology of Water by Lidia Yuknavitch (lyric memoir)
• My Name Means Fire by Atash Yaghmaian (memoir)
• The Queen’s Path by Stacey Simmons

Linda McKittrick’s bio: Linda is an avid rancher and gardener, former HIV/AIDS, and hospice social worker, living in the Sonoran Desert. She is currently working on a memoir. When she is not writing she enjoys seed saving, creating in the kitchen, and participating in citizen science projects for bats and fireflies.

Connect with Linda: 

Email: needleworker1@mac.com

Sign up for Revise Your Memoir series: https://bit.ly/4ooLTDi

Connect with your host, Lisa:
Get Your Free Copy of Ditch Your Inner Critic: https://lisacooperellison.com/subscribe/
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Produced by Espresso Podcast Production