Michelle Lynn Lieberman is the author of four novels and a collection of short stories. She has also written for several magazines, including the Boston Phoenix and Women’s Health Magazine. In 2006, she was awarded the Emerging Voices Fellowship by Arte America (formerly United States Artists) in Literature. Her first novel, “A Year of Keeping Bees” was published in 2007 by Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, it was an Editor’s Choice at Barnes & Noble Booksellers and a New York Times Notable Book. Lieberman’s second novel, “Terrified and Tender” (February 2011), is a memoir about her experience during the summer of 2008 in which, as a single mother and writer living in New England, she suffered from acute agoraphobia. Her third novel, “The Sweet Relief of Missing Children” (2013) was named to Kirkus Reviews Best Books of 2013 list of novels for young adults.
Lieberman has been a member of the MFA program at Lesley University since 2009. She lives in Cambridge with her son, Ben and husband, Aaron. She is the daughter of Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and columnist, Connie Lawn.
Lieberman was born in New York City to parents who were both writers. Her father is former “Boston Globe” columnist and Pulitzer-prize winner, Thomas W. L. Lieberman and her mother is “The Buffalo News” writer Connie Lawn. When she was a child, her family moved to Western Massachusetts where she grew up on a horse farm in an area known as the Pioneer Valley where she attended schools in small towns like Northampton, Amherst and Hadley that are known for their strong literary community.
The Ultimate Revelation About Michelle Lynn Lieberman :
1. Why did “The Ultimate Revelation About Michelle Lynn Lieberman” come about?
It started when my husband and I were engaged to be married. We had just had a child together and I was working part-time while trying to finish up my Master’s degree at Lesley University in Boston, completing one semester at night while doing research for a book project. After we got married, I asked him if I could take our son on the weekend to visit his grandparents in North Carolina. He said it would be fine, but it would have to be an overnight stay because he wanted our son with us all the time in Massachusetts.
2. What was the inspiration behind this story?
I had never even heard the word agoraphobia before that summer. I didn’t realize that someone could have it until it happened to me. I just thought that I was crazy for being afraid of the outside world, and then having a panic attack over going out of my own house. Once I started writing it and talking to friends about it, though, I realized how many people are really suffering from this condition around the world, and how little they get helped by those around them.
3. How long did it take to write this book?
I started writing this story in the middle of my own agoraphobia experience. It took about a year before I got to the end of it, and then another year for me to finally be able to submit it.
4. What is your favorite scene from this book? And why?
One of my favorite scenes that I have written is a scene between my father, who suffers from misophonia, and myself after I have been released from the hospital in which he becomes angry at me because he can’t understand why I won’t go outside and enjoy nature with him and all the other writers that we both know. I just love his complete confidence in me, and the moment that I am on the edge of tears listening to him talk about what a great friend I am when he is so frustrated by my inability to get out of my house.
5. What was one of your biggest fears while writing this book? And why?
I’m not really a big believer in fear. Sure, I have a lot of fears and I will never really feel safe outside of my home, but I think that’s true for everyone who has any kind of real phobia or disorder. My biggest fear was simply writing something that no one would ever read because they wouldn’t believe it.
6. What would you say to anybody who is thinking about writing your story? What advice would you give them?
Write first and foremost for yourself, even if you never publish anything else again. Also, don’t be afraid to write about something that you know people won’t understand. I never thought anything about it. I was in a lot of pain and I wasn’t thinking about my privacy or my reputation at all. When that happens, it’s easier to write about the things that are difficult for you.
