We Love Memoirs

This Week’s WLM Sunday Spotlight

Have you ever heard of a Facebook group? Maybe you’re part of one. There are all kinds of groups on Facebook made up of like-minded people sharing information on a gazillion topics from antique cars to zebra stripes. (I have’t looked up either but I’m sure they–or some likeness of these subjects–exist.)

We Love Memoirs Header this Week

For the past two weeks I’ve gleaned a ton of information and support from a FB group that’s all about covering very specific health issues for women. I’m also part of a couple of FB groups that highlight deals (and some doings) in Telluride, Colorado, where I’ve been living for fourteen years. My most lighthearted FB group of all, however, is WLM, or We Love Memoirs.

Victoria Twead

What a fun bunch of friends! Each time I pop in, my mood is uplifted by words and images from men and women that share a common bond: a love of memoirs. Over 4,200 strong, it’s populated with readers and writers of memoirs, firmly established authors, wannabes and fans. It’s all good because we all love memoirs.

Set up in 2013 by Victoria Twead and Alan Parks, two memoir authors that wanted to create a place where memoir-loving people could chat, exchange ideas and interact with each other. It’s a coffee klatch of sorts with one big common thread.

Alan Parks and One of His Many Alpacas

Victoria, New York Times bestselling author of Chickens, Mules and Two Old Fools and the “Old Fools” series, checks in on a daily basis from her home in Australia. “Apart from producing my children, passing my driving test and hitting the New York Times bestseller list, co-creating We Love Memoirs is my proudest achievement,” she says. “It is a wonderful, caring community of readers and memoir authors, and every time I hear of another WLM meet-up somewhere in the world, I get a warm fuzzy glow.”

Indeed, WLM is often taken off the internet when WLM members get together with other members in person. Can you imagine having tea with someone in a faraway land that shares your passion and is connected to you by the same group of fun-loving memoir readers? It’s like being a part of the same tribe.

WLM cofounder Alan Parks, author of Seriously Mum, What’s an Alpaca? and the “Seriously Mum” series, calls Spain his home.

One of Many WLM Contests

So what goes on here? Well, everything from an abundance of notices about free and discounted eBook downloads (largely authored by WLM members) to posts promoting contests (with more free books), posts extending birthday wishes and the like, queries about publishing, nitpicks about grammatically incorrect signs and volumes of other random contributions from the group’s thousands of members.

And if you like to play with words, here’s another reason for becoming a part of this group. “When WLM was shiny and new, I thought I’d introduce a word game to help break the ice,” says Victoria about Drop a Word/Add a Word, a tradition she started. “Four years and 34,000 comments later, Drop a Word/Add a Word is still being played every day.”

Julie Haigh

Some of the sweetest posts are from WLM members sharing a personal moment, whether it’s a view of the moors outside of their home, the news of the passing of a loved one or a Nighty Night wish and parting shot, posted regularly from another member. This is how we become close; this is how we connect. And you can bet there are plenty of reading recommendations along the way.

The group percolates along thanks to the enthusiasm of its members and even more importantly the dedication of a jumble of admins responsible for posting regular highlights such as Welcome to On this Day, a roundup of interesting tidbits of what happened on that date, all of which provides more fodder for sharing.

Julie Haigh, a piano teacher living in Yorkshire, England, is among the most dedicated of the admins. She’s the ultimate Ever Ready bunny, posting book offers before dawn and organizing WLM’s Sunday Spotlight, a happening that showcases a different author and his or her works every week. “I have plenty of time to pop in on WLM between lessons and waiting for pupils to arrive,” says Julie.

By now, if you love reading and especially memoirs, I should have piqued your interest. C’mon along and join us in the fun. You must, of course, be a part of the Facebook community to be involved. If you are and you want to become a member of We Love Memoirs, message me via Facebook and I’ll make the introduction. Look forward to hearing from you!

I am happy to be featured in WLM’s Sunday Spotlight today! If you become a member now, you can join in on an extended conversation with me about my travel memoir, A Tour of the Heart: A Seductive Cycling Trip Through France, my blog, writing in general and a panoply of other subjects that you’ve always wanted to know about me. (Well, maybe not all.) Know, too, that once a member, you should be able to access the transcript of the feed at any time. Hope to hear from you!

One of Terry Bryan’s Nighty Night Shots