My father wanted to write a book but was stuck. I’d self-published a career memoir (more on that below) and he asked my advice to get over his stuckness.
I suggested that rather than fret over a narrative arch, he might get started by gathering some photos and writing about what they captured. I know I, for one, wanted the stories behind those pictures of him in Japan in the “olden days.”
Dad did gather some pictures but that’s as far as the effort went, so I had mixed feelings when my sister introduced me to a company called Remento.
It never occurred to me to suggest that Dad record himself talking about the pictures. But that’s what Remento prompts people to do to “turn memories of the past into a keepsake for the future without having to write a single word.”
Watch a short video about how Remento works.
In a nutshell, …
- You pick story prompts for a loved one or yourself.
- Remento sends the storyteller a new prompt each week.
- The storyteller records a response to the prompts on any device.
- Remento’s technology transcribes the recordings into a written story.
- Remento turns the stories into a printed book with QR codes to the storyteller’s recordings that live on…
Beyond wishing that Remento were around when my dad was alive, the company has me thinking about ways I might make a book in the future…
Reviving an Awakening Giant
In 2011, I self-published a career memoir called “Awakening Giant: An Over-Thinker Finds a Better-Feeling Life.” In 2014-ish, I took it out of circulation not intending to make it public again. But one of you changed my mind.
Kate visited my new personal website, saw a mention of Awakening Giant and asked to read it. She did so in one day, which inspired me to take another look myself. With wiser eyes, I saw that the book was nothing to hide but to share!
It’s a fast read published under my nickname “Mimi” (but please call me Mary-Elizabeth). One reader said, “I highly recommend it to people who are searching for a way to find meaningful work that feeds the soul.”
Making Awakening Giant public again made it clear that the next book—”Striding Giant: A Scientist Turned Storyteller Finds Her Footing in a Wobbly World”—wants to get done in 2026.
Thank you Kate for helping me see sense and feel good about writing the best book I could at the time.
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