Guest Post with N. Daniel, Burn This City to the Ground

As Daniel recovers from a psychotic episode and months long mental health civil commitment, he befriends a youthful quadriplegic named Samantha who is dealing with life-threatening health problems.

Welcome to one of the February 8th stops on the blog tour for Burn This City to the Ground by N. Daniel with Goddess Fish Promotions. Be sure to follow the rest of the tour for spotlights, reviews, author guest posts & interviews, and a giveaway! More on that at the end of this post.

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Author Guest Post

Navigating the Minefield that is Memoir – A Beginners Guide

I began writing my memoirs in 2013. I was at the end of my rope and contemplating suicide. In a last ditch effort to share my legacy with other people I began telling the story of how I arrived at such a dire conclusion. It seemed that I had fallen in love with the wrong person and in their apathy I found my damnation. During this period of mental turmoil I discovered hope that my story could continue. After experiencing an extreme psychotic episode I was committed to a mental health hospital. This was where I completed my first book, telling the story of how I arrived at such a place and how I was allowed to escape. My second memoir starts off at the halfway house I was sanctioned to afterward. In a moment of inspiration an aspiring resident had set the situation on fire. Thus, my new book “Burn This City to the Ground” was born.

            How I became acquainted with memoir was trial and error at best. I still have no literature or writing mentor to guide me. No scribe willing to show me the path to a career or something more. The ropes I have found I have learned for myself and it is here I offer guidance to those following behind. The individuals unheard who have the wisdom to speak their minds, to show others what life is like in the deepest depths of the human psyche. I too have found myself writing about regions yet to be explored. “Where the Streets Have No Name” as the band U2 intoned. Many of us are out here on the perimeter with no barometer to understand where we are, what we’re doing and sometimes who we are in our confusion. I feel writing about our experiences is a duty, to navigate the unexplored corners of the mind. Our medium? Memoir of course.

            To begin, you must understand that our memories are only daydreams. We cannot always recreate the time, the place or even the period in our lives when everything occurred. The goal is to craft a cohesive story with a beginning, several climaxes and an ending. Life is complicated with so many ins, outs and loose ends that writing word for word factual can be confusing and distracting at best. Memoir was described to me by some one I googled as “what feels genuine to the author.” With that being said, throw the order of events out the window but still write what is true to you. Use a loose guideline. The narratives and lessons you learned through your story can be weaved throughout this timeline as strands of consciousness through the loom of humanity. The only matter is what your readership can take away from what you are saying. What may have taken you, the author, years to understand could take a reader pages to comprehend. Relaying your knowledge should be at the forefront of your writing.

            Next, the truth is important. The closer to reality your novel is the better. Consider memoir a conversation between what is real and what is interesting. You want to ride the tide, as a wave in the ocean. Keep it concise. Keep it factual. Your deviations only serve to convey the things that you did not understand at the time. There are no heroes or villains. Everyone is the villain in some one’s story. Make your characters real. Give them flaws and strengths. Explain why they are wrong in a meaningful and sympathetic way. Never judge whenever possible. Be honest about yourself. Who you are is paramount. No one likes a “Mary Sue.” Be bold, be wrong, make mistakes and learn from them. You will learn more about yourself in your writing than your readership ever will. Making yourself vulnerable will be dangerous. Consider it exciting, adventurous, revolutionary. You will get through it. You will survive. The cost will be your own comfort but others will be comforted in your stead. Isn’t that amazing? That is the beauty of writing memoir. Break new ground. Tread new territory. “Where the Streets Have No Name.” It will be you. As far as your story is concerned, no one can break that seal but yourself.

            The last thing I can say about writing is, live a life worth writing about. Take the risk. Dream the impossible dreams. I know we can’t all go on thousand dollar vacations on a regular basis but when has sightseeing been an equation for living life? Help people in need! Be involved in the lives of others. Make sacrifices, because no shortcoming was ever overcome without them. Believe me when I say it is difficult to be brave. I turned eighteen on September 9^th, 2001 and I was scared to death of being drafted into the military. Cowardly at best but I learned to put myself in difficult situations. Through working in inner city schools, living in downtown Minneapolis and finally spending my weekends in the same homeless shelter as George Floyd. Confront situations that scare you. You don’t have to do it all at once but little by little. You don’t have to write it all down but remember the feeling. Remember the people who helped you and how you made it through. Keep going. If I could grow, find my footing and continue on in the struggle you can too! Write your story. Share everything. Never be afraid because odds are, some one else, somewhere has been through it too. Write for them. Write for yourself.

If you need help write me! author@ndaniel.us

You can do it!

Yours,
N. Daniel

About the Book

Burn This City to the Ground
by N. Daniel

Published 7 December 2021
Liminal Books

Genre: Non-Fiction, Memoir
Page Count: 244
Add it to your Goodreads TBR!

As Daniel recovers from a psychotic episode and months long mental health civil commitment, he befriends a youthful quadriplegic named Samantha who is dealing with life-threatening health problems. When cohabitation becomes necessary for Sam, caregiver and client both move to downtown Minneapolis to begin a new life together. Before they can get settled in, Daniel is diagnosed with stage 3 cancer and must undergo multiple surgeries. The two navigate the American healthcare system and work towards Samantha’s eventual independence, however, their relationship becomes toxic when a global pandemic shakes the nation and George Floyd is murdered by Minneapolis police officers.

Based on the author’s life, this endearing platonic love story is the gooey center of a turbulent world set aflame. Through the laughter and the tears, Samantha and Daniel play off each other like a tragic comedy duo that’s hell bent on finding humor within the most savage aspects of their everyday lives.

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Excerpt

“Janet,” I poked her. “Guess what I am listening to?” 

“What?” she smiled. 

“Sade!” 

“Damn man, you are always listening to Sade down here. Sweetest Taboo, Cherish the Day, Lord those were my glory years. Amen.” 

I did the sign of the cross and got into the serving line. I dished out chicken tenders and waffles with some very thin soupy maple syrup that tasted a lot better than its consistency suggested. I glanced over at Janet who had her back turned to me. A weary, toothless woman approached the buffet. I made her plate and handed it to her. 

“Son, I need more chicken than this to get through the day. Why don’t you give me a few more pieces? Even just one more would be good.” 

Janet’s ears perked up. She turned to address the woman. 

“Hey, hey! Listen. If we be giving you extra chicken, we will need to be giving EVERYBODY extra chicken. You just move along, lady. Don’t hold up the line. If there is extra, we will hand it out but for now everybody has got to eat.” 

The woman mumbled something to herself and moved on, slowly down the line. I saw Floyd remove a lot of disgruntled customers through the months but that only happened when they threw up a fuss. Janet kept it orderly, disciplined. Floyd took care of the troublemakers. That’s just how things worked at the Salvation Army shelter.

About the Author

N. Daniel works as a medical caregiver in the greater Minneapolis/Saint Paul Metropolitan area in the Winter and as a landscape laborer for his father in Winona, MN in the Summer. His debut writing effort, “Corners Untouched by Madness: A Personal Journey of Overcoming Mental Illness,” has enjoyed modest success in certain writing circles. The Author lives with his wife and two dogs just outside of downtown Minneapolis.

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Giveaway Alert!

N. Daniel will be awarding a $25 Amazon or Barnes & Noble gift card to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

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