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# Definitely Not Famous: More Extra than Ordinary: More Extra than Ordinary

## Sitemaps
[XML Sitemap](https://definitelynotfamous.com/sitemap_index.xml): Includes all crawlable and indexable pages.

## Posts
- [Chainsaws, Firebreaks, and Finding Direction with Aaron Williams](https://definitelynotfamous.com/aaron-williams/): host Rebecca Hogue speaks with Aaron Williams about his memoirs Chasing Smoke, which recounts his work as a wildland firefighter, and The Last Logging Show, which follows his family’s history in the old-growth logging industry in northern British Columbia. Aaron discusses his upbringing in Terrace and Haida Gwaii, how logging camps shaped his understanding of the bush, and how his logging background helped him move into firefighting after the Queen of the North sank and altered his plans.
- [Making the Illogical Adventure with James MacDuff](https://definitelynotfamous.com/making-the-illogical-adventure-with-james-macduff/): Writing The Illogical Adventure focuses on the craft challenges and ethical questions involved in co‑writing a memoir with two distinct voices. Rebecca continues her conversation with James MacDuff, who—alongside his wife, Mirriam Mweemba—coauthored The Illogical Adventure. What began as James’s solo MFA writing project about travel evolved into a shared memoir when he realized the story only worked if it fully included Mirriam’s perspective.James describes the collaborative process they developed to protect authenticity and trust: recorded interviews, drafting in Mirriam’s own words, and an iterative editing workflow that allowed her to set clear boundaries around privacy. He reflects on how feedback from mentors and early readers shaped the book’s structure, helping them balance the two voices and gradually weave them together as their lives converged. The episode also explores the emotional labour of memoir—deciding what to disclose, how to portray family and friends fairly, and whether the work is worth the personal cost when publication is uncertain.The conversation closes with a practical look at publishing, as James explains how a local creative nonfiction prize offered a realistic, accessible path from manuscript to book—underscoring the importance of small presses in bringing new voices into the world.
- [Illogical Love with James MacDuff](https://definitelynotfamous.com/illogical-love-with-james-macduff/): In this podcast episode, Rebecca speaks with Halifax lawyer, lifelong traveler, and memoir author James McDuff about the extraordinary love story at the heart of The Illogical Adventure: A Memoir of Love and Fate, which he co‑wrote with his wife, Mirriam Mweeba. James recounts how a chance encounter in Cape Town at the end of an ambitious voyage led to a long‑distance relationship shaped by travel, cultural exchange, and timing, and how the COVID‑19 pandemic—rather than pulling them apart—accelerated their commitment. Through stories of meeting Mirriam’s family in Zambia, navigating lockdowns, proposing abroad, marrying during a global crisis, and eventually building a family in Canada, the episode explores how a single, illogical decision can quietly redirect an entire life.
- [The Illogical Adventure](https://definitelynotfamous.com/the-illogical-adventure/): The Illogical Adventure is a nice love story that isn't at all sappy. It tells the unlikely story of how the authors, a Canadian and a Zambian, found each other sitting in a bar on their last night in Cape Town South Africa. I really liked how the authors alternated writing chapters to share both of their perspectives. The subtitle does a good job of telling you what the book was about. Overall, I enjoyed reading it.
- [James MacDuff & Mirriam Mweemba](https://definitelynotfamous.com/james-macduff-mirriam-mweemba/): James and Mirriam live in Cole Harbour with their sons, Anderson Arthur and Jack Benjamin. The Illogical Adventure is their first book.
- [Pedalling Ultra Fast with Meaghan Hackinen](https://definitelynotfamous.com/cycling-ultra-fast-with-meaghan-hackinen/): In this episode of Definitely Not Famous, host Rebecca Hogue interviews Meaghan Hackinen, an ultra-distance cyclist and author of two memoirs, South Away and Shifting Gears. Meaghan shares how her cycling journey began with a solo ride along British Columbia's Highway of Tears at age 24, evolved through cycle touring the Pacific Coast with her sister, and eventually led her into the male-dominated world of ultra-distance bike racing — including winning the 2024 Tour Divide.
- [Meaghan Hackinen](https://definitelynotfamous.com/meaghan-hackinen/): Meaghan Hackinen is a British Columbia-based ultra-cyclist and writer whose two-wheeled adventures have taken her from Haida Gwaii to Mexico’s high plateaus, across Canada and the United States, and from North Cape to Tarifa along some of Europe’s highest paved roads. She has an MFA in Writing from the University of Saskatchewan and is the author of South Away: The Pacific Coast on Two Wheels, (NeWest Press, 2019), a Kobo Emerging Writing Prize and Alberta Book of the Year finalist, and Shifting Gears: Coast to Coast on the Trans Am Bike Race (NeWest Press, 2023). Her creative non-fiction has been published in literary journals and cycling publications, and explores relationships, experiences on the road, and encounters with wild places.
- [Shifting Gears](https://definitelynotfamous.com/shifting-gears/): I didn't think I'd like this book. I expected it to be yet another book about hard core endurance racing - about the physical challenge of the ride, and how many different ways you can say pedalling.  But I did enjoy this book.
- [South Away](https://definitelynotfamous.com/south-away/): “The road immediately grows darker under the mountain’s shadow. Evergreens shade the highway; what little light we receive comes through the narrow sliver of leaden sky overhead...while the highway shoulder is thinner than a slice of toast. Alisha and I switch on our bike lights, but compared to car headlights our beams appear pitiful. As inconsequential as fireflies darting around porch lights.” (Hackinen, 2019, 75) 
- [Going to Ethiopia with Marian Dodds](https://definitelynotfamous.com/going-to-ethiopia-with-marian-dodds/): Educator and advocate Marian Dodds joins host Rebecca J. Hogue to discuss Tizita — A Memoir of Perseverance and Enchantment, tracing her path from second‑wave feminist organizing in the BC Teachers’ Federation to three years volunteering with CUSO in Ethiopia. She reflects on the status‑of‑women work that reshaped classrooms and contracts, the challenge of transliteration in place names, and the sensory tapestry behind the book’s title—from the soothing melodies of tizita drifting out of Addis cafés to the smells of coffee ceremonies and fresh injera that still transport her back. 
- [Marian Dodds](https://definitelynotfamous.com/marian-dodds/): From 2010—2013 she ‘unretired’ to volunteer in Ethiopia, first leading a diploma program for instructors at a rural teachers’ college and then working as a Gender Advisor for the Federal Ministry of Education in Addis Ababa. In 2015, she returned to Ethiopia as a Program Development Advisor as part of a Cuso International team establishing a maternal and child health program.
- [Biking, Surfing, and Searching for Solitude with RC Shaw](https://definitelynotfamous.com/biking-surfing-and-searching-for-solitude-with-rc-shaw/): What do don quixote, Sailing Alone Around the World, and King Lear have in common with surfing? My next guest, RC Shaw, aka Ryan, writes about his adventures in a quirky and entertaining way, similar to Bill Bryson, except with a definite Nova Scotia twist.
- [RC Shaw](https://definitelynotfamous.com/author-rc-shaw/): RC Shaw is the author of Captain Solitude (2024) and Louisbourg or Bust (2018), a finalist for the Margaret and John Savage First Book Award for Non-Fiction. He has written for the Globe and Mail, the Surfer’s Journal, Magazine, Beach Grit, the Coast, and the Chronicle Herald. He also founded the Cow Bay Concert Series, bringing musical acts such as Bahamas, Matt Mays, and Jenn Grant to his community hall. He holds an MFA in Creative Non-Fiction from King’s University College.
- [Louisburg or Bust](https://definitelynotfamous.com/louisburg-or-bust/): by RC Shaw
- [Tizita: A Memoir of Perseverance and Enchantment](https://definitelynotfamous.com/tizita-a-memoir-of-perseverance-and-enchantment/): by Marian Dodds
- [Always Ask for Help with Janet Lee](https://definitelynotfamous.com/always-ask-for-help-with-janet-lee/): In this episode of Definitely Not Famous, host Rebecca Hogue interviews Janet Lee, co‑author of Always Ask for Help, a memoir about Arnie Stewart, an adult who lived most of his life unable to read or write. The conversation traces Arnie’s extraordinary journey from a childhood marked by poverty, hunger, and shame in Cobalt, Ontario, to adulthood where he survived through ingenuity, bluffing, and resilience.
- [Definitely Not Famous Trailer](https://definitelynotfamous.com/definitely-not-famous-trailer/): I'm about to take a leap and publish the trailer for the show! The first episode is almost ready. I've teed up a couple of interviews, with more to come. I'm excited to share with you the stories of amazing memoirists.
- [A Billion Blue Wildebeest](https://definitelynotfamous.com/a-billion-blue-wildebeest/): by Catherine MacLaine
- [Always Ask For Help](https://definitelynotfamous.com/always-ask-for-help/): By Arnie Stewart and Janet Lee
- [Janet Lee](https://definitelynotfamous.com/author-janet-lee/): Janet Lee is an educator, author, and producer. As an English Department Chair, she helped open two secondary schools in Ontario and later led literacy curriculum development for over 120 schools across the province. An instructional writer for the best-selling Nelson Literacy series and an international speaker for her Face-2-Face Forever series, Janet has inspired educators to reimagine how literacy lives in both traditional and digital classrooms.
- [Rebecca J. Hogue](https://definitelynotfamous.com/author-rebecca-hogue/): Rebecca J. Hogue is a writer who holds many other hats including blogger, lecturer, podcaster, instructional designer, breast cancer survivor, wife, and puppy-parent. 

## Pages
- [Show Notes](https://definitelynotfamous.com/show-notes/)
- [Author Inquiry Form](https://definitelynotfamous.com/author-inquiry-form/): Please complete this form to express interest in being interviewed for my podcast: Definitely Not Famous, where I interview memoirists about their (forthcoming) books. This is a narrative podcast where listeners get to hear the why behind the stories. 
- [Book Reviews](https://definitelynotfamous.com/book-reviews/): Buy books on Bookshop.Org
- [Recommend a Memoir](https://definitelynotfamous.com/recommend-a-memoir/): I'm always looking for great memoirs written by real people. If you have read a memoir that is worthy of the title, More Extra than Ordinary, please share it below.
- [Contact Rebecca J. Hogue](https://definitelynotfamous.com/contact-form/)
- [Support](https://definitelynotfamous.com/support/): Want to support Definitely Not Famous?
- [Listener Recommendations](https://definitelynotfamous.com/listeners/): Have you found a memoir that moved you?
- [Authors](https://definitelynotfamous.com/authors/): Want to be a guest on the show? Please complete the Author Inquiry form.
- [Definitely Not Famous – More Extra than Ordinary – Podcast about memoirs](https://definitelynotfamous.com/): It is hard to find good memoir written by and about people who are not famous. And yet, these are some of the best memoirs to read. They are so much more relatable than celebrity memoirs. This is what inspired me to create Definitely Not Famous, a podcast where I interview memoirists about their stories. My goal with this podcast is to elevate the stories of everyday people who truly are More Extra than Ordinary.
- [More Extra than Ordinary](https://definitelynotfamous.com/about-dnf/): Definitely Not Famous (DNF) is a podcast where I, Rebecca J. Hogue, interview memoir authors about their books and how they came to write them. It focuses on memoirs and memoir authors who are not famous, rather, they are everyday people with a story worth telling.