San Diego Memoir Writers Association President, Laura L. Engel interviews October Member of the Month – Leslie Ferguson
LE: Leslie, congratulations on being our October Member of the month How did you discover SDMWA?
LF: I moved to San Diego in the summer of 2016. I am not sure if I first heard about SDMWA at the Southern California Writers Conference or through San Diego Writers Ink. Ultimately, it was Marni who encouraged me to join, and I am so glad I did. This writing community is so strong and full of amazing people and inspiring stories.
LE: Have you always been a writer?
LF: I wrote a short story for fun when I was little, and I wrote a poem in the 4th grade that won an award. Other than that, I wrote only for school assignments. In college, I took creative writing and poetry courses and majored in English (with a writing emphasis). I then got a teaching job, and I wrote sample essays and creative pieces for and with my students. In 2001, I began graduate school at Chapman University, where I earned my MA in English Literature and MFA in creative writing. My thesis was an early draft of what has become my memoir, When I Was Her Daughter, forthcoming from Acorn Publishing this November.
LE: Have writing classes made a big impact on your writing?
LF: Writing classes have given me permission to take risks. After grad school, I took a UCLA extension course that taught me I was horrible at writing visual description. I was mortified when the professor used my writing sample as a prime example of what not to do! I made it my goal to improve as much as possible, beginning with sensory details. I have loved the writing breakout sessions at writer conferences, and I consider every read-and-critique a special writing class of its own where I often learn a ton from reading and critiquing others’ work, sometimes more than from receiving feedback on my own writing.
LE: We’d love to hear about you new book? And any other projects you have going on right now.
LF: Getting my memoir finished and ready for publication takes up a lot of my time, but I enjoy writing poetry and short memoir, and I’ve performed at So Say We All’s VAMP three times since April. After my memoir is published, I will choose another book-length work to focus on—I have a couple of memoirs and three works of fiction bouncing around in my brain.
My memoir, When I Was Her Daughter, is about surviving my mother’s mental illness and the trauma that resulted from it. Here is the blurb:
“Seven-year-old Leslie has a serious problem: Someone is trying to kill her.
Leslie and her little brother must confront the stark reality of living with their mother’s raging psychosis. When her mother demands the impossible, Leslie attempts to control the chaos. But her obedience results in terrifying consequences, and her rebellion angers her mother, who writes rambling manifestos and forces her children to live on the run to evade the Russian spies she believes are after them. Her ultimate goal is to protect her children from capture even if it means she has to kill them herself in order to save them.
Eventually, the police remove Leslie and her brother from their mother’s custody. Freedom from her mother’s paranoia and violent tendencies offers the young girl a glimmer of hope, but she plummets into despair under the oppressive weight of alienating, abusive foster homes. All seems lost…until a teacher intervenes and risks everything to bring Leslie to safety, showing her the redemptive power of trust and patience, and proving unconditional love is possible, even without the bond of blood.
When I Was Her Daughter is a raw, honest account of one girl’s traumatic childhood journey through madness, loss, and a broken foster care system, where only the lucky and most resilient survive.”
LE: Wow! I can’t wait to read your memoir. It sounds amazing. What are some of your favorite Memoirs? Your favorite Authors?
LF: I love reading memoirs! I’ve loved so many. . .I could go on and on. Favorite authors: My list is always changing. Often, my favorite authors are those whose books I’ve devoured most recently and can’t stop thinking about.
Here are some of my favorites:
Blackout by Sarah Hepola
Wild by Cheryl Strayed
The Liar’s Club by Mary Karr
The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls.
Running with Scissors by Augusten Burroughs
Lovesick by Sue Williams Silverman
Because I Remember Terror, Father, I Remember You by Sue Williams Silverman.
Little Panic by Amanda Stern
Somebody’s Daughter by Ashley Ford
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
Brain on Fire by Susannah Cahalan
LE: Leslie, what advice would you give new writers?
LF: Be curious and humble. Seek writing advice and feedback from others, especially from those who are more experienced and seasoned than you are; but don’t take everyone’s advice—you must know where you and your voice belong in your own story. Read widely in your book’s genre and about your book’s genre. Find beta readers in your genre. Don’t assume you know everything about anything, or you will learn nothing (especially about the things you need to learn the most). Revise, edit, and cut again and again and again. Understand how to correctly (and incorrectly) use punctation. Employ the Oxford comma and at least one good editor. Learn how to identify and correct homophones, dangling modifiers, and other grammar mistakes that render your writing more humorous and confusing than you intend it to be. Take risks and long walks. Both require you to move, and both will show you what you think. Be gracious and courteous and kind and help others when you can.
LE: Great advice! How can our members find you? Website? Social media channels?
LF:
Websites: LeslieFergusonAuthor.com
MentallyWellish.com
Instagram: @MoreLeslieF
Twitter: OLeslieFerguson
Facebook: Leslie.Ferguson.42 (Profile)
LeslieFergusonAuthor (Author Page)
Thank you so much. It is an absolute honor to be chosen as the member of the month!
LE: We feel the same about you, Leslie. Honored to have you writing along side of us at SDMWA! Congratulations on being our October Member of the Month!