On Writing with Intent

Thinking about writing a memoir? Marion Roach Smith, writer and memoir writing instructor, has written a book that may help guide you to writing the next bestseller. The Memoir Project: a thoroughly non-standardized text for writing & life shows you how to "write with intent." In her interview with Neal Conan on NPR's Talk of the Nation, she illuminates the distinction between memoirs and autobiographies. 

 "An autobiography is really the story of a whole life," she says. "A memoir, if you want someone else to interested, should really be [about] an area of expertise within that life."

Smith's other books include: 

• Another Name for Madness, Houghton Mifflin, 1985; Pocket Books, 1986 - This is the story of her mother's diagnosis with Alzheimer's disease when Marion was 22. The book emphasizes the impact on family members.
• Dead Reckoning: the new science of catching killers, Simon and Schuster, 2001; paperback, 2002 - This book is co-written with famed forensic pathologist Dr. Michael Baden, takes the reader into the world of forensic science. 
• The Roots of Desire: the myth, meaning, and sexual power of red hair, Bloomsbury, 2005; paperback 2006 - A witty and entertaining investigation into the power of red hair.

With that, I'm going to segue to another tidbit of bookish news. 

EPIX is working on a 3D animated version of the late British comedian Graham Chapman's A Liar's Autobiography: Volume VI. It will feature recordings Chapman made of his book in 1982. The film's world premiere will be in both 2D and 3D on EPIX and EpixHD.com in Spring 2012. It will be released theatrically in the UK by London-based Trinity. Chapman is best known for his membership in the Monty Python comedy troupe. He also starred in the films "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" and "Life of Brian." He died of cancer in 1989 from cancer.