Elianor M.A.
Elianor Marissa, better known as Elianor M.A., is an American-Lebanese novelist and screenwriter. Her debut novel, Transcendent is available on the Amazon Kindle Store, published on December 1, 2018. Her first screenplay, Just Like Old Times was honored at the Los Angeles Film Awards in September 2019 and the International New York Film Festival in June 2020. Her TV pilot, Halves and Quarters, made it to the Quarterfinalist round of the Screencraft Pilot Launch Competition. Her memoir Dealing with Dramedies is set to be released in December 2020.
In today’s episode, Elianor shares her journey from her diagnosis, to writing her new book, Dealing with Dramedies. Elianor felt herself drowning in the drama of her health crisis, but she didn’t want her drama to define her. Instead, she chose to define it. Elianor realized she didn’t need to wait to be the hero of her story. Instead of focusing on what was going wrong in her life, Elianor focused on what she was doing right, and following her passion for storytelling. As Elianor shares, no matter who you are, or where you come from, or how different your circumstances may be from those around you, drama will find you! But it’s up to you to use it as your driving your force, instead of your deterrent. There is no set way to deal with your dramedy.
Her new book, Dealing with Dramedies is an honest look into the glamorously unglamorous triple life of a restless perfectionist: a student, patient, and writer dealing with her own dramatic comedy. Elianor’s rapid physical regression from a rare autoimmune disorder called Necrotizing Autoimmune Myopathy should’ve stopped her in her tracks, but her morbid sense of humor allowed her to rise above it all. In her book, Elianor goes over her journey from the diagnosis to daily rundown, while actively receiving care and responding with “I almost died again, but now I’m totally fine” to her close friends when they call her up. What Elianor is trying to say is that life sucks. But it's taking sucky-ness, whether it’s an illness, dysfunctional family, or a combination of both, and transforming it into success that makes it worth living.
“Adding a comedic spin to the drama I was experiencing helped me process it better. When a catastrophe like permanent illness hits, you’re inclined to search for meaning, for reasons, for really anything that can justify the pain you’re going through. Sometimes there isn’t much to discover, but there’s room for us to create.”
Tune in on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7bZHrtjAzbksbLWNaak1NM
Tune in on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/stories-of-inspiring-joy/id1510488632
To learn more about Elianor and her new book at elianormarissa@gmail.com and Twitter @elianorma Instagram @elianor_ma or through her personal website elianorma.com
Stories of Inspiring Joy is a production of Seek The Joy Media and created by Sydney Weiss. To learn more and submit your story, click here.