I just returned from The University of Iowa Summer Writing Festival

. . . and I am utterly transformed as a writer because of my two-day experience. I now understand how to write an effective memoir. My first draft was complete, or so I thought, but now I've been encouraged to set it aside and start over. This may sound like a daunting task (since the book is mostly complete) but I actually feel totally liberated because I hated my first draft (I purposely wrote hated in red, bold, italic). My most recent draft explained what happened to me but the reader was unable to experience it with me because it was boring to read . . . blah blah blah. I avoided sharing all the silly, embarrassing things I did early in my recovery because they make me cringe and I am so totally embarrassed. But a brain injury is just that - - totally embarrassing at times. I wish I didn't have this story to tell, but I do. So my re-write is going to go deeper and come out a little edgy. The U of IA Festival HAS liberated me as a writer. I am super, super excited to write and show how life-altering a dreadful experience like mine can be. Whoo-hoo (she screams).

In fact, I hand-wrote several pages on the airplane home from Iowa City -- I just couldn't stop writing. The words poured from my pen . . .and so easily.