Wednesday, September 17, 2014

Series 6, Post 2: Nonfiction about Strong Women and the Qualities they Share


My first experience with nonfiction, and perhaps most peoples first experience, was with the Diary of Anne Frank. 

I remember reading it and thinking it was hard to believe; that was someone's real life. Anne Frank went through such a dramatic and traumatic experience during her short life that it was hard to grasp the story being true. It's more than just a memoir, it's a personal journal. The entire book was moving, made more so by the fact that it was real. 

From there I went through a non-fiction stage. Nothing nearly as powerful as The Diary of Anne Frank, but mainly stories of women.

I went through a phase best known as my "Marilyn Monroe" years, where I became obsessed with knowing more about her. I know a bit too much about this iconic movie star. I can tell you her real name, the movies she starred in, the tragedy of her trying to become a mother, and all about her husbands and why the split. Want to talk about her death and the conspiracy theories which surround it? I know them all and I also have my favorite theories. 

Recently I started reading Orange is the New Black, a memoir about Piper Kerman, a lady in her mid-thirties who went to prison for a crime she committed 10 years prior. At times Kerman comes off a tad pretentious for my taste but overall this is another strong non-fiction work, lead by a strong female voice. She raises questions about our current prison system that I had heard about before, but never truly took the time to think on, until I read this book. 

Shiny Happy People Publishing may be full steam ahead with stationery products currently, but it's always been our goal to reach a point where we can start publishing our own books as well. 

One of the divisions we hope to achieve is a nonfiction division, mainly nonfiction works surrounding strong female figures. There are many women with powerful stories to share. 

As I mentioned above, whether a brave courageous person such as Anne Frank, a glamourous movie star like Marilyn Monroe, or a small taste of female prison life through Piper Kerman... many of the titles I've experienced in non-fiction are very heavily female dominant. 

These stories are moving, powerful and eye opening.  They are on a subject I cannot wait to someday publish under Shiny Happy People Publishing, LLC.

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