I am an idea amalgamator, a storyteller, a message deliverer, a hope infuser, a motivation catalyzer.
I speak at conferences, universities, writing workshops, storytelling gatherings, retreats, and charity events. I speak on the radio, in webinars, and on online platforms.
I speak to healthcare providers and students, to patients, to writers, to those in need of hope, and to those who hope to make the world a better place.
If you’d like me to speak at your event, you can reach me at {This email is obscured. Your must have javascript enabled to see it}.
Upcoming Speaking Engagements
Previous Speaking Engagements
May 22, 2024, 6:30-7:30PM: Bailey Public Library in Winthrop, Maine, speaker series.
May 3, 2024, 12-1PM PACIFIC/3-4PM EASTERN, The Humanities Institute, UC Santa Cruz, American Breakdown Conversation with Megan Moodie-Brasoveanu, PhD. Free and open to the public.
April 14, 2024, 6-7PM PACIFIC, Get Lit! Festival, Eastern Washington University, Social Justice and the Braided Narrative, with Sofia Ali-Khan, Author of A Good Country: My Life in Twelve Towns and the Devastating Battle for a White America, FREE ONLINE EVENT.
April 10, 2024, The Chemical Sensitivity Podcast, with Aaron Goodman, PhD.
March 27, 2024, The Well Woman Show podcast with Giovanna Rossi, “Changing the Narrative Helps Us Heal.”
March 5, 6:15-7:15PM, Longfellow Books, Reading and conversation to celebrate the launch of Penny Guisinger’s Shift: A Memoir of Identity and Other Illusions.
February 27, 2024, Guest Presenter, Dr. Jennifer Tuttle’s Topics in Literature and Health: Patient Narratives class, University of New England, Biddeford Campus. Class Q & A about American Breakdown.
February 10, 2024, Kansas City, Missouri: AWP panel: The Facts Behind Memoir: How Research Expands the Vision and Market for Stories, with Sofia Ali-Khan, author of A Good Country: My Life in Twelve Towns and the Devastating Battle for a White America; Minna Dubin, author of Mom Rage: The Everyday Crisis of Modern Motherhood; and Jody Keisner, author of Under My Bed and Other Essays.
February 9, 2024, Kansas City, Missouri: AWP panel: Hybrid Memoir: Weaving Personal Narrative with Research, with Heather Lanier, author of Raising a Rare Girl; Sonia Huber, author of Love and Industry: A Midwestern Notebook; Daisy Hernandez, author of The Kissing Bug, and Catina Bacote.
February 8, 2024, Bad Seed, 1909 McGee St., Kansas City, MO. AWP offsite event, Social Justice Story Time, with Sofia Ali-Khan, author of A Good Country: My Life in Twelve Towns and the Devastating Battle for a White America; Sunu Chandy, author of My Dear Comrades; Jen Soriano, author of Nervous: Essays on Heritage and Healing; and Andrew Johnson, author of On Earth As It Is: Essays and Ephemera.
January 10, 2024: Online event in conversation with theater director and yoga teacher Julia Lee Barclay-Morton, author of The Mortality Shot. Watch here.
November 14, 2023, Guest Presenter, Dr. Abigayle Farrier’s Introduction to Fiction class (two sections), Texas Christian University (via Zoom). Class Q & A about American Breakdown.
October 5, 2023: Emory College of Arts and Sciences, Center for the Study of Human Health, Author Q&A Series. ONLINE, free, and open to the public. Watch here.
September 26, 2023, 6-7:30PM: Curtis Memorial Library, Brunswick, Maine, in conversation with Jane Brox, author of Silence: A Social History of One of the Least Understood Elements of Our Lives. Learn more here.
September 9, 2023, 2-5PM: Greene Block Studios, Waterville, ME, Launch Party for Sick, Issue 5.
August 27, 2023, 6-7PM: Twenty Stories, 107 Ives Street, Providence, RI, in conversation with Kerri Arsenault, author of Mill Town. Learn more here.
August 25, 2023, 7PM: Brookline Booksmith, 279 Harvard Street, Brookline, MA, in conversation with women’s health journalist Catherine Guthrie, author of Flat: Reclaiming My Body from Breast Cancer. Learn more here.
August 18, 6:30PM: Book group. (Private event.)
August 13, 2023, 1-2:30PM ET: Hippocamp Minis (online), Talk: “On Chaos and the Researched Braided Memoir.”
August 8, 2023, 7-9PM ET: Project for Advancing Healthcare Stewardship Forum, with science writer Amy Rogers. Online. IT’S FREE! Learn more here.
July 26, 2023, 6-7:30PM: Book event at Parson’s Memorial Library in Alfred, Maine, in conversation with historian Dr. Elizabeth DeWolfe, author of The Murder of Mary Bean and Other Stories. Learn more here.
June 25, 11AM-12PM ET, WGAN, 98.5FM in Maine, A Healthy Conversation radio show and podcast, with hosts Steve Woods and Dr. Jeff Barkin. Listen here. (The interview is in the third and fourth track.)
June 7, 2023: This Is Hell! radio show (live) and podcast, with host Chuck Mirtz. Listen here.
May 28, 2023: Next Big Idea Club, Five Key Insights from American Breakdown. Read and listen here.
May 24, 2023: Charis Books online event in conversation with Sandra Lambert, NEA winner and author of A Certain Loneliness. Watch here.
May 9, 2023: Let’s Talk Memoir podcast, interview with host Ronit Plank. Listen here.
May 8, 2023: BOOK LAUNCH!! At Mechanics’ Hall, Portland, Maine. With Chelsea Conaboy, author of the fascinating Mother Brain: How Neuroscience is Rewriting the Story of Parenthood. To view, click here.
March 8, 2023, 7-9PM, Guest Reader, Alternative Writers’ Party for 2023 debut authors, hosted by the Maine Writers and Publisher’s Alliance, at Space.
February 1, 2023, Guest Presenter, Kristi Coulter’s workshop, Writing About Other People, online through Hugo House. Topic: “Evidence, in Track Changes.”
October 8, 2022, Panelist, Maine Lit Fest, Maine Writers and Publishers Alliance. Topic: Writing the Natural World.
April 21, 2022, Virtual Reading and Conversation with fellow Goldfarb Family Fellowship recipients Iraj Isaac Rahmim and Aurvi Sharma, Virginia Center for the Creative Arts Fireplace Series.
March 29 & 30, 2022, Guest Presenter, Dr. Kristine Ervin’s Creative Writing classes (via Zoom), West Chester University. Topic: “Evidence, in Track Changes.”
September 10, 2015, Guest Presenter, Dr. Heidi Hutner’s Environmental Literature class (via Skype), Stony Brook University. Topic: “Exposed: The Mammogram Myth and the Pinkwashing of America.”
April 28, 2015, Presenter, Webinar, Shepell Employee Assistance Program. Topic: Helping Our Clients Answer the Call to Adventure: A Therapist’s Guide to the Hero’s Journey.
Oct. 17, 2014, Workshop Facilitator, Annual Conference, Maine Mental Health Counselors Association. Topic: Writing for Personal Transformation.
October 17, 2013, Co-Presenter with Susan Fekety, RN, MSN, CNM, Healthy Living Health Care, Maine. Topic: Breast Health for the 21st Century.
September 19, 2013, Interviewee, Big Talk, WMPG, Maine. Topic: “Exposed: The Mammogram Myth and the Pinkwashing of America.”
August 5, 2013, Reader, Word Portland. Topic: “The Butterfly Effect.”
July 16, 2013, Presenter, Stonecoast MFA in Creative Writing, University of Southern Maine. Topic: Writing the Body
April 4, 2013, Co-Presenter, University of New England 11th Annual Interprofessional Spring Symposium: “The Science of Pain and the Art of Healing.” Topic: What Can Health Professionals Learn from Patient Narratives? A Humanistic Approach to Health Care.
October 13, 2012, Speaker, Annual Conference, Maine Chapter, National Association of Social Workers (NASW). Topic: Acceptance Speech: Maine Social Worker of the Year Award.
February 19, 2012, Teller, Slant storytelling night, hosted by The Telling Room and Space Gallery, Maine. Topic: “The Butterfly Effect.”
August 17, 2011, Presenter, The Writer’s Conference at Ocean Park, Maine. Topic: Writing for Personal Transformation.
March 9, 2011, Panelist, University of New England. Topic: Storytelling and Narrative Medicine.
February 8, 2011, Reader, KGB Bar Reading Series Hosted by Creative Nonfiction, New York City. Topic: “The Butterfly Effect.”
April 22, 2010, Interviewee, Big Talk, WMPG, Maine. Topic: Book-in-Progress: American Breakdown.
June 18, 2006, Panelist, Fourth International Conference on Charlotte Perkins Gilman, University of New England. Topic: “ ‘There are things in that wallpaper that nobody knows but me’: An Alternative Reading of Neurasthenia”.