"Laura stood up on the board and Pa held her safe by the arm, so she could see the town. When she saw it, she could hardly breathe. She knew how Yankee Doodle felt, when he could not see the town because there were so many houses."
Tomorrow I will venture from the brick-pathed hamlet of Athens for my version of “Going to Town” (LHBW, Chapter Nine) — Columbus. While Laura gasped at bolts of cloth and horehound candy, I shall feast my eyes on a Trader Joe’s and some restaurant that serves something besides burritos, pizza and subs. My goal is a meal from the continent of Asia not served on a buffet.
The reason for curling the hair and ironing the petticoats is the Ninth Annual Columbus State Community Writers Conference, where I will present on Immersion Memoir (subtitle: How to Get Published and Famous!). Since I’m on at 9 a.m., and I’m not actually fully human until about 11, I’ll be interested to hear what comes out of my mouth. I’ll will also be reading at 2 p.m.
Thanks to Robin Hemley, whose work has helped to define the genre of Immersion Memoir, a genre a didn’t know existed until I was almost finished with my book, which is kind of weird to say. I don’t know that having a name for what I was writing changed what I was doing, exactly, but the terminology has helped me place my book in the world now that’s published, as well as explain what My Life as Laura “is about” to others.
The keynote is Naomi Wolf, author of the now iconic The Beauty Myth. This is another one of those books that has always affected me, even though I never, (truthfully) technically, read it. What helped me was having the idea put out there. Having what I knew to be true said out loud.
I’ll return with a a report, and who knows? Maybe I’ll get it together enough to buy batteries for my camera.
