On Becoming a Writer | Jo Maeder

QUICKIE Q&A: SHARYN WOLF

August 10, 2011 By Jo Maeder Leave a Comment

Sharyn Wolf is the author of Love Shrinks: a memoir of a marriage counselor’s divorce - a fearless look at her own dysfunctional former marriage. A New York licensed psychotherapist and relationship expert, she’s been on over 400 radio and TV shows (including 8 appearances on Oprah). Her books include This Old Spouse, How to Stay Lovers for Life and Guerrilla Dating Tactics.

1. For the most part you were in a sex-less marriage for 8 years. How common is this and what advice do you have to others in a similar situation?

Filed Under: Author interview, Book Review Tagged With: change, Huffington Post, Love Stinks, Oprah, origami cranes, sex-less marriage, Sharyn Wolf

ON WRITING

August 10, 2011 By Jo Maeder 1 Comment

I took the long, scenic route to getting published. Fifteen years, seven other books, and four literary agents preceded the publication of When I Married My Mother. Whatever success my writing brings me is the result of never giving up, working with great editors and agents, taking criticism extremely well, having from-the-heart stories to tell, and being crazy. I’m now convinced that “writer” and “addict” are interchangeable.

My efforts were nothing compared to what the author of The Diving Bell and the Butterfly went through. He wrote his entire extraordinary memoir by blinking his left eye—the only part of his body that moved.

Filed Under: Advice, Essay Tagged With: how to be a writer, Jo Maeder, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

MY FANTASY FINAL ROSE

June 1, 2011 By Jo Maeder Leave a Comment

Summer 2011

As the Bachelorette nears its “most dramatic final rose ceremony ever” I find myself thinking back to the Bachelor debut in 2002. Twenty-five beautiful young women vied for the heart of one alpha male. Many weeks later, he whittled it down to one. Kind of like a harem in reverse. I was horrified. I couldn’t stop watching.

If I had teenagers, I’d encourage them to watch this show. It teaches how to behave (and not behave) with your dream mate. When your love is unrequited, you’ll know how to read the signs and graciously bow out. Wait, I know a few people way past their teens who need this primer.

Filed Under: Essay Tagged With: Bachelorette, Final Rose, harem, Lord of the Flies, Stockholm Syndrome, The Bachelorette

THE BOOKUP

April 13, 2011 By Jo Maeder Leave a Comment

Promoting “long-form reading in a short-form world” the Triad was abuzz about its first BookUP (thanks to TV, radio, newspaper, twitter and facebook). Anyone was invited to show up at Bin 33 restaurant in downtown Greensboro with a book (or e-reader) and read to themselves in the company of others. Social Media Queen Danielle Hatfield was there and posted this blog I cannot improve upon. www.gsotweetup.com/2011/04/meet-who-you-tweet-jomaeder-and-thebookup/

The array of books read was most impressive. Kurt Vonnegut, Khaleo Hosseini, Setve Martin, Alex Prud’Homme, Charlotte Bronte, Dr. Seuss, Patti Smith, David Sedaris, Max Lucado, Lawrence Durrell, Noam Chomsky, Elia Kazan, Man Ray, and more.

Filed Under: Event, Guest Blogger Tagged With: Bill Moore, Bin 33, BookUP, Brandon Pierce, Brian Clarey, Danielle Hatfield, GSOTweetup, Parke Puterbaugh, Stewart Pittman

JUST FRIENDS

November 13, 2010 By Jo Maeder Leave a Comment

In the movie When Harry Met Sally, Billy Crystal’s character makes a passionate case that a man can’t be friends with a woman because he’s always thinking about having sex with her. In 2003, when I became friends with Ted, a transplanted Yankee radio engineer who set up my NC recording studio, many suspected something was going to “happen” between us. Did the possibility of carnal episodes cross our minds? I doubt he would have denied me had I suggested it, but we weren’t each other’s “type.” It just never went that way. Now, sadly, he’s gone.

Filed Under: Essay Tagged With: Platonic relationships, relocating, When Harry Met Sally

ARE YOU ARE DIGITAL HOARDER?

August 8, 2010 By Jo Maeder Leave a Comment

Today I realized I’d used up half of my allotted gmail space. A panic hit me, not unlike the panic that used to set in when I thought about having to one day empty my mother’s stuffed-to-the-gills house. That “day” turned out to last six weeks. So once a year, I go through my own house and do a massive purge to assure myself I’m not becoming a hoarder, too. But clear out years of emails? Impossible. Does that make me a digital hoarder?

Filed Under: Essay Tagged With: Carbonite, clouds, Digitial hoarding, gmail

MY GOOGLE-FREE DAY

March 29, 2010 By Jo Maeder Leave a Comment

It started as an early morning tweet. I cast into the twitterverse: When was the last time you went through a day without using the word google? Then I thought, why not try a google-free day? Not only would I not say “google,” I would not indulge in the act itself. There was something about being so dependent on this gaping maw of information that annoyed me. There was also a whiff of a retaliating child threatening to hold her breath until she turned blue. I would only be hurting myself.

Filed Under: Essay Tagged With: breaking habits, google, party games, Restraint, too much information age

Jo Maeder

QUICKIE Q&A: SHARYN WOLF

ON WRITING

MY FANTASY FINAL ROSE

THE BOOKUP

JUST FRIENDS

ARE YOU ARE DIGITAL HOARDER?

MY GOOGLE-FREE DAY

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