Mallary Tenore Tarpley on SLIP: How to Write Memoir with Truth, Empathy, and Vulnerability

In this episode of Traditionally Self-Published, I sit down with memoirist and journalist Mallary Tenore Tarpley to talk about her new book, SLIP: Life in the Middle of Eating Disorder Recovery, and the craft of writing memoir with honesty and care.

We discussed:

• What inspired SLIP and what it means to write from the “middle place” of recovery
• How to tell the truth with empathy — especially when writing about loved ones
• Why contradictions belong in memoir and how Mallary holds multiple truths
• Her winding journey to a Big Five publishing deal
• Practical tips for memoirists who want to write about trauma, healing, or lived experience
• And we finish with the Ink Starter Lightning Round and her 5 best tips for authors

About our guest:

Mallary Tenore Tarpley is a journalism and writing professor at the University of Texas at Austin’s Moody College of Communication and McCombs School of Business. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, and The Dallas Morning News, among other publications. She is the recipient of a prestigious Alfred P. Sloan Foundation grant, which helped support her research and writing. Mallary graduated from Providence College and has a master’s of fine arts in nonfiction writing from Goucher College. She lives outside of Austin, Texas, with her husband and two children. Slip is her first book.

Where to find Mallary and her book:

• Substack: Write at the Edge
• Her book: SLIP: Life in the Middle of Eating Disorder Recovery

Have a publishing question? Email me at [e-mail]

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"Traditionally Self-Published" theme music is written by Landon Bailey and performed and produced by LNDÖ