So, Ya Wanna Write a Memoir...

Joan Didion (Photo by Nancy Ellison)

Dear E. Jean:

My life's dream has been to be a published writer.

But marriage, raising children, getting my degree and working with students with special needs for the past 17 years has caused me to put my writing on the back burner.

But I'll be retiring in a few years and plan to focus on publishing my memoir, as well as a historical-fiction novel.

The events in my own life have been jaw dropping. As my best friend has said: "your life has been so crazy, you can't make this stuff up!" The main antagonist in my memoirs is my ex-husband, who is still alive. One event in my life is the murder of my brother by his wife, and then finding out that my husband had slept with her.

So, I am nervous that if he sees my story in print, a story that portrays him as a horrible abuser—which he was—I could face retribution from him.

He’s spent many years trying to destroy me and although I’m sure it angers him that I have became quite successful, I don't want to stir u…