Author Archives: Ann C. Averill

Does Your Story Add Up?

Posted on May 18, 2026 by Ann C. Averill

Memoir Writing Series #2 In the first step of this series, I talked about finding the theme of your story by identifying emotions illustrated in your writing and how they point to what is at stake for the main character, … Continue reading →

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How to Eat an Elephant

Posted on April 11, 2026 by Ann C. Averill

How to begin the monumental task of writing your own memoir is like eating an elephant, one bite at a time. Continue reading →

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Where, Oh Death, Is Now Your Sting?

Posted on October 31, 2025 by Ann C. Averill

I am of an age where I go to a lot of funerals. Robert Redford and Diane Keaton, icons from my youth, recently departed. A close friend lost her husband, another her mother-in-law, another her beloved dad. That same week … Continue reading →

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The Write Words at the Right Time

Posted on October 28, 2025 by Ann C. Averill

I recently read this quote on the FB page of author Robin Gunn. “On days — or weeks — when life seems to enter a floundering pause, I take comfort from this thought Lilias Trotter wrote in 1903 when she … Continue reading →

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Discovering Recovery Church

Posted on August 29, 2025 by Ann C. Averill

A few nights ago, I went to a local Recovery Church with a friend who, like me, had devastating alcoholism in her family.  I wasn’t sure what I’d find or exactly what I was looking for when I walked into … Continue reading →

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No Overnight Success

Posted on August 22, 2025 by Ann C. Averill

I just published my memoir, Unmoored, How An Adoptee found Her True Identity. I am 72 years old, and I couldn’t have done it a moment sooner. Let me explain. I’ve always loved stories. As a small child at my … Continue reading →

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Painting and Publishing

Posted on July 29, 2025 by Ann C. Averill

I did two bold things yesterday. First, I pressed the PUBLISH button on Amazon for my memoir, Unmoored, How an Adoptee Found Her True Identity.  TA DA! And two, I finished painting my living room a deep oceanic blue. This … Continue reading →

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As an Outsider

Posted on June 17, 2025 by Ann C. Averill

More than twenty years ago I was teaching first-generation immigrant students in a public high school. They came from every trouble spot around the globe. They had crossed oceans, continents, deserts, and landed in my ELL classroom. My charge was … Continue reading →

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Where Have I Been? I Finished my Memoir.

Posted on June 7, 2025 by Ann C. Averill

Dear readers, Why haven’t I blogged for over a year? First, I broke my wrist. Then my husband was hospitalized with a complicated case of pneumonia. I fell out of the habit of weekly blogging and became distracted by the … Continue reading →

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It Takes a Village

Posted on April 12, 2024 by Ann C. Averill

This week, as part of my book launch activities, I’ve been reading up on how to formulate a request for an endorsement of my memoir, Unmoored: How an Adoptee Lost and Found Her Deepest Identity in Jesus. In other words, … Continue reading →

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