Writing Your Resilience: Building Resilience, Embracing Trauma and Healing Through Writing

Send us Fan Mail In this encore conversation, author and teacher Melanie Brooks and I explore the lifelong impact of silence—within our families, our communities, and our writing lives. Drawing from her memoir, A Hard Silence , Melanie shares how unspoken truths shaped her understanding of grief, identity, and faith, and what it took to finally claim her voice on the page. Together, we discuss how...

Send us Fan Mail Join me and Pushcart Nominee, TedX Speaker, and multi-passionate creative, Acamea Deadwiler for this encore episode where we talk about normalized violence, how our attachment styles can influence the way we approach our memoirs, and the importance of connecting with your inner compass. During our conversation, you’ll also learn what transcendental meditation is and how Acamea use...

Send us Fan Mail Join me and Andrea Firth for this encore episode of the writing your resilience podcast where we explore what personal essays are, how writers can uncover their essay’s aboutness, and how to develop resilient editing practices. As an added bonus, learn the inside scoop on how to get published on the Brevity Blog .  Episode Highlights 4:00 The Difference Between Memoir and Personal...

Send us Fan Mail Join me and Hannah Sward, author of Strip: A Memoir, for an encore episode where we go behind the scenes of her writing process—how she wrote her first draft by hand, in one long, unfiltered sentence; how she found the courage to put her full truth on the page; and how she distilled years of experience into a memoir that moves with incredible precision and power. You’ll also learn...

Send us Fan Mail What happens when you commit to showing up—again and again—for your writing life? In this special bonus recording in celebration of my 100th episode,, I reflect on ten years of creative work and the ten lessons I learned about growth, resilience, rest, and trusting your own process. If you’re questioning your path, feeling stuck, or wondering whether your effort matters, this epis...

Send us Fan Mail Have you been trying to fit your life story into the hero’s journey and find it’s just not working? What if it doesn’t fit the mold because you were never meant to be the hero, but rather you were meant to be the queen? In this 100th episode of Writing Your Resilience , I’m joined by Stacey Simmons, a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, Certified Psychedelic Therapist, and aut...

Send us Fan Mail What if the pressure to “find the silver lining” is actually keeping you from healing? In this episode, Dr. Risa Riger and I unpack the subtle—and sometimes harmful—ways toxic optimism, avoidance, and “bouncing back” culture disconnect us from our own truth. Together, we explore what real resilience looks like, why honesty must come before hope, and how trusting your capacity to b...

Send us Fan Mail 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...

Send us Fan Mail Holidays can bring out the best—and the hardest—parts of being human. In this special Thanksgiving episode of Writing Your Resilience, I share stories from joyful celebrations and heartbreakingly difficult years to remind you that whatever you’re feeling today—gratitude, grief, or something in between—it’s all welcome. Together, we’ll explore how art can help us hold the complexit...

Send us Fan Mail Listeners, have you been struggling to pick yourself up after experiencing one—or maybe many—rejections of your work? It’s an experience that can make you feel so alone, but I want to be the first to say that we’ve all experienced the self-doubts and even shame a big rejection can create. In this week’s episode, Lynn Shattuck, Kristin Sancken and I share our personal rejection exp...

Send us Fan Mail If you’ve ever sat down to meditate—especially at a writing retreat—and thought, “I suck at this,” this episode is for you. In this solo conversation, I unpack five common myths about meditation that leave writers feeling frustrated, ashamed, or “bad” at being still. From the belief that you must stop thinking to the idea that meditation has to happen on a cushion with your eyes c...

Send us Fan Mail Listeners, what role does the body play in your book? Is it something you use to show the story—or is it the portal to the story itself? In this episode, I talk with Nina Lichtenstein, author of Body, My Life in Parts , a memoir in essays that uses the body as both structure and storyteller. Together, Nina and I explore how writing through the body can deepen our understanding of...

Send us Fan Mail Have you ever wondered how a single moment—a glance, a mistake, a shimmering flash of memory—can hold the power of an entire story? Or how the smallest details of an ordinary life can reveal something vast about who we are and what we long for? In this episode, I talk with award-winning author Sue William Silverman about her newest book, Selected Misdemeanors: Essays at the Mercy...

Send us Fan Mail Today, we’re diving into a topic that trips up so many writers—vulnerability. How much should you share? When does honest writing become oversharing? And why does your most powerful work sometimes feel like it completely sucks? If you’ve ever been told your story isn’t raw enough—or that it’s too raw—you’re not alone. In this episode, I’ll break down the two extremes writers fall...

Send us Fan Mail This week, we’re kicking off a new Editors’ Roundtable segment on the podcast, where I dig into key writing issues with the two trauma-informed editors I’m training—Kristin Sancken and Lynn Shattuck. In our first conversation, we explore metaphors—what they are, how to craft them, and how to recognize the ones that truly sing on the page. Let’s dive in. Episode Highlights 5:23: Wh...

Send us Fan Mail Which memories shimmer inside you? Which ones refuse to let you go? Those luminous, haunting moments are often the raw ingredients of the story you’re truly meant to tell. In this episode of Writing Your Resilience , I sit down with newsletter follower and memoirist Marianna Marlowe, author of A Portrait of a Feminist as she shares how she used shimmering memories to craft her mem...

Send us Fan Mail Have you ever wondered what it really means to grieve a friend—someone dazzling, flawed, and deeply loved? Or how laughter, silence, and even text messages can become part of the story we tell about those we’ve lost? In today’s episode of Writing Your Resilience, I talk with writer Eirinie Carson about her breathtaking debut memoir The Dead Are Gods and her forthcoming novel Blood...

Send us Fan Mail Have you ever wondered if what you’re doing is truly aligned with your soul’s purpose? Or maybe you’ve had that nagging feeling that something’s off—that you’re not quite on the right track. How do you know when it’s time to stay the course, and when it’s time to pivot so you can do more of what you love and let go of what no longer serves you? In today’s very personal episode of...

Send us Fan Mail This week, we’re talking about something our culture often dismisses but your writing life desperately needs: rest. In this episode, I’ll share why rest matters, how you can create more of it—even when life feels full—and the surprising lessons I learned during my own summer break. Grab your pen and notebook and get ready to explore the radical power of doing less. Episode Highlig...

Send us Fan Mail Have you been told you’re a people pleaser or found yourself saying yes when you meant no, without even thinking about it? Have a friend who struggles to express their feelings or share their preferences? If so, you might have encountered the fawning trauma response. Join me and Ingrid Clayton, author of Fawning , and the memoir Believing Me , as we unpack the misconceptions regar...

Send us Fan Mail Do you struggle to see yourself as creative? Or have you ever wondered where your creativity comes from, and how to maximize it? This week, I’m joined by Jacob Nordby, founder of A Writing Room Collective and author of Blessed are the Weird: A Manifesto for Creatives , and The Creative Cure , a powerful guide to reconnecting with your creative self. In this week’s episode, Jacob a...

Send us Fan Mail How do you dive into the marrow of an experience we’ll all one day share, yet so many of us struggle to talk about? And how do you write into a topic so widely covered that it feels impossible to say something new? Today, I’m joined by Amy Lin, author of the stunning micro memoir Here After , as we tackle these questions head-on. Together, we’ll explore the raw realities of grief,...

Send us Fan Mail Author Laura Cathcart Robbins shares book marketing tips she learned while promoting her memoir Stash: My Life in Hiding , and how recovery helped her cultivate the honesty needed to write her memoir.  Laura’s Bio: Laura Cathcart Robbins is the best-selling author of the Atria/Simon & Schuster memoir, Stash, My Life In Hiding , and host of the popular podcast, The Only One In...

Send us Fan Mail Writing can be a powerful tool for healing, but when writing the tough stuff, it’s easy to get triggered and relive the experiences you’re writing about. If you’re wondering what to do about this, join me and somatic experiencing practitioner Kirby Moore as we explore how the nervous system works and how to care for it and your writing life. Plus, Kirby will teach you a powerful t...

Send us Fan Mail Imagine working tirelessly for years to publish your first novel—only to have the moment of celebration collide with the collapse of your country. Imagine being forced to flee, leaving behind everything you’ve ever known, and yet… still finding your voice through poetry, storytelling, and advocacy. Today, I have the honor of speaking with Samman Akbarzada—a poet, novelist, refugee...