Is It Memoir or Something Else?

🎙️ New episode: Exploring autofiction with Frances Badalamenti

Jan 31, 2025

Hey Bleeders!

This week’s episode will pique your interest if you’ve ever found yourself wondering how many details of your own life should be bled onto the page. I chatted with Frances Badalamenti, the author of I Don’t Blame You and Salad Days, about her journey from memoir to autofiction, and it was enlightening.

Frances opened up about her debut novel, I Don't Blame You, which follows a woman navigating pregnancy while caring for her mother, who is battling cancer. What started as a memoir rooted in Frances’s real-life experience eventually morphed beyond the facts of her situation. She explained how adding layers of fiction allowed her to feel a sense of freedom and protection—both for herself and others.

Frances also shared how her writing has evolved over time. While I Don’t Blame You sits more in the realm of autobiographical novel—it could even be considered a memoir based on the creative liberties some memoirists take—Salad Days is a prime example of autofiction, with more fictionalized elements and composite characters.

She even broke down the percentages for us. She estimates that I Don't Blame You is about 85-90 percent truth, while Salad Days veers more into 50-60 percent truth, meaning the experiences are still there but with more liberties taken.

If you’ve been curious about autofiction and thinking of dabbling in it yourself, Frances’s journey might just spark your own creative evolution. So far in my literary career, I’ve been firmly in the memoir camp, but hearing Frances talk about her process inspired me to see how blending real life with fiction can open up new narrative possibilities—maybe it will do the same for you!

Listen to the episode to hear how Frances navigated the balance between truth and fiction.