Ordinary people / Extraordinary lives
Every line on a face has a story to tell. Do you or someone you know have a story you want to put into words?
Before my holistic pursuits I was a music and culture journalist and I’ve found my way back to writing via memoir consulting and ghost writing.
Over typically a six to twelve month period I can help a client bring to life a manuscript ready to present to publishers and/or a final draft document for self publishing. In addition I can help coordinate the self publishing process to through to the finished product.
The process to produce the manuscript varies depending on each person’s circumstances and story. For example, it may be through a process of recording and transcribing interviews, and/or keeping the client accountable to a schedule to complete their own writing work, consulting and editing along the way through weekly meetings and emails.
Enquiries: alex @ mellowdharma.com
Author: Linda Fenton
Editor/Consultant: Alex Maxwell
Status: Self published 2022
Linda Fenton was the first woman in Australia to go to court for unfair dismissal after she was made redundant while on maternity leave in 1996. Strong Women Cry Too is her unflinching account of workplace discrimination and bullying in Australia from 1980 until 2016, the year she fell into a 'black hole' of depression, and her subsequent journey of putting her life back together. Along the way she reflects on how Australian society continues to fall short in the areas of workplace culture, women's equality and mental health, as well as considering where we are now and what still needs to change.
Blind but not Broken. 2020
Author: Steph Campbell. Ghostwriter: Alex Maxwell
Status: Second draft of 80,000 words completed, currently unpublished.
Synopsis:
In 2004 Stephanie Campbell’s mother Linda was diagnosed with a genetic condition that would eventually result in blindness. Steph failed Year 12 but landed on her feet when she got a job in real estate. She was then diagnosed with the same condition. Steph had a happy childhood growing up in Mt Isa with three younger brothers and in her teens the family moved to Armidale. Steph decided to live life to the full and took a Greek Islands holiday. Upon returning her first relationship ended and she moved to DayDream Island and then Darwin. Over four years she excelled professionally in real estate but the reality of slowly losing her sight led to a personal crisis and another relationship breakdown.
Steph moved back to the support of her family in Armidale before getting back with her ex and moving to Melbourne. In denial about her vision loss and the state of her relationship Steph hit perhaps her lowest low. A turning point came when she attended Oprah’s speaking tour and realised life held a bigger purpose for her. She also met her neighbour Rob and they were soon inseparable. They were brought even closer together by the Bourke St tragedy, where Rob was one of the first police on the scene. Steph left her toxic employers at the time and she and Rob embarked on a sensory adventure of South-East Asia. Steph then began the process of being matched with her guide dog Rocky and said ‘yes’ to Rob’s marriage proposal in 2017. Renowned wedding photographer James Day asked to document her search for a wedding dress and the resulting pictures created a lot of media interest. At their sensory wedding on the Sunshine Coast the guests wore blindfolds and again the media caught wind. Steph now works with Dylan Alcott’s Get Skilled Access and speaks publicly around raising disability awareness.