The IMWA is excited to announce Madonna Treadway, the author of Grief Hack: A Creative Process for Transforming Loss, as our June 2024 Member of the Month! Please take a minute to read Madonna’s interview with IMWA Board Member Janet Hafner.
- How long have you been a member of IMWA? What are the benefits of that membership?
I was one of the original members when the International Memoir Writers Association was the San Diego Memoir Writers Association. I moved to San Diego full-time in 2013. I began taking classes at San Diego Writers, Ink, where I met Marni Freedman and Tracy J. Jones in a memoir class they were teaching. That was the best luck I could have had as they became the magic ingredient in my writing. I began in their classes with an idea for a book. With their help and guidance, it grew into my first book, Six Healing Questions: A Gentle Path to Facing Childhood Loss of a Parent. I also took part in the San Diego Memoir Showcase, which encouraged my writing and was an incredible experience.
- Have you always been a writer?
My undergrad degree was in English Literature, and I was always writing papers. Later in my business career, I used those skills as well. I enjoy writing as both a creative expression and a way to be thoughtful about my message.
- If you take writing classes or workshops, how do they benefit your writing?
Every writing class has given me new insights into writing and being an author. I have gained writing skills and an approach to writing that is helpful. The people I meet in writing classes are a source of encouragement and wonder. These classes taught me skills on how to write an interesting and compelling story. They also offer exposure to the business of writing, publishing, and marketing.
- Who are your favorite authors? Favorite memoirs?
My favorite authors are Anthony Doer, J. D. Salinger, William Shakespeare, Wallace Stegner, Amy Tan, Michael Connelly, Daniel Silva, Louise Penny, Clarissa Pinkolas Estes, Stephen Levine, C.S. Lewis, Maya Angelou, and Mary Oliver. My favorite memoirs are The Liars’ Club by Mary Karr, Dreams From My Father by Barack Obama, The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion, The Color of Water by James McBride, and You’ll Forget This Ever Happened: Secrets, Shame, and Adoption in the 1960s by Laura L. Engel.
- Any advice for new writers?
Find your writing community. Writing can be a lonely business, as we spend many hours alone with our thoughts. You may find feedback helpful. You may just want to be with other writers who are there to support you. Hearing other writers’ stories and about their writing journey is amazing and inspiring. Plus, exposure to the diversity of authors is exciting and a learning experience not to be missed. The San Diego writing community is amazing.
- Madonna, please tell us what’s special about your book.
Grief Hack: A Creative Process for Transforming Loss is a book about opening your mind to the possibility of living alongside one of life’s obstacles with less fear and suffering. The book offers tools that change your perspective from dread to curiosity.
As humans, we all experience loss. You are not alone in this. My book offers a new and playful way to approach loss and grief. You may find it to be a relief and even a playful adventure.
One of my hopes for all my books is that you feel like I am right there with you, talking to you and maybe even holding your hand. One of my friends and readers told me she keeps my book on her nightstand. She said, “If I can’t talk with you right then, I can open your book and feel you there with me.” This went right to my heart. This is the reason I write!
My next writing project is close to my heart. Two of my own beloved animal companions have died—one in 2013 and one during COVID. Abby and Auggie were important members of our family. Auggie was trained as a therapy dog. I am very interested in learning more and writing about the animal companions we love and how we are impacted when they die.
My book launch is on July 25, at 6 p.m. (PDT), at DIESEL in Del Mar. I will converse with IMWA founder and SDWF co-founder and director Marni Freedman. The event is free, but people can reserve a seat with the purchase of a book.
Website: madonnatreadway.com
facebook.com/madonna.treadway
instagram.com/madonnatreadway