Frankenstein made me a memoirist

Author's Day tribute to

on this, National Author's Day I’m giving credit where it’s due.

Two books made me a writer…

I won’t tell you about “Tickle Pinkle” right now, (the illustrated children's book published by that literary giant Mattel toys), but watch for that story in a followup post.

The novel that made me a memoirist might surprise you…it’s Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. What book influenced you? Go back, waa-aayy back even…what impacted you? What made you fall in love with books, want to be a writer, start building your to-be-read stack or book mountain? 

Some books become digested into our identity. For me, that is Frankenstein. I’m leaning into my decades with this book in my memoir in progress. 

The value and import of Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin Shelley’s novel, remarkable in structure, unparalleled in its diction, (in my humble opinion) is too often attributed to its Gothic horror story qualities. For me “Frank” is a profound exploration of abandonment, loss, and the yearning for belonging; Mary Shelley’s own, and that of the Creature. And those features spoke to me; I knew them well personally.

But this requires reading it, folks, and not just gawking at and then accepting a lot of the movie depictions…(I’m gonna rant here) … those same sensationalized depictions are to blame for the massive error about the book’s title and two central characters… Frankenstein was the doctor, NOT the Creature. (My soapbox on this one is well worn.) 

I found inspiration in Frankenstein on so many levels. First, that its structure was so meticulous (it is a story told, inside a story told, inside a story told…did you know that?). The novel is written by a young female writer who was the child of powerful political thought and literary force parents, and surrounded by the most famous poets and writers of the early 1800’s. When I read the Introduction and Author’s notes in the opening of the Penguin Classics version, I was left gobsmacked at what it must have taken for Mary Shelley to sink into her curiosity on science at the time and human nature. 

But that’s not why it stuck with me. The seven central chapters of the book are the Creature’s story, and this is where so much of the craft is revealed. The novel taught me so much of what I now teach - the scene is the thing - the way readers are attracted and their attentions held are due to relatability, shared vulnerability and their view of transformation gleaned from well-crafted scenes. It also showed me that even the darkest stories can contain profound truths and offer valuable lessons when well-told. Finally, I recognized the yearning for validation, love and belonging that was at the novel’s core…in Walton, Dr. Frankenstein AND the creature.

Frankenstein made me a memoirist. 

I'll defend Frankenstein to my last breath because I’m loyal like a wolf to it. Mary Shelley made me a believer in the union of story alchemy and architecture.

I didn’t always know this, folks. Want to know I secret? I figured out Frankenstein’s role by writing my latest manuscript.

Did you see me and my reference book stack on Instagram today?

Pick up a much loved book today and thank it’s author…who most certainly wrote with intention and attention so that you could savour what you found in the book’s pages.

Thanks, Mary.