"Plenty of celebrities are looking for ghostwriters, but they don't always understand how much work you will be doing"

Celebrity ghostwriter Lizzy Wright on tracking terrorists for a living, translating her skills to writing, and her gripping new sports memoir, MARINOVICH

Check out the collection of past Words With (Author) Friends, wherein I g-chat with an author and you get to read over my shoulder, and order Lizzy’s revealing football memoir, available now.

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Me: Hi, Lizzy!

Lizzy: Hi Andi, yay, thrilled to connect with you!

Me too, me too! Thanks for chatting with me!

One thing that continues to amaze me about the author community is just how willing everyone is to support each other. It's the all boats rising concept in action and it's a beautiful thing to be part of.

Totally agree. We are all in this together!

Not all industries are like that, so I feel very lucky

especially as a newbie!!

100%

Big congrats on MARINOVICH! The first celebrity memoir I've featured on Get It Write. Can you share a little about the book?

Yes! MARINOVICH launched August 5th. It's a memoir about a once-in-a-generation athlete who was deemed America's "robo quarterback" because of his strict upbringing and impressive rise in football. His accolades list was long, but his journey was misunderstood by the media, contributing (along with addiction) to a rapid unraveling in the public eye. At its core, it's a book about football, art, addiction, and ultimately the bumpy road to self-acceptance.

What makes this story most interesting is that it's the first time he's set the record straight about a long list of misconceptions regarding his early entry into elite athletics, complex family dynamics, and well, quite frankly, remarkable implosion before rebuilding his life around his first love - art.

And this is your second memoir about a former NFL player—following your book about your husband! Can you share how you got into the ghostwriting game, and how that led to this new book?

When I left corporate America and decided to focus on a creative pursuit, I knew I had a lot to learn - and I mean A LOT. I knew nothing about the craft of writing having lived and breathed in PowerPoint for decades. The book I really wanted to write was in me simmering, but I didn't think I could do it justice out of the gate. I figured that I could hone my skills by writing my husband's memoir and see what happened. I honestly didn't even aspire to publish it, but got lucky. That success led to an introduction to Todd Marinovich, a former teammate of my husband's with the Raiders.

I knew immediately that I wanted to write Todd's book because his experiences were truly remarkable - film-worthy, really. There was so much rich material to draw on that I jumped in head first not really understanding the world of football or the experience of addiction. Once again, I had plenty to learn, but on multiple fronts. It pushed me. Despite being married to a former NFL athlete, I had never watched football. Ever. In fact, I vowed never to date a football player until I met Steve. So, I had to learn the game, really study it, to write about that experience with depth.

As for addiction, I had been in a past relationship where addiction was part of its demise, so I had seen some of the ugliness up close in person. Yet even with that, stepping into the skin of someone who has battled addiction for over 35 years was a challenge. Though it all, I grew as a person and my compassion meter is at another level now when it comes to this devestating disease.

And whenever I got stuck in the writing, I would re-read some of JR Moehringer's amazing work - he was such a source of inspiration on how to write memoirs. That along with a writing group, plenty of Masterclasses, and a few conferences for good measure.

And I can't forget Bird By Bird of course - I recommend to everyone and find myself coming back to it often

Now when I turned to fiction, to write the book that had been gnawing at me for a very long time, I found all that early work in non-fiction was so important. I still have a long way to go of couse, but the growth is my favorite part of this path.

Love those book recommendations and that story of learning, growth, and determination!

This is what I love about mid-life, I am more focused on growth and less worried about doing what people expect - it's an amazing reward after too long of walking in uncomfortable shoes!

In fact, when I look at the two football memoirs, I laugh, shake my head and smile. Life is something else, and I never cease to be surprised

Cheers to that!

Can you talk about developing the deep empathy required to effectively ghostwrite? You mentioned your background in intelligence came into play, right?