Friday Five: ‘Our Lives in Pieces’ memoirist Tracie Adams

In his book Second Act: What Late Bloomers Can Tell You About Success and Reinventing Your Life, Henry Oliver highlights how some of our world’s most successful people — Vera Wang, Frank Lloyd Wright, Julia Child — achieved their most notable successes later in life. This week’s featured writer, Tracie Adams, might feel at home among those late bloomers. For Tracie, that second act began last year at age 58 with the publication of her first writings in various literary magazines. Her memoir, Our Lives in Pieces: A Collection of Flash Memoir Essays, came out earlier this year and has been praised for its honest reflections on life’s joys and sorrows.

A writer since childhood (when she wrote “truly awful poems about horses and mushrooms”), Tracie spent twenty-five years teaching writing to her four homeschooled children on her family farm in Virginia along with hundreds of other homeschooled and private-schooled kids. “While teaching writing and literature was rewarding,” she writes on her website, “I have found immeasurable joy in retirement as I have finally begun publishing my creative nonfiction work in literary magazines.” And we her readers are the better for it.

1. What inspired you to write your memoir, Our Lives in Pieces, and why did you decide to structure it as a series of concise flash vignettes?

Publishing a book of the collected essays I have written over many decades has been a lifelong dream. These individual essays were inspired by various seasons and moments in my life that brought about significant transformation. The book encompasses reflections on loss in multiple forms, including childhood trauma, pregnancy loss, the passing of friends and family due to cancer and suicide, the adoption of a child with special needs, and my personal journey through recovery from addiction and anorexia. Additionally, there are more uplifting essays that reflect fond childhood memories, my marriage, and my enduring faith.

My background may differ significantly from that of many of my readers. The perspective I have gained from homeschooling my four children on our family farm and working as a hospice volunteer serves as a source of inspiration for much of my writing. While readers may not share these specific experiences, trauma and its profound effects are universal aspects of the human condition. Each reader has encountered grief related to the loss of dreams or expectations. It is my hope that my essays might serve as a small light in the dark seasons where letting go can be particularly difficult.

The decision to structure the book as a collection of fragmented pieces of my life in the form of flash essays unfolded quite organically. While I certainly could write an entire memoir about any one of the topics I cover in the collection, especially about addiction and adoption, I was drawn to the idea of presenting my life in bite-size pieces. Although many of the essays are emotionally heavy, my goal was to infuse the darkest moments of life with the promise of hope that comes from a transformed life.

2. As someone who started writing later in life, how has your life experience shaped your writing voice, and what advantages do you think starting later in life has brought to your creative process?

I have been a writer since childhood, when I wrote some truly awful poems about horses and mushrooms, and in high school when I wrote for the school paper and yearbook. For the past twenty-five years, I have taught creative writing to hundreds of homeschool and private school students. While teaching and guiding young creative minds was rewarding, it did not allow extra time to focus on my own writing. Last year when I retired from teaching at the age of 58, I decided to start publishing my work in literary magazines.

I love this question so much because it assumes that there are advantages in starting later, and indeed there are many. A delayed dream feels even sweeter when achieved. I bring to my writing the strong voice of a woman who has experienced a lot of life and learned the hard way that suffering is never wasted. No other life experience has shaped my writing voice like that of motherhood. Being a mother and grandmother has simultaneously humbled and emboldened me to write from the perspective of a grateful woman who has earned patience and wisdom in the trenches.

3. What one or two pivotal moments in your writing career gave you the confidence to pursue publishing and establish yourself as an author?

In 2021, the mask mandates caused me to have flashbacks from early childhood trauma. Frequent and debilitating panic attacks left me isolated. For the first time, I sought therapy for the panic disorder and treatment for anorexia, which had been my go-to coping mechanism for decades. This exemplifies how my life has undergone significant transformation even in the most desolate places. I’ve always kept a journal, but with the help of my treatment team, I gathered the courage to finally write my way out of the dark. My youngest daughter, 15 at the time, started leaving me sticky notes with words of encouragement. It motivated me to write my own love notes to myself, which soon led to the essays in my debut book. Writing brought about healing I had not known was possible.

I was blessed to experience early success with publishing the essays. In my first year of publishing, I had 37 pieces published. This year, I have already had 31 published, so I’m more than halfway to my goal of 50. Submitting to literary magazines has taught me the importance of revising and making every word do its work. The magazine acceptances gave me the confidence to pursue publishing the book. I have “met” so many wonderful writers and editors in the literary community who have equipped me with knowledge, inspiration, and encouragement. It has changed my life.

4. Which writers or specific works have most influenced your approach to crafting flash memoir, and how have they impacted the way you tell your own stories?

Joining the SmokeLong Fitness workshop has transformed my writing, leading to dozens of flash fiction and creative nonfiction pieces that I would never have written without their teaching and feedback. In the workshop, I read flash pieces written by some iconic writers who are literary heroes of mine. I especially admire the work of Ani King, Emily Rinkema, Beth Sherman, Sage Tyrtle, Claudia Monpere, and so many other writers of flash. Giving feedback on their work was daunting at first, but it has taught me what works and doesn’t work in the flash form. This has developed my ear for the musicality of the language and form of flash.

Outside of SmokeLong, I read a lot of memoirs, many in flash form. A few that I have especially loved are Dinty Moore’s Between Panic and Desire, Allison Field Bell’s collection Edge of the Sea, Carmen Maria Machado’s In the Dream House, and Paul Rousseau’s Friendly Fire: A Fractured Memoir. I have also read some traditional memoirs that have taught me so much about how to tell true stories, including Cheryl Strayed’s Wild and Casey Mulligan Walsh’s The Full Catastrophe. Not only have I read these author’s books, but I attended their book launches and readings, and I listened to their podcast interviews where I gathered valuable information about their writing process and publishing journey. Every day I learn something new to apply to my own writing. It keeps me young at heart.

5. For other “late bloomer” writers — or any writer struggling to find their footing — what advice would you offer to help them overcome self-doubt and embrace their unique journey in writing?

It is never too late to live the dream you have longed for all your life. The best advice I can offer is to find a writing community, in person and online. Surround yourself with those who have blazed the trail before you. If possible, find an accountability partner — a fellow writer who will swap feedback with you. Read everything, not just your preferred genre. Read poetry, speculative fiction and creative nonfiction, thrillers, sci-fi, and fantasy. Opening your mind to new ideas, unique perspectives, and experimental forms will inspire creativity and energize your own writing.

I participate in several writing groups and workshops — SmokeLong Fitness, Flash Fiction Magazine’s Authors Only Collective, and a local in-person Virginia Writers’ Club. These are all valuable resources for networking with other writers and editors. In addition, I attend every reading and free webinar I can. These are also excellent ways to network and gain insight about the publishing world. Imposter syndrome is a challenge for all writers, but for those of us who are late to the party, it can be particularly oppressive. Start publishing in new and smaller literary magazines to build your bio and your confidence. Don’t take rejections personally and don’t self-reject. The more you submit, the more success you will have. Never forget that your voice is unique, and the only thing new under the sun is what you have to offer the literary world.

Connect with Tracie on X/Twitter at @1funnyfarmAdams and on Substack.