WRITING
What a Boost! A Huge Congrats to Five of Our Writers….
The Memoirist’s first week in the Boost program starts off with a bang!
Following Christopher Robin’s announcement last week that we were chosen to join the Medium Boost Beta program, we’re proud to announce that all five of our recommended stories received a boost.
These five stories — four from The Memoirist and one from Age of Empathy — may receive anywhere from several hundred to several thousands of new readers from this program.
If you’ve not read them, we encourage you to do so. They are wonderful stories.
- The Weight of Memories by Tracy Willis. The Weight of Memories is a beautiful story that takes us on a journey as Tracy sifts through her mother’s belongings on a trip home to see her father. It’s a beautifully written remembrance of her mother who she lost to Alzheimer’s and how relics from the past can make the ghosts of loved ones we’ve lost more vivid.
- The Day God Met Me at The River by Arpad Nagy. Just take one look through the 40 comments — I don’t think there is a single reader this story didn’t shake to the core and move them on a transcendental level. This story deserves all the attention and gets and then some. One of the best we’ve seen on Medium in a long time.
- Home in Pink High Heels by Michelle Scorziello. This was a stunning and relatable memoir from teenage years. Innocence, naiveté, subtlety all combine with beautiful descriptions of a night long ago. Gorgeous imagery, and a fabulous way to remember a long-lost friend from childhood.
- A Slumber Party With My Comatose Dad by Julie Hall. This story took my breath away when I read it. She wrote it originally for the high school prompt, but it is so much more than that. When I say she takes you on an emotional journey, I mean it. I’m still thinking about this piece a day after.
- For You, I’d Buy My Kids a Cockroach by Kendra Sparkles (posted in Age of Empathy). One word: Maryjo. If you don’t have a Maryjo in your life, you’ll wish you did…or you’ll wish you could have borrowed Kendra’s. This is a beautifully touching piece that reminds us to call those we love, laugh with them, and dance on the beach together while they’re with us.
[Edit: I’ve just learned we had another piece this week that was boosted in The Memoirist. If you also earned a boost this past week from The Memoirist or Age of Empathy and are not listed, let me know and I’ll add you in!]
6. He’s So Shy…and…So Sick (Remembering Friends and Disco) by Terry Barr. This riveting piece is a touching and candid memoir about Terry’s life during the 1980s A.I.D.S. era. Disco was “dying” and so were men — a couple of them we meet through Terry’s beautiful storytelling.
How You Can Earn a Boost
There is such a vast pool of talent at all of the Tranquil Tavern publications that it is incredibly hard to pick just a few each week. So how do we know which ones to pick? What are we looking for?
We’re looking for the stellar standouts. And we cannot nominate a story to be boosted if it doesn’t meet Medium’s distribution standards or include excessive self-promotion. Also, please don’t come to us asking to be boosted. Stories will be nominated based on a series of set requirements and our best judgment.
Do you have what it takes to earn a boost? We believe you do. Chris said it best in his post:
Ultimately, for our memoirists and personal essayists, you have the power. You must make us feel your memoir. We need to go back to that place with you, see what you see, feel what you feel, touch what you touch. We want to laugh and cry when you do. The same goes for a personal essay. Take us on a journey with you. Use original imagery. Make the story mean as much to us as it does to you. Make us think about it days later.
Read more about our part in the Medium Boost Beta Program here.
Congrats to our lucky first five and — to everyone — keep up the amazing work. Your stories and dedication are amazing.
Love, Chris and Kristi
This week’s boosted stories:
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