I’m in the process of drafting my memoir which is nothing like my first novel. Up till now I’ve only written fiction books. I’ve written countless articles and blog posts in my own voice but I’ve never written anything extended about my own life from my personal POV. For novel number two it’s easier because I don’t have to figure out the story since I lived it but it’s harder because it is true. Not all of it is pretty, honorable, or nice. It’s my life on paper. I can’t think of anything much more damning than secrets recorded in writing for everyone to read over and over again. However, when I decided to officially write the book first and foremost, I wanted to be honest about everything, including the dark and twisty parts. Thankfully, not all of it is shameful. There is hope.
It is a book about death and addictions but it is also about love and loyalty. It is about faith and sins and Jesus and drugs and friendship.-Genevieve Rose
Johnny Cash is a strong theme in the book I’m writing. Both the man and his music influenced me greatly during the years I am writing about. To this day I still hold him in high esteem. His voice, his music, his character, his faith, his sins-there’s not a part of his legacy that I don’t love, like, or relate to. I’m surprised I am the Johnny Cash fan that I am because I hated country music for the longest time even then however, I loved his steady low voice singing about trains and guns and prison. His songs were some of the first I learned to strum on guitar. When the movie Walk the Line came out in 2005 I learned all that I could about him off stage. Turns out he was a real good sinner before he realized he was made to be a Saint. Today I had a revelation about the man in black that increased my admiration all the more. Johnny Cash’s name was not John. He gave himself that name so he could join the Air Force. He was born J.R. Cash. My initials are JR, I am Johnny Cash. Knowing me well makes this fact more exciting. Knowing JR was my most prominent childhood nickname, knowing that despite my crowded playlists and ever-evolving music preferences J.R. Cash always stays on top. Knowing his music is what I would take with me to a deserted island, knowing that my dog is Johnny Cash to me and before that I had a friend who was; knowing that the fingerprints of the one and only cover my life to this day definitely makes the identical initials more exciting.
Essentially, I am writing a book about Johnny Cash. A book about music and how sometimes it’s the only life raft we have the energy to cling to in a sea of anxiety. A book about sins, loving the right someone in the wrong way. A book about trashing the body with addictions to booze, sex, and pills. A book about finding God, knowing salvation and realizing the music legend was dead on when he said, being a Christian is not for sissies. All things about Johnny Cash, the man himself and the one I know. Not the dog of course, my dog is perfect. I can’t wait to have it written. To go back over the girl I used to be and try to see more clearly how I became the woman I am today. I’m writing it to inspire. I’m writing it to be honest. I’m writing it to bleed with those who are in pain. I’m writing it to talk about how the deep love of friendship can turn a life into a work of art that belongs in La Louvre. I’m writing it to warn people to put down the dagger and not hurt the ones they love the most. I’m writing it to say that people in your corner are so very rare, envy is poison, hatred is cancer and booze is a bitch. I’m writing my memoir to say even the people who don’t think they will change the world already are because they know someone who will and it’s that person who’s world they are changing. I’m writing this to say scars matter and Christ heals, that thing about time is a lie. I’m writing this to say a lot but Johnny Cash said it best; “If I could start again, a million miles away I would keep myself. I would find a way.”
Estimated completion time: February 2017.
Mindless Peace 