I just finished Mark Chesnut’s Prepare for Departure, a travel writer’s humorous, warm memoir of journeying with his mother to the end of her life, due out in July. Absolutely delightful! You can read my Goodreads review or find it below. This would definitely constitute a lovely summer read! ___ Prepare for Departure is a memoir as real, heartwarming and humorous as Mitch Albom’s Tuesdays With Morrie. Mark Chesnut offers a tour of life with his mother, a quirky, down-to-eart

In celebration of the publication of my memoir, Bliss Road, next June by Vine Leaves Press, I'm starting to countdown the many reasons I have to be blissful. The first is that today is the my daughter’s birthday! She threatened to be born three weeks early, then decided to wait another 10 days. She’s been up to mischief ever since. We named her Ariela, which means “lioness of God.” The lioness has proved out! She’s a go-getter who loves her husband, dog and tackling challenge

A friend of mine, Jayne Martin, is a master of flash writing, which is the art of depicting an entire story from start to finish in 100 words or less. A writer has to be on her game to pack an emotional punch within that word limit. It’s not surprising, then, that when she decided to write her own story, she chose do to so via flash writing. Her book, The Daddy Chronicles: Memoir of a Fatherless Daughter, was just published by Whiskey Tit Press. I just got my copy in the mail

My author friend, Annalisa Crawford, recently asked about the definition of “speculative memoirs.” I love such questions, because they cause me to learn something new. In general, memoirs are the recounting of people’s internal journeys in which they face ever-increasing challenges until experiencing an epiphany that changes their perspective on life. That’s as opposed to an autobiography where people recount what happened in their lives, typically in chronological order. Spe

When I was a kid, I loved reading Scott O’Dell’s 1960 Newbery Medal Award-winning novel Island of the Blue Dophins. Forever after, the story remained in my head, of the indigenous girl left behind with her brother when her people abandoned the island on which they lived. Not long after, her brother died, leaving her alone. Recently when driving along the coast in the Santa Barbara area, my friend pointed toward the Channel Islands offshore, and mentioned the book was based on

When on the island of Kauai in Hawaii recently, we met surf guru Bill Hamilton. He grew up in the 1950s in southern LA, where some of the first-ever West Coast surfers — World War II vets overcoming their combat trauma — took him under their surfing wing. Stepfather of big wave surfer Laird Hamilton (below), Bill is now 73 and is a long-time resident of Kauai, where he has a surfboard-shaping shop. He also makes art boards for private clients. The one pictured above is from a

I never tire of memoirs. I love learning about people and experiences that are vastly different than my own. That and there are so many types of memoirs: humorous; scientific; political; inspirational, etc. If you enjoy memoirs, check out Memoir Magazine for new reads. I learned about it recently when Melanie Faith (@writer_faith), one of my fellow authors Vine Leaves Press authors, posted about the publication. Dedicated to small presses, the pub sponsors the Memoir Prize fo

While working on my upcoming memoir, Bliss Road, (June 2023), I had more than a few low points. Lifting myself out of them took some effort. What I wish I’d had then was the book I’m currently reading, Self-Compassion: The Proven Power of Being Kind to Yourself by Kristin Neff. She’s a professor and researcher on the topic of compassion at the University of California, Berkeley, who runs a website called Self-Compassion featuring research and exercises she includes in her boo

Bliss Road on It’s Way! Just a quick note today to say that Vine Leaves Press has decided to add to my stack of published books by publishing my memoir, Bliss Road, in June of 2023. A huge thanks to VLP and to all of you friends and readers who’ve been so supportive! Below you’ll find a description. And please sign up for my monthly newsletter for updates and giveaways! Book Description Through this hybrid of poetry and essays, Martha Engber provides insight into what it’s li

On sale now! As you know, I’ve been exploring the world of memoirs of all kinds, none of which are more poignant than those surrounding childhood and disruptive family dynamics. The memoir of Jessica Bell — singer, writer, publisher, designer — is among those. I just posted the following review on Goodreads, but wanted to share the piece here, knowing only too well how many of us have struggled with sizable demons and appreciate hearing about those like Jessica who emerge fro

Memoirs have changed so much since Mary Karr made history with the spectacular success of The Liars’ Club in 1995. Before then, memoir was a realm reserved for celebrities of one sort or another: political figures, movie stars, sports stars. In other words, people designated by their wealth, fame and broad influence as having lives interesting enough to deserve writing about. But with Karr’s telling of her rough youth in East Texas, she broke open the genre so regular people

My sister and I believe my dad, now deceased, had Asperger’s Syndrome (AS), a largely hereditary form of high-functioning autism in which people function within a socially acceptable norm, but have a neurological disconnect that messes with their ability to communicate with others at a fundamental level. In Pretending to be Normal, Liane Holliday Willey describes what it’s like to be AS, and to such a deep degree the reader can’t help but be absorbed into the confusing, peril