Writer and musician
Kia ora *|FNAME|* Itโs nice to pop into your world today, and exciting to welcome you newbies to my (mostly) weekly memoir chat. Iโd love to know how you found me (considering how little marketing Iโve been doing lately)! If you want to explore a few years of memoir tips, pop into my blog. The …
Kia ora, This month, in honour of Valentine's Day, Iโm focusing on love stories. Because, I can. I am, at heart, a romantic. I love the โhow did you meetโ stories. My dad met my mum at the Whakatu Hotel in Nelson. She wore a full suede outfit. Think long suede boots, a suede skirt …
Kia Ora, well hello there lovely, Someone recently asked me why people write their memoirs and life stories and I had to pause, because in my memoir focused brain, there are so many reasons! One big one is the value of passing on the stories of your life, so that children and grandchildren are able …
Kia ora lovely, Howโs that memoir of yours coming along today? Yesterday I met with my Golden Bay memoir group, and someone was saying they were unsure whether to dive deeply into one aspect of their story, or write more generally. They saw they could very quickly end up with waaaay too much info for …
Kia ora, Howโs that memoir of yours coming along this week? I get so inspired by the people Iโm guiding to write their stories. Yesterday I took a monthly community memoir class and one person shared a funny, surprising, moving story that was built around her love of the humble banana box. Through a series …
Continue reading "Crafting the extraordinary around the ordinary"
Kia ora lovely human, I think the time has come ๐ Yes, letโs dust off those Christmas memories of yours and share them with readers of our memoir writing community. Would you like to email me half a page (about 200 words) about a favourite Christmas memory of yours? Donโt hold back. Be it strange, …
Kia ora dear writer, How are you on this fine Thursday? Did you manage to work on your memoir this week? I hope so. Iโm neck deep in editing Mikeโs book, researching the history (or should I say โher-storyโ) of a hydro power station, and helping Jodie produce the second edition of her dadโs book …
Kia Ora, well hello there ๐ I write to you from stormy Tฤkaka. Howโs that book of yours coming along this week? Iโll tell you whatโs on my mind as I write and edit this week: loose ends. Theyโre everywhere in life, and memoirs and histories are no exception. When you reach the later stages …
Kia ora lovely human, Howโs your story coming along? Did you do any work on it today? Do me a favour and arrange to do one small thing on it before the end of the day, OR tomorrow. And then keep doing more โone small thingsโ daily, and watch what happens. So let's talk about …
Kia ora, Iโve got a photo in the garage somewhere of me, aged two, sitting in my favourite bowl, wearing my favourite (and only) beaded necklace. I am beaming in the way children do when theyโre in the place they most want to be. Itโs a hot day but I have my bowl of cool …
Kia Ora dear memoir writer ๐ How are you and how is your story coming along? This week Iโm enamoured with memoir writer Mike Brownโs first ever book cover and I wanted to show you! You may or may not know that as well as teaching people to write their memoirs (including Mike) my team …
Kia Ora dear memoir writer, Howโs your story coming along? Iโd love to know. I bumped into a student on my memoir course a few days ago, and she asked me if it mattered that she couldnโt remember exact dates that events happened. Great question. It depends. Some writers seek to be as accurate as …
Kia ora from the rain drenched top of the South Island, New Zealand! My family came through the weather events safely, with only a few leaks here and there, plus I got stuck on the other side of the Tฤkaka Hill for a night when eight landslides closed it! But Iโm aware that many didnโt …
Kia ora!How are you?Weโve had an intense week of rain here in Golden Bay, including one day with no internet or cell phone reception! It was very 1980s.Weโve just nudged over the halfway mark of 2025, and this week I thought Iโd remind you what you could achieve by the end of the year, if …
Kia ora lovely, howโs your story going this week? I write to you from the Dangerous Kitchen cafe, Tฤkaka, where they have the best smoked salmon pizza in all of the world. Have you hit a roadblock in your story? Perhaps you need more information. Maybe youโre writing about a chapter of your life that …
Continue reading "How to keep going when you hit a roadblock in your story"
Kia ora, Itโs great to beam into your world from my rainy one, this Wednesday. Today Iโd like to share five reasons with you, that nowโs a great time to start recording your memoirs, life story or family history. For all the bad rap it gets, AI is actually making it easier and easier to …
Continue reading "Five reasons youโre ready to start your memoir now"
Charlotte Squire 