About the episode
What do you do when you want to read a book that’s not already out there? nd what’s the difference between keeping a journal and writing for publication?
In S1E1 of TBIHTW, writer and editor Karen Propp explores these and other questions. She tells the story of how she came to write her memoir,In Sickness & In Health: A Love Story.
Karen based her book on extensive journals she’d kept during her late ex-husband’s prostate cancer and treatment.
Published in 2002, In Sickness & In Health is a beautifully-written memoir – one of the very first to honestly and vulnerably explored the impact of illness on a caregiver.
In the interview, Karen also discusses:
her identity as the daughter of a Holocaust survivor
the MAUS controversy
the importance of writing groups
how to find urgency in your writing
AND unintended consequences of publishing personal/confessional memoir
Today, Karen is an independent editor and writer who specializes in business, health care, and memoir. She’s a highly-popular writing consultant who with thought leaders across the globe.
Karen is also the author of the memoir, The Pregnancy Project: Encounters With Reproductive Therapy, and the co-editor of Why I’m Still Married: Women Write Their Hearts Out On Love, Loss, Sex, and Who Does The Dishes, the best-selling anthology of essays about marriage. She has a Ph.D. in British and American Literature from the University of Utah.
Discussed on this episode
“How to Hide: Instructions from a Daughter of Survivors” (Lilith Magazine):
https://lilith.org/articles/how-to-hide-instructions-from-a-daughter-of-survivors/
In Sickness & In Health: A Love Story:
https://www.amazon.com/Sickness-Health-Love-Story/dp/1579545521
More about Karen Propp
www.karenpropp.com
Credits
This episode was edited and produced by Magpie Audio Productions. Theme music is "The Stone Mansion" by BlueDot Productions.
S1, Ep 1: From Journal to Book with Karen Propp