About the author
Laura Burkett spent decades as a silent spectator to life's chaos before finally putting her story into words. Her debut memoir, This Is Not My Life: A Memoir of Sisterhood, Suspicion, and Starting Over, has earned 4.8 stars from readers on Amazon.
Today she speaks to audiences about resilience, sisterhood, and reclaiming your voice, including as the keynote speaker at the second annual Women Rising Summit in Canfield, Ohio. She lives outside of Pittsburgh with a mug that reads “Be careful or you'll end up in my book.”
She still prefers an ordinary life, but the remarkable keeps finding her. The difference now? She's no longer watching in silence.
In the news and on stage
- Business Journal Daily: “Women Rising Summit Reframes the Narrative,” on Laura's keynote.
- WKBN 27 First News: “Women Rising Summit brings Valley women together.”
- The Seed podcast, episode 156: “This Is Not My Life: Laura Burkett on Resilience, Sisterhood & Starting Over.”
- Tribune-Review: a profile of Laura and her debut memoir.
- The City Scene: “Conversations with an Author,” an interview published in September 2025.
Follow Laura
The book
This Is Not My Life begins with a phone call and asks what happens when tragedy strikes twice in the same house, how we find truth when answers stay buried, and who we become when life as we knew it vanishes overnight. See what readers say, plan a book club discussion, or read the latest news.
Read the memoir
Paperback, hardcover, or Kindle. The Kindle edition is free with Kindle Unlimited.