THE MEMOIR PROJECT is the name of my new book. Accompanied by the subtitle, A Thoroughly Non-Standardized Text for Writing & Life, the book’s title reflects it contents – a little irreverent, while being very how-to about writing what you know. When it was time to give a title to the book, those words seemed to sum it up best.

After all, you want people to “get” the book right from the title. And they seem to be doing just that. I received a really wonderful boost from Poets & Writers, a magazine I’ve read and adored for more than 30 years. (In fact, I once had a t-shirt with their logo, and I remember that I was 21 at the time, so it’s a long love affair). They not only featured the video on their fabulous site, but ran a few lines of real praise.

Though perhaps nothing made me quite so happy as getting a great review in Kirkus, that ever-hard-to-please trade magazine read by book stores and libraries, as a guide to what to buy. Thank you, Kirkus. I promise to live up to your fine words in all my teaching. And speaking of teaching, I was invited to do just that on the ever-marvelous site BookPage, where they let me publish what I call my Memoir Manifesto.

On Blog Talk Radio last week, my sister, Margaret Roach, and I were interviewed for an hour. And early into that interview we realize that of all the wacky things we’ve done together – including writing a blog in tandem – that we’d never been interviewed together, despite having written 6 books between the two of us, as well as countless magazine articles, and having appeared separately on many of the same TV shows, including MARTHA. Margaret was able to bring real depth to the conversation on memoir, having just published one of her own.

While on air this week, Margaret said some very surprising (to me) things about being my sister. Have a listen, and you’ll learn something about why we call our blog She Said, She Said.

So what does all this mean? That the book is out. Finally out. It’s a much-improved version of the self-published edition we put out last year entitled Realia, and along with that new title, it has a new publisher, Grand Central, who I adore, and new pages that include an algorithm for how to make a story interesting to others. Don’t believe me? It’s foolproof, I promise, and I hope you’ll check it out in the new book.

These days you’ll find that all my memoir writing content has migrated to a new site, www.marionroach.com, and that here, on TSP, I’ll be concentrating on the myriad topics of the sisterhood. And why not? I know a thing or two about it.

Please stay tuned. There’s so much more to come.

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ALL SHE KNOWS, she learned from the birds. It’s a slight exaggeration, but only slight, as sister Margaret explains in her gorgeous piece from PARADE magazine of this week. A lovely piece of memoir, read it here.

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MY SISTER’S MEMOIR is not mine. My sister’s new drop-out memoir is her own version of a life I know a lot – as well as little – about. Maybe the Chinese have a word for the unique feeling it is to read one’s sister’s memoir. If anyone does, it would be the Chinese, who combined words in ways that allow for the exquisite to meld with the uncomfortable; the peeking that I felt I was doing, to alchemize into an unutterable joy and pride at the generosity of this book, the other version of a life I knew well, and yet not at all. I can say with all honesty that I’ve never felt anything like it.

Margaret and I have lived in the she said/she said world all our lives, and share it here with you on our blog of that name. She pokes her head into that column from time to time to correct, to heighten, to add, and sometimes to shock me right to my core. That’s what she said/she said is all about, after all.

My sister’s memoir is called And I Shall Have Some Peace There, and it is out today, published by Grand Central. It’s on the top of my nightstand, and will stay there for a good long time, as I read and re-read, learn and unlearn, as only a sister can.

I’m adding it to our TSP Ultimate Sisterly Booklist. Please add it to yours.

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ON THE ROAD. That’s where Margaret will be in the next few months, promoting her fabulous new book, and welcoming spring in her own inimitable way. And you, friends of TSP, are going to get lots of chances to hear her speak, and get some fabulous tips on gardening – and life – when you do. Her first speaking engagement of the season is coming up this weekend, at a fundraiser for the always-marvelous Berkshshire Botanical Garden. But there’s more.

Margaret is literally all over the place this spring, as she launches her new book, a new season in the garden, and a new season of her peaceful life at home.

Here is a calendar of her upcoming speaking events.

So join her. You never know, you might even get to meet the other sisters of TSP along the way.

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SISTER SHEILAA SAYS that I am to take some time out this month and “visit a zoo, botanical garden or butterfly reserve.” How convenient, since guess who will be speaking at just such a venue in February?

Margaret, that’s who. That would be big-sister Margaret, whose new book is out this month, and who will be making many speaking engagements, including one at the Berkshire Botanical on Saturday, February 19^th. I am so glad that this is my February prediction, since it serves as a great reminder to me to get my tickets to the events, as well as a reminder of just how spot-on Sheilaa is each month in her predictions here on TSP.

Want to come along and do the sisterly thing and listen in? You can. Make your reservations now and join us as we celebrate the new book, Margaret, and the promise of spring.

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MY BIG SISTER is in the finals for a real sweet honor. Well, her blog is, actually. So get the vote out, everybody, and let’s see that she makes it. Here at TSP, we love Apartment Therapy, so we are particularly pleased that it’s their contest in which Margaret is in the stretch. Vote early, sisters. And let’s give Margaret the boost she deserves.

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I’VE BEEN WRESTLING with the damnedest feelings. Vague one minute, sharp as knives the next, they make me toss, turn, and turn up the oddest diagnoses for them. That is, until I consulted the oracle of upstate, my big sister, and while what she had to say may not sound all that therapeutic to you, it saved my life.

I described my feelings to Margaret. She listened, thought for a moment, and proclaimed rightly that it was a bad case of empty nest; that ever since my daughter had taken this most recent and totally appropriate surge forward in her independence, I had lost hours each days with her, and that I was missing those hours.

Right she was. Nailed it. Right on the head. And we were good for a few weeks, until we weren’t, and I brought up the topic again saying, only half-kidding, “Hmm, I wonder if there is a drug for this.”

“If there isn’t,” she quipped, “there’s probably an app.”

And I laughed like hell, and moved on.

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MY SISTER’S GARDEN is famous. My sister’s garden is almost as amazing as she is. My sister’s garden is (almost) as eccentric as she is. My sister’s garden is not mine, but because of hers I do have a hand-me-down collection of some wild and crazy plants.

It delighted me when Margaret recently wrote on her garden website about her pink ‘Will’s Wonderful’ mums, and how scarce they are, and how they are now back on the market, though in limited supply. And I said to myself, “I have those!” And I do, as well as all manners of strange-looking houseplants, and exotic borders plants, and crazy-looking perennials that make me laugh out loud.

I’ve written about this here on TSP, and this being spring, I thought I’d dig it up again.

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ICALL IT “OUR GREAT EXPERIMENT.” My big sister Margaret calls it “Why not, and can-do.” It’s the release today (on the occasion of my “29th” birthday) of my fourth book by none other than big sister-turned-publisher. I think that’s the most unusual gift Margaret ever got me. Both of us Roach sisters also think it’s a must-have for anyone doing any memoir-style writing–whether in print or on a blog–which is what I’ve been teaching to sold-out classes for 13 years. Margaret says my writing tips helped her finish her own memoir, due out next February, which is how she got the idea to publish them. Get the details (and the book). What a birthday this is turning out to be! [UPDATED 1/11: My self-published book sold to a major publisher and will be re-released in an expanded version in late spring. Meantime, it is unavailable; I'll let you know when orders can be taken for the even more exciting version.]

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Click here to view the embedded video.

1952 Vincent Black Lightning,
copyright Richard Thompson

Said Red Molly to James that’s a fine motorbike
A girl could feel special on any such like
Said James to Red Molly, well my hat’s off to you
It’s a Vincent Black Lightning, 1952
And I’ve seen you at the corners and cafes it seems
Red hair and black leather, my favorite color scheme
And he pulled her on behind
And down to Knoxville they did ride

Said James to Red Molly, here’s a ring for your right hand
But I’ll tell you in earnest I’m a dangerous man
I’ve fought with the law since I was seventeen
I robbed many a man to get my Vincent machine
Now I’m 21 years, I might make 22
And I don’t mind dying, but for the love of you
And if fate should break my stride
Then I’ll give you my Vincent to ride

Come down, come down, Red Molly, called Sergeant McRae
For they’ve taken young James Adie for armed robbery
Shotgun blast to his chest, left nothing inside
Oh, come down, Red Molly to his dying bedside
When she came to the hospital, there wasn’t much left
He was running out of road, he was running out of breath
But he smiled to see her cry
And said I’ll give you my Vincent to ride

Says James, in my opinion, there’s nothing in this world
Beats a 52 Vincent and a red headed girl
Now Nortons and Indians and Greeveses won’t do
They don’t have a soul like a Vincent 52
He reached for her hand and he slipped her the keys
He said I’ve got no further use for these
I see angels on Ariels in leather and chrome
Swooping down from heaven to carry me home
And he gave her one last kiss and died
And he gave her his Vincent to ride

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