Maggie Downs, an award-winning author and freelance writer based in Palm Springs, is scheduled to speak to the High Desert Branch of the California Writers Club during the group's Zoom meeting on Saturday.
Downs' discussion will center on the structure of memoir writing and include tips on writing in general. A press release for the virtual event said Downs will also offer tricks on how to write a book or essay œthat isn't simply a retelling of events but something rebirthed into art.
œThis is what makes (author) Cheryl Strayed's ˜Wild' a riveting literary narrative and not merely a diary of 94 days on a hike ” we're not reading for the trail, we're reading for what Strayed has done with it, the press release states.
That 2012 memoir, subtitled œFrom Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail, chronicles Strayed's 1,100-mile hike on the PCT, which she completed in 1995. The book was a No. 1 New York Times bestseller and spawned a 2014 film starring Reese Witherspoon as Strayed.
Downs, meanwhile, published her first book, œBraver Than You Think: Around the World on the Trip of My (Mother's) Lifetime, through Counterpoint Press in May 2020. In it, she recounts how she quit her job to spend a year backpacking solo around the world to complete her mother's bucket list while she was in the final stage of Alzheimer's disease.
During her travels, Downs hiked the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu, went on safari, volunteered at a monkey sanctuary in the Bolivian jungle and worked with elephants in northern Thailand, among other adventures, according to her website.
Last month, Downs appeared on NPR to discuss how the COVID-19 pandemic prompted her to get sober after years of writing a column about drinking ” and stocking up on alcohol for the pandemic lockdown.
œI felt there was no delineation between work and my personal life, Downs told NPR's Scott Simon. œAnd happy hour was creeping earlier and earlier every day, like one hour earlier until it was like a happy morning. And it just ” it wasn't very healthy.
At the time of the NPR interview, Downs had been sober 10 months. She said she's slowly been telling her friends that she no longer drinks.
œAnd what I've been learning is that it's scary to be vulnerable and show your friends how much you've changed during the pandemic, she told Simon. œBut I think it's also really gratifying to see that my friends are evolving and so am I.
Downs is also a freelance writer whose essays have appeared in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post and McSweeney's, among other publications.
Previously, she worked as a syndicated columnist for Gannett, which owns the Daily Press, and as the metro reporter for the Cincinnati Enquirer, according to her bio on the USA TODAY website. She has also reported for the BBC, Smithsonian and the Palm Springs Desert Sun, also owned by Gannett.
The High Desert Branch of the California Writers Club's virtual meeting is scheduled for 10 a.m. Saturday, June 12 on Zoom. The public is welcome to attend. Those interested in attending Downs' discussion can obtain a link to the meeting free of charge.
Source:-https://www.vvdailypress.com/story/entertainment/books/2021/06/06/award-winning-author-maggie-downs-talk-memoirs-high-desert-writers-club/7572655002/
