We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Marian Beaman a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Marian, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?

The most meaningful project I’ve worked on is writing two memoirs. The first is the story of my early life as a Mennonite girl in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. The second, a sequel, tells the story of my long marriage to artist husband Cliff in Florida.

When I retired from college teaching, I missed the camaraderie of my peers and interaction with students. Consequently, I started a blog, which led to writing posts about my my heritage and family life. My blog followers, several of whom were authors themselves, urged me to write a memoir. In 2019 I published Mennonite Daughter: The Story of a Plain Girl, which records the charms and challenges of growing up in a strict culture and finding my own identity. My second memoir, My Checkered Life: A Marriage Memoir depicts the peaks and valleys of a 50+ year marriage (2023).

My writing has left a legacy for my grandchildren, but has also provided a venue to express myself creatively. I value both outcomes!

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I felt restless after a long career teaching and wanted to interact with others. I explored blogging and met wonderful writers online who encouraged me to tell my stories. Teaching English and writing essays for college journals, however, did not prepare me for writing stories about my heritage, so I took two courses to help me learn my craft: One, a course on writing memoir sponsored by the National Association of Memoirs Writers, and the other, a family history course taught by a historian and poet.

Since 2013, I have blogged regularly at https://marianbeaman.com, my website. I enjoy pairing stories with photographs. Often my husband enhances my blog posts with original artwork including cartoons. He has contributed cover design and art work for both my memoirs, an added feature.

I am happy to say that I have a reciprocal relationship with my readers/writers; I believe it’s important to support them by showcasing their work on my blog and write reviews for their books as well.

To date, I publish my blog via WordPress.com and on Substack.com. My books are available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other outlets.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

Years ago, my artist-husband Cliff was invited to sign a contract with a school assembly business to provide art performances in public schools in the Southeast USA. He was away from his family for weeks and I and our children missed him. He got the bright idea to buy a travel trailer and have us accompany him. The concept of keeping our family together was a good one, but it meant I was isolated from my friends and family, alone in a campground with two small children all day long. He kept his contract with the school assembly people, and I persevered though I have no interest in such an arrangement ever again.

I believe that everything in our lives, the good and the bad can be a bridge to a more meaningful view of life. As poet Mary Oliver mentions in “the Journey” though I have traveled a road full of “fallen/branches and stone,” along the way I have found my own voice and the courage to move forward. (I tell the full story in My Checkered Life: A Marriage Memoir.

Have you ever had to pivot?

Writing memoir requires several types of editors: developmental (writing a cohesive story), copyediting (consistency in writing), proofreading (correcting grammatical errors). I employed all of these. Also, several of my author friends served as beta readers with the idea that they would read a copy and then write a blurb for my book.

Finally, the book went to press, and I okayed the printing. To my horror, some of the text was transposed in one of the chapters. Even though I had checked and re-checked the manuscript multiple times, the error squeaked through. Fortunately, I caught the egregious mistake when I read the e-book, the Kindle version. Of course, the books with errors were not usable, but the publisher destroyed Run #1 and readers now can be assured that they are buying a perfectly edited and illustrated marriage memoir.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://marianbeaman.com
• Instagram: https://Instagram.com/marianbeaman/
• Facebook: https://facebook.com/marian.beaman/
• Linkedin: https://linkedIn.com/marianbeaman/
• Twitter: https://x.com/martabeaman
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@MariansYouTube

Image Credits

Marian Beaman
Cliff Beaman