[QCrit] A BIT OF A MESS; Adult; Memoir; 60,000 words; Version 1
I am seeking representation for my memoir, A BIT OF A MESS (completed; 60,000 words). A BIT OF A MESS brings together the likes of Stephanie Foo’s What My Bones Know with Tara Westover’s Educated, because my book explores the long road from childhood trauma to scientific, educational achievement.
My abuse began at age four (sexual; emotional), across two impoverished households after my parents divorced. It continued my entire childhood. By high school, I was pregnant. By nineteen, I was married. Trapped in the cycle of poverty and battling a severe mental health crisis that would later be diagnosed as C-PTSD, the odds were entirely against me.
But A BIT OF A MESS is not just about a life of trauma, it's a story of resilience, survival, and the unexpected moments of love and humor that kept me grounded and allowed me to move past being another teen pregnancy statistic. Through years of struggle, I fought my way through academia, ultimately earning my bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees.
While I successfully pulled my family out of generational poverty, the emotional toll of the journey required confronting my trauma. Written from my perspective as a survivor who analyzed her own trauma through the lens of a scientist, this book explores what it takes to heal when your past refuses to stay in the past.
I am a scientist, mother, and wife. While I have mainly written professional publications within the scientific journal space, I have also published a narrative essay and am deeply excited about creative non-fiction.
I do hope we have the opportunity to discuss this further. I am pasting below the first 10 pages per the submissions requirements.
Thank you for your time and consideration.