A Conversation With Memoirist Linda Strader

Show Notes:

If you’re interested in writing a memoir and getting it traditionally published, you need to get advice from someone whose been there. Linda Strader has not only written a memoir, but she’s done all the emotional work to write it, deal with the pain of reliving it and endured the 200 rejections to see it through to publication.

Like Tara, Linda is one of the kindest, most genuine people I’ve had the honor of getting to know. I’m calling this a conversation because that’s how it feels when you talk to her. Linda is down to earth, humble and wiser than she gives herself credit for. Besides her forthcoming book about life before she became one of the first women on the U.S. Forest Service fire crew in the seventies, I’m betting she’ll dole out her wisdom in a future online class or as a coach.

Although she’s garnered attention from a PBS show which you can watch here, a podcast called Out There, and became a finalist in the New Mexico-Arizona Book Awards, you’ll find her the easiest person to listen to. Someone you’d be lucky to know, privileged to be friends with. You’ll be moved to listen to her story. Believe me, it’s more than a story about being one of the first women on the US Forest Service fire crew in the seventies. It’s a story of courage, perseverance and resilience. Linda is an inspiration and I’m grateful of how candid she was in sharing her personal story behind the scenes of writing her beautiful book.

If you want to read more about her book, Summers of Fire: A Memoir of Adventure, Love and Courage you can check out her website https://summersoffirebook.blogspot.com/, or get her book here.

The Breakdown

0:50 The “devastating experiences” that inspired Linda to reflect and write about something that happened in the mid-70s, which is a great way to figure out what you could write about whether essay, article or book.)

3:54 Why we should all keep journals.

4:15 The steps from writing everything down to learning how to write an actual book.

5:25 The surprising emotional challenge that came with writing a memoir.

8:34 How she was able to get through writing and then editing it.

13:00 The insight that changed Linda’s life.

14:00 How writing showed her how she was changing.

17:00 Linda shares how long it took to write a book, find a publisher and how many rejections she got before she finally gets published (it’s a 3 digit number!).

18:50 What #writingtip helped her get four requests from publishers and agents.

21:00 Linda says she didn’t know how to write a book and how she learned and why having already written a book doesn’t make the second easier (she shares what her new book is about.)

28:30 The things she learned from writing her first book including mistakes she vowed she wouldn’t do again.

31:41 What do you when you have missing pieces in your journal and memory when you’re writing a memoir.

33:00 Where Linda finds beta readers.

35:00 Advice for an aspiring memoirist.

38:00 How many months it took for her book to come out.

{Music by Kevin McLeod from Incompetech.}