Unforgettable Memories (Guest Post by Loretta Elsworth) - Unforgettable Blog Tour + Giveaway!

I’ve always been fascinated with how our memories work. As a Spanish teacher I often used mnemonic devices to help students remember new vocabulary and used them myself to remember students names (both their English names and their chosen Spanish names).

When my great-aunt died of Alzheimer’s disease I started reading articles and following studies on memory, including The Nun Study, in which researchers have been gathering data on a group of nuns from Mankato, Minnesota since 1986 (over 90 percent of the nuns have donated their brains to research).

So when I read about Brad Williams from La Crosse, Wisconsin, who has an amazing biographical memory, I was drawn to his story. No one has been proven to have a perfect memory, but some people have biographical memories that are almost perfect. They remember everything about their own lives, down to the most trivial details of events and dates – things like what they ate on a specific date, what was on TV that same day and what the weather was like.

I wondered what it would have been like to grow up with that kind of ability, and whether it would be a gift or a curse. Out of that wondering came Baxter Green, a fifteen year-old boy who has such a memory after he hits his head when he’s three years-old. Baxter is someone who wants to fit in, but his memory abilities have made that difficult. So when he moves with his mom to a new town and new state, he tries to hide his ability. But the past has a way of catching up with him.

While most of us won’t ever have the kind of memory that Baxter does, we do have the ability to nurture and make the most of our own memories. As we become more dependent on technology, it seems that we remember less. Writer Joshua Foer spent a year learning methods to train his memory and ended up winning the US Memory Championship. As he states in his book, Moonwalking with Einstein, “We need to cultivate our ability to remember. Our memories make us who we are.”

I hope you enjoy Baxter’s story. To celebrate the release of Unforgettable, I’m giving away a Nook on my website – just post a comment about your earliest memory and you’re entered to win. The giveaway ends Oct. 6.

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Thank you SO MUCH Loretta! 

Check out the trailer:

Giveaway!

One winner will receive a SIGNED copy of Unforgettable!
US Only. Ends October 15th.