It’s a new #AmWriting episode!
There’s a style of creative nonfiction in which a gifted writer tells someone else’s story. The story of a house being built, or a life in the wilderness—or, in the case of Lauren Sandler, the story of a young single mother in search of housing during her first year of motherhood. Lauren’s subject—a smart, driven young woman caught up in the system because of her own history, and desperate for not just housing but an education, a career, and love and a life of her choosing—was unlikely to ever find a way to tell her own story without Lauren’s help.
“She chose me as much as I chose her,” says Lauren. We talk to Lauren about how that relationship was formed and how, although the act of observing something changes it, Lauren tried to let Camilla’s story unfold as though she weren’t there, even while her own daughter was demanding to know why they didn’t just let Camilla sleep on the couch. If you’re interested in long-form journalism, or just in the process of embedding yourself into someone else’s life, you’ll love this episode.
Links from the Pod:
Lauren’s latest book This Is All I Got: A New Mother's Search for Home
Find Lauren on her website: www.laurenosandler.com
#AmReading
Lauren: The Days of Abandonment by Elena Ferrante
The Lying Life of Adults by Elena Ferrante
KJ: The Book Charmer by Karen Hawkins
Jess: Goodnight Beautiful by Aimee Molloy
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Have you checked out Author Accelerator’s Book Coach training at bookcoaches.com/amwriting? Seriously, if every time you hear us talk about book coaching, you think to yourself—hey, I could do that!—you should. They have great programs for fiction, non-fiction and making your side-gig full time—and they offer tuition help for BIPOC coaches as well—more info on that at bookcoaches.com/equity.
And if you haven’t tried Dabble yet, YOU MUST. Just go play with the storyline building tools. Trust us.
