On Tuesday, I took a chance and did the podcast recording I told you about last week. As it approached, I wondered what and the heck I had done! But I loved the outcome!

Preparation

I had wanted to finish revising the manuscript of Eyewitness to Healing/Life (tentative title), my new autofiction book, but I didn’t get it all revised. However, I did scan the last six chapters I hadn’t gotten to and realized I have a lot of work to do on them.

When the time drew near, I showered and even put on makeup—I used to wear makeup every day. Since the pandemic, I have really slacked off, so when I do it, I’m amazed at the woman I see in the mirror!

The Actual Recording

Over the years, I’ve done several podcasts, but I forgot that this one wasn’t going to be live. That’s what I prepared for. Thankfully, they plan to record it and edit it, send a link for me to okay it, then it will be the substance for the One Brilliant Arc podcast on April 7 at 5:00 PM EST.

Ceylan from Let’s Fix Stories, this free program they offer, welcomed me onto the platform. They use, Riverside Studio which I had never used before. I thought I had downloaded it several weeks ago, but when I went to look for it in my app folder, it wasn’t there. So quickly I downloaded it about ten minutes before we started.

First, she said usually they have two people on the video, but Charles’ mother has cancer and was dealing with chemotherapy issues, so he wasn’t there. But he shared his input on all of the documents I received.

Then Ceylan explained the procedure:

1. Focus on What’s Working
2. Focus on What Needs Work

At this point, I laughed to myself, because that’s the exact procedure we used in any writing group situation I’ve ever been in.

What’s Working

Ceylan’s opening note absolutely confirmed what I knew in the depth of my heart:

Larada—this is not a light story. And you are not telling it lightly.

This manuscript carries decades of lived experience: trauma, treatment, relapse, recovery, processing, and now advocacy. What makes this project compelling is not simply the subject matter—it’s the intentional decision to transform private pain into public witness.

There is real bravery here. Not performative vulnerability—earned vulnerability.

This report is designed to help you strengthen the structure, pacing, and thematic clarity so that the emotional weight you carry lands with maximum clarity and impact on the reader.

As I listened to her comments and Charles’ about what worked in the first fifteen pages, my heart soared. I realized they got it—the message of this book and the difficulty in writing it!

Clear emotional honesty

• They said, “This is one of my strongest assets.”
• My Response: I have chosen to tell the story of my incest in a fiction format because the topic felt too grueling to write as a memoir. But I have felt compelled to tell what happened in this time of silence and coverup to sexual abuse.

The Epigraph & Framing of the story

• MY EPIGRAPH: “Everything in life is writable about if you have the outgoing guts to do it, and the imagination to improvise. The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt.” — Sylvia Plath
• They said, “Your Sylvia Plath quote and dedication immediately signal:
  • This book is intentional
  • This book is for survivors
  • This book is about courage
  • That framing is strong positioning. It tells the reader what kind of emotional terrain they are entering. Keep this.
• My Response: Repeatedly, I search high and low for Epigraphs for each book to frame the story. I totally believe this one does.

Poetic Instinct

• They said, “Your poetry background is a strong advantage. Keep leaning into your unique writing style like this.”
• My Response: I celebrate the fact they saw my poetic nature as a strength. I just need to be aware and use it to strengthen the book.

Dual Perspective Structure

• They said, “Alternating chapters between Ellen and Laura is a strong structural instinct. It allows:
  • External witness
  • Internal experience
  • Contrast between perception and reality
• My Response: In this book, Ellen (Ellie) and Laura are featured in alternating chapters, so the reader meets and sees how Laura’s experiences affects each of them and their husbands. Ellie witness Laura’s healing.

Clear Core Theme Emerging

• Ceylan specifically asked me what the core theme of the book was and I didn’t hesitate, “Horrible things happen to people, but healing is possible.
• My Response: Identifying the theme has helped me focus on what to do with the revisions I have left to do. It has become the touchstone for how I move through the story.

What Needs Work

Because Ceylan and Charles (in his comments) set such a warm and welcoming environment, I knew this part would be safe.

Repetition Slowing Pacing

• They said, “When repeating a scene from a new POV, ensure it answers a question the first POV could not. Otherwise, compress. Keep an eye out and rework sentences that make information or word choice feel repetitive.
• My Response: I told the key beginning event in both Ellie’s chapter and Laura’s which slowed the pacing of the reading. DON’T DO THAT! What a wonderful revelation.

POV (Point of View) Anchoring & Narrative Authority

• They said, “When in Ellen’s POV, only describe what Ellen sees, hears, senses, or assumes. When in Laura’s POV, only describe what Laura internally experiences. This will eliminate accidental repetition, increase reader immersion, and strengthen your realism.
• My Response: As I had been doing the revision, I saw that alternating between the two main voices, I had to make sure to keep it clear. Immediately Ceylan saw me waiver in the first fifteen pages and not be clear on whose point of view I was featuring. Such a key element to the story.

Journal Tone vs Dramatic Narrative

• They said, “Journaling explains. Narrative dramatizes.”
• My Response: As many of you know, I write in my journal almost daily, and it showed up in this book. I love that they identified that for me. I’m anxious to see how to fix it.

Flashback Integration

• They said, “Before every flashback ask: “What in the present action triggered this memory?”
• My Response: Because past events deeply affect each of the characters in this story, I share lots of flashbacks, and they slow the pace of the action down considerably. I love this question and their suggestions.

Strengthen Realism and Contrast for Thematic Clarity

• They said, “Make the world harsher at the beginning. Let your readers notice the empathy and understanding that is missing for Laura. This makes the healing more powerful at the end.
  • Show a world where healing is absent
  • Show systems that fail survivors
  • Show silence
  • Show discomfort 
  • Show avoidance
• Then allow Ellen to stand out.
• My Response: At the big event at the beginning of the book, I had a crowd of people be unrealistically patient and kind and loving to Laura’s unusual behavior that affected them—not realistic at all! To me, this was the key takeaway from this experience—to show the contrast in the two worlds of unsympathetic observers/abusers and compassionate loving support to survivors and healing.

Finally,

I took a chance; I received strong advice and clarity about keys issues with the start of my new book that could have ruined it right from the beginning. Ceylan presented all this information in an acceptable manner that didn’t feel judgmental or ugly. Charles shared strong suggestions! I felt empowered with the video recording and the paperwork they sent me outlining everything. There’s more wonderful suggestions than I shared here—lots more!

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My Newest Books

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Buy My Audio Books:

This Tumbleweed Landed

Let Me Tell You a Story 

Hair on Fire: A Heartwarming & Humorous Memoir Audiobook

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