Humancraft

Reyna Grande is an award-winning novelist and memoirist. She is the author of the bestselling memoirs, The Distance Between Us and A Dream Called Home, where she writes about her life before and after she arrived in the United States from Mexico as an undocumented child immigrant. Her other works include the novels, Across a Hundred Mountains, Dancing with Butterflies, and A Ballad of Love and Glory, a novel set during the Mexican-...

Judy Liautaud is the author of two memoirs, the first titled “Sunlight on My Shadow: A Birth Mother’s Journey From Secrecy to Renewal,” and the second titled “South of Ordinary: A Moving Tale of Young Love and Self-Discovery.” She’s also the author and publisher of several children’s educational books through her publishing company City Creek Press, including “Times Tables the Fun Way,” “Addition the Fun Way,” and “Story Problems t...

Nicca Ray is the author of “Ray by Ray: A Daughter’s Take on the Legend of Nicholas Ray,” a blend of memoir and biography about her famous father and the impact of his absence in her life. She is also the author of poetry collections titled “Back Seat Baby,” “Curve,” and “Go Go Go Girl.” Her second memoir, “Love and Cigarettes” is coming soon, and her play “Cry of the Butterfly” will be performed in New York City in Fall 2025. In o...

Christina Vo is a Vietnamese-American writer and the author of two memoirs, one titled “The Veil Between Two Worlds,” and the other a dual memoir written with her father called, “My Vietnam, Your Vietnam.” In our interview, we discuss the differences in experiences and perspectives between her and her father, who fled post-war Vietnam in the 1970s; the death of her mother when she was a teenager; her extended journeys to Vietnam as...

Ron Jansen is a Marine combat veteran and the author of a memoir titled, “An Otherwise Healthy Person: A Marine’s Story of Going to Fallujah and Fighting to Come Home.” In our interview, he discusses his deployment to Fallujah during a time of intense fighting between the U.S. military and the Al Qaeda-backed insurgency, the challenges he faced when he returned home and was confronted with his own internal battles, and his ultimate...

Shelly Edwards Jorgensen is the author of a memoir titled "Beautiful Ashes: A True Story of Murder, Betrayal, and One Woman’s Search for Peace.” In the memoir and in our interview, Shelly talks about multiple traumas she experienced growing up, including living with an alcoholic, abusive father both before and after he murdered her mother; testifying against him at his trial; and suffering sexual assault. She also discusses th...

Donell Barlow is a prolific author, having published a memoir called "Medicine Tracks,” two children’s books called “Bigfoot and Lightening Bug” and “Creature Teacher Yoga,” and a poetry book titled “Words Have No Meaning.” She is Yurok and an enrolled member of the Ottawa Tribe, Otter Clan. She works with Native communities as a Research and Training Coordinator and Certified Holistic Health Coach. In our interview, Donell ta...

Gilbert Mfitundinda is the author of a book titled, “Life’s Lens: Looking Through the Eyes of a Compassion International Child” a memoir about his life growing up in extreme poverty in Uganda and later moving to the United States. He is also the founder and CEO of a non-profit called Love Restoration, an organization that provides education, nutrition, and health care to children in Uganda. In our interview, Gilbert discusses his l...

Michelle Schuman is a retired ecologist who specialized in wetland science and environmental policy in Alaska for more than four decades. Part of her work in Alaska included acting as a first responder at the Exxon oil spill, a major environmental disaster that occurred in 1989. She is also the author of a novel called “Jaquar Moon,” and a memoir titled, “The Understory: A Female Environmentalist in the Land of The Midnight Sun.” I...

Randi Fine is a pioneer in the narcissistic abuse movement and a narcissistic abuse expert and coach. She is also a podcast host and the author of a book called “Close Encounters of the Worst Kind: The Narcissistic Abuse Survivor's Guide to Healing and Recovery” and a memoir titled “Cliffedge Road.” In our interview, Randi talks about narcissistic personality disorder, narcissistic abuse, her own experience of having a parent ...

Rick Evans is a motivational speaker, entrepreneur, activist, veteran, and author of a book titled, “My Life for Yours,” a memoir about the challenges he's overcome in his life. In our interview, Rick discusses how he navigated the extreme hardships of his childhood, including his mother’s incarceration for murder when he was only six years old, and how he ultimately embraced leadership, hard work, compassion, and positivity t...

My guest today is Lamees Al Ethari. Lamees holds a Ph.D. from the Department of English Language and Literature at the University of Waterloo in Canada, where she teaches creative and academic writing and literature. Her publications include a poetry collection titled “From the Wounded Banks of the Tigris” and a memoir titled “Waiting for the Rain: An Iraqi Memoir." Both publications focus on her experiences living through the...

Susan Hutchinson is the author of a book called “Forever with Me,” a memoir about the lives and tragic deaths of not one but two of her daughters within a five-year time period. In our interview, Susan talks about her book, her grieving processes, and how she ultimately survived with the determination to keep living life to the fullest and the desire to show others in her position that they too can make it to the other side. 
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Heather Bond is the author of a book called “Athena Rising,” a memoir about the extraordinary experiences she’s had in her life and how they ultimately led her on a path of self-discovery and transformation. She is also the founder of a group called Trekking Ambassadors, a team of international adventurers who provide solar lights and eyeglasses to remote villages with little or no electricity and a lack of essential supplies. In h...

Shani Raviv is the author of a book called “Being Ana: A Memoir of Anorexia Nervosa.” She is also the creator of “Journey Writing Circles,” a group healing experience in which women and teen girls journal, share, and connect. In our interview, Shani discusses what it was like for her to live with anorexia for ten years of her life and how she was able to recover and create a full, nourishing life.  

Link to her book: https...