Laura Davis is the author of The Burning Light of Two Stars, winner of the Book Life Prize for Best Memoir of 2021, The Courage to Heal, and four other groundbreaking books. In addition to writing books that inspire, the work of Laura's heart is to teach. For more than 20 years, she's helped people find their voices, tell their stories, and hone their craft. Laura has been published in Publishers Weekly, Writers Digest, Crime Breeds, Brevity, and the New York Times, featured in the Los Angeles Review of Books, and has been an engaging guest on Queerty, Right Minded, The Only One in the Room, and dozens of other podcasts.

Laura and I chatted about her experience growing up Jewish in New Jersey in the 60’s and 70’s and how her progressive background allowed her creativity to flourish. We talked about how Laura had a twin sister who passed away at birth and how the trauma of not being touched as a baby, isolated away in a bassinet for six weeks, formed who she is as a person. Laura is an incest survivor who blocked out memories of abuse until she was twenty-seven years old. We discussed her time growing up with a mother who expected the world (and Laura!) to revolve around her.

Laura spent ten years working on a memoir about her relationship with her mother who she was estranged from for a long time. Today Laura has recovered so much from her trauma that she feels she doesn’t identify as strongly as a survivor. She works from a place of grounding and healing. We reviewed how taking the time to write a memoir about reuniting with her mother after decades of living on opposite coasts was a part of her healing journey.

Topics touched on:

Reconciliation

Incest

Writing through trauma

Buy Laura’s book, The Burning Light of Two Stars: https://lauradavis.net/the-burning-light-of-two-stars/#order

Connect with Laura

https://lauradavis.net

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Instagram: @laurasaridavis

Twitter: laurasaridavis