All Student Success Letters

Christine Corrigan

Dear Gotham,

Cancer brought me to a crossroad five years ago—should I return to my work as a legal writer and editor for the marketing department of a law firm, should I return to legal practice, or should I try something completely different, like write a book, for example?

There was one problem, however. Though I’d written plenty of briefs, agreements, position statements, witness outlines, and blogs and articles about employment law, I had no clue how to write a book. Enter Gotham Writers Workshop. I started with a One-day Intensive in Memoir with Melissa Petro. In short order, I joined Kerry Cohen’s Memoir I class and then Cullen Thomas’s Memoir II class.

I learned about compelling narrative arcs, alternate points of views, and well-developed characters. In my classes, we wrote and shared. I learned from my instructors and classmates what worked and didn’t work. I wrote and revised. I went to writing conferences at Gotham and elsewhere and joined a writing group that held me accountable every week.

Just as the COVID-19 pandemic struck, Koehler Books offered to publish Again: Surviving Cancer Twice with Love and Lists. Yet, I’m learning something new (again)—how to market a book in a virtual world!

I never imagined when I chose this path five years ago that one day the book I dreamed about would be sitting on my desk. I will be always grateful for the community of Gotham Writers, and most especially Melissa, Kerry, and Cullen, for sharing their wisdom and insight and for giving me the tools to make my dream a reality.

With my deepest gratitude,

Christine Shields Corrigan