I’ve been studying memoir writing in preparation for creating my own, focused on a strange twist my life took in 2021.

And then in my research – which involves not just reading but watching a lot of Youtube – I came across “Memoir Writing For Geniuses”, created by memoir writing tutor Wendy Dale.

Coinciding with an excellent book she has recently published “The Memoir Engineering System: Make your first draft your final draft”, Wendy is promoting “Write Or Flight”, billed as the first ever reality TV show featuring writers. It is being shot during May 2025 in Peru, the ancient Inca capital of Cusco, where Wendy is based. And she was inviting aspiring memoirists to apply for a place as the production company was flying contestants there from all over the world, accommodating and feeding them for over two weeks, while they explored Cusco and wrote about their experiences each day. A contestant would be eliminated in each episode from the starting nine they have chosen. The winner – the last writer standing – gets a US$10k advance with a publishing contract along with writing and editorial coaching worth US$15k.

Not surprisingly, they received over 500 applicants who each submitted up to 2,000 words of memoir as sample writing, a short video introducing themselves and had to complete other tasks.

So I submitted my application. Was thrilled to make the shortlist of fifty with my name read out third (and they didn’t read them in alphabetical order… mmm). The finalists then had another Zoom interview and writing task to complete. I had a bit of fun with that interview but shall save that story for another post.

Anyway, the exciting news for me is I got selected in the final nine chosen. I’m one of two males and the only contestant from Australia. Subscribe for blog posts or follow me on FB and Instagram so you can join me on the journey, both to the ancient Inca capital of Cusco in May 2025 but also on my path to hopefully getting my memoir published.

Welcome Reader, and hope you can visit again for my future posts.

Paul