I think I can safely say that at this moment in our nation there is a “general interest” in cults. So, I’m promoting Undertow today as part of the conversation on that topic.
People are asking me whether Trump + followers = a cult. A good take on that is Chapter 7 of Robert Jay Lifton’s book, Losing Reality: The Mindset of Political and Religious Zealotry. (The New Press. 2019). I now also refer folks to my recent blog, What is a Cult?
Undertow‘s 4th birthday
Four years ago I published Undertow (my story of 17 years in a cult) in November, 2016. Back then, some of you ordered it directly from me. Thank you for your support of this story, which seems more relevant with every passing day.
Where in the world is Undertow?
Since its debut, Undertow has been ordered and is still being ordered every month from readers all over the U.S. and in English-speaking countries like Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, and the United Kingdom, and by folks who speak English in other countries.
News: A class in “Extremes of Religion” at Rollins College, taught by Dr. Todd French, is assigned to read Undertow this semester. This has been the case ever since the book came out.
How did all this distribution happen? Through the print-on-demand company I used, Lightning Source at Ingram Spark. I am one lucky lady!
But more than that, I am grateful to all the readers of Undertow who promote it via word of mouth.
Many of you have written me messages through the Contact page here on my website. Thanks for reaching out to me! I’m honored to share what I can with you.
Escaping a Cult and Writing About It
Why did I write my personal cult story, which is in the genre of memoir? To begin, I wrote in journals to sort out my cult experience, find meaning in it, and heal myself. Years later, I decided to shape it into a story for others to read.
My intention was to offer Undertow to two audiences.
First, former Way insiders 1) as a way to heal and 2) a way to learn about behind-the-scenes cover-ups and plagiarism in biblical research that only a few of us knew about.
And second, to outsiders as a story showing how a person can get hooked on fundamentalism and cults and stick with the program for so long.
The goal of memoir
While writing Undertow, I learned a few things from other writers, from teachers, and from books. They all validated this point: the goal in writing a memoir is to take a topic of personal interest and catapult it to a level of general interest and insight.
The following chart shows how the process of producing the book went for me. After the chart is a list of books that help me with memoir and writing.
Chronology of Writing Undertow
| Date | Activity | Resources/Details |
| 1987 – 1994 | Journaling in Ohio at OSU.
Creative writing, including autobiographical essay at Valencia Community College. Read memoirs, books about how to write them, wrote autobiographical essays at Rollins College with Dr. Lezlie Laws. |
1. Composing a Life by Mary Catherine Bateson
2. Your Life as Story by Tristine Rainer 3. The Scene Book: A Primer for the Fiction Writer by Sandra Scofield 4. Writing the Memoir: From Truth to Art by Judith Barrington 5. Self-Editing for Fiction Writers by Browne & King 6. The Art of Subtext by Charles Baxter |
| 1991 | Journal entry about The Way | Dr. Lezlie Laws suggested I “write this up into something.” |
| 2002 | Submitted “An Affinity for Windows,” a short memoir based on the 1991 journal entry featuring my Way experience. | Dr. Lezlie Laws announces book project. Asks Rollins women to submit stories. |
| 2004
|
“An Affinity for Windows,” in:
Shifting Gears: Small, Startling Moments In and Out of the Classroom 21 Stories by Women of Rollins College |
Red Pepper Press. Winter Park, Florida
Edited by Karen Love Blumenthal, Mary Ann de Stefano, Juliet Weller Dunsworth, Wendy White Goddard, Dr. Lezlie Laws |
| 2004 | Decision to write book | Kept reading, writing. Read memoirs. Did more research … Way magazines, old notes, letters, journals, calendars, photographs |
| 2005 | Negotiated 4-day work week at software company for awhile | Kept reading, writing |
| 2007 | Left career as proposal writer in software industry to write the book that became Undertow. | Kept reading, writing. Read books on cults, fundamentalism, the writing process, and read many other memoirs. One favorite: The Tender Bar by J.R. Moehringer |
| 2012 | Hired editor for first professional evaluation/edit of the manuscript. Mary Ann de Stefano at M.A.D. About Words, LLC
Title: Nothing But The Word 246,882 words (728 pgs) |
That year, read Crazy for God, a memoir by Frank Schaeffer, whose parents helped found The Religious Right. They led the L’Abri mission in Switzerland that I mentioned in my story. In 1970 I considered going there. Decided to ask Frank to read & blurb my memoir when the time came. |
| 2012 – 2014 | Made major revisions.
|
Solicited feedback from a few selected friends. This process is called feedback from “beta readers.”
Learned to write better dialog – found help in Chapter 6 of Self-Editing for Fiction Writers by Browne & King |
| Jan. 12, 2015 | Hired another editor, Alice Peck in New York, for second professional structural edit of the manuscript. New title:
One Who Got Away: A Memoir of 17 Years in a Bible Cult 139,990 words (457 pages) (cut 6,892 words from 2012) |
|
| February 2015 – May 2015 | Made structural changes per editor.
|
i.e. Used a different chapter for the first chapter.
Cut extraneous material. |
| Spring – Fall 2015 | 15 sessions of reading draft aloud to my former memoir writing teacher: Dr. Lezlie Laws, Emeritus Professor of English, Rollins College. She offered to do this. | Per feedback, made edits to clarify bits of story. |
| Summer 2015 | Got new feedback from “beta” readers. | I asked for responses to specific parts of story. |
| Spring 2015 –
Winter 2016 |
Submitted to agents, independent publishers. | Collected rejections. |
| March 2016 | Decision to self-publish. Used this:
The Complete Guide to Self-Publishing by Marilyn Ross & Sue Collier. Tells you how to buy ISBN number, how to construct copyright page, how to market and publicize the book, plus TONS more. |
1. The Complete Guide to Self-Publishing by Marilyn Ross & Sue Collier
2. The Copyright Permission and Libel Handbook by Lloyd J. Jassin and Steven C. Schechter 3. The Writer’s Legal Companion by Brad Bunnin and Peter Beren |
| March 2016
|
Changed title to: Undertow: My Escape from the Fundamentalism and Cult Control of The Way International | Subtitle has “focus” words for Internet search ability.
My husband, Hoyt, and I decided on the title together. |
| March 2016 | Hired book designer, Duane Stapp, (interviewed 3 people for this job) | |
| March 2016 | Hired copy editor, Ruth Mullen, (interviewed 4) | |
| April – June | Incorporated more feedback from “beta” readers. | Fact checking done with former Way members, family members, old friends. |
| May 2016 | Established New Wings Press, LLC
Solicited other authors and experts to read manuscript and write blurbs. |
Deadline for blurbs: October 1, 2016.
Frank Schaeffer read Undertow and sent blurb. Portion went on cover. |
| June 13, 2016 | Copy editor began work. | |
| August 2016 | Professional author photograph done. | |
| Sept. 2016 | Copy editor finished work.
I sent book designer “final” Undertow. |
|
| Oct. 2016 | Blurbs were sent to me.
Book designer finished layout. I did final proofreading of his layout. |
I made changes, copy editor checked all blurbs, copyright page, author bio. I got ISBN number, barcode, etc. Book designer added these items. |
| Nov. 21, 2016 | Published using a print-on-demand company & distributor. https://www.ingramspark.com/
Approx. 105,835 words (cut 34,155 words from 2015). 448 pages, incl. front pages, Notes, Bibliography, Acknowledgments, photos. |
Met goal of publishing before the anniversary of my mother’s death in 1968, the day before Thanksgiving. |
Books That Helped Me Become a Better Writer
~ Compiled by Charlene L. Edge
| Book | Author |
| General | |
| MFA in a Box: A Why to Write Book | John Rember |
| If You Want to Write: A Book About Art, Independence and Spirit | Brenda Ueland |
| The Writing Life | Annie Dillard |
| The Situation and the Story | Vivian Gornick |
| How to Write a Sentence: And How to Read One | Stanley Fish |
| Getting the Words Right | Theodore A. Rees Cheney |
| The First Five Pages | Noah Lukeman |
| The Art of Subtext | Charles Baxter |
| How Fiction Works | James Wood |
| The Scene Book: A Primer for the Fiction Writer | Sandra Scofield |
| On Writing Well: An Informal Guide to Writing Nonfiction | William Zinsser |
| Self-Editing for Fiction Writers | Renni Browne & Dave King |
| About Writing Memoirs | |
| Writing the Memoir: From Truth to Art | Judith Barrington |
| The Business of Memoir: The Art of Remembering in an Age of Forgetting | Charles Baxter |
| The Art of Time in Memoir: Then, Again | Sven Birkerts |
| I Could Tell You Stories | Patricia Hampl |
| Composing a Life | Mary Catherine Bateson |
| Your Life as Story | Tristine Rainer |
| A Few of My Favorite Memoirs | |
| The Spiral Staircase | Karen Armstrong |
| Growing Up | Russell Banks |
| The Coldest Winter | Paula Fox |
| Autobiography of a Face | Lucy Grealy |
| Falling Leaves | Adeline Yen Mah |
| The Tender Bar | J.R. Meohringer |
| Running in the Family | Michael Ondaatje |
| A Leg to Stand On | Sacks, Oliver |
| One Writer’s Beginnings | Welty, Eudora |
Thanks for reading!
Your writer on the wing,
Charlene
Nancy Frierson
I had no idea the scope of writing a book and self publishing. ‘It’s an amazing accomplishment.
Charlene L. Edge
Thanks for your kind words of appreciation.
For me it took a long time and much learning. For more experienced writers, maybe it would not be so involved.