Latest From the Blog
Now or Never Memoir Consulting Services
Sheridan Hill is available for consults, private and classes, in memoir-writing. “It’s now or never, right? Over the decades of writing personal biographies, I have seen that everyone needs either an enthusiasm coach — for constant pep talks to keep going– and/or a writing coach for guidance on how to structure, what to leave in…
Read More August 28, 2025
START HERE Before You Write Your Memoirs
Everyone asks, “Where do I start?” in writing their memoirs. Writing your memoir–I promise you–is not as complicated as you fear. ›You can make it as simple as possible, starting with a childhood photo of yourself, whether you have a memory of that time or not. You can simply describe the photo from both the…
Read More January 25, 2023
Finding the Title of your Memoir
This client fancied himself, and most likely was, a smart real estate tycoon from New York. There was a kind of swagger about him, from his walk to his talk. During our interviews, I observed to him at one point, “It looks like the people around you put you on a pedestal.” Without so much…
Read More January 14, 2020
Irish Family Book Cover by Sheridan Hill
For the front cover of The Dolan Family History (at right), we used Philadelphia’s Freedom Hall (where they settled from Ireland); on the back cover (at left) we used a linen background with a photo of their homeplace in Ireland and a moving narrative about the importance of family ties within this large Irish tribe….
Read More October 22, 2019
Writing About Yourself in Third Person
I’m offering a free “Morning Pages” writing group that meets for less than an hour on Zoom weekly. Use the contact form on my website here if you are interested. For the last four weeks, our Friday writing theme was a short prompt that came to me on Thursday, and I sent it out…
Read More January 18, 2019
Announcing “We’ll Think of Something”, Jack Wilson memoir
“Far exceeded my expectations,” is what 92-year-old Jack Wilson said of his memoir produced by Real Life Stories, LLC several months ago. “I could not be happier. It was wonderful to work with Sheridan Hill.” It was our pleasure and privilege to work with Mr. Wilson and the fabulous folks at ABEC, the company he…
Read More October 16, 2017
Why It Costs So Much
Finding a photo of a Piper Cub, so I could envision my client’s first plane, was easy. That took about one minute. But tracking down his transcripts from seven different schools beginning in 1939 on Long Island—that took some time. Each school had an online form that had to be found, filled out, printed, put in…
Read More May 31, 2017
How Did Jamaica, New York Get Its Name?
My current client was born in Jamaica, New York, in the 1930s, when 138 languages were spoken there, according to the comptroller. Since I knew that the Irish and Dutch had settled much of New York, including Long Island, I went searching for how Jamaica, New York got its name. One thing I knew ahead…
Read More April 26, 2017
“Look to Yourself” – Jack Wilson, ABEC founder
In 1974, Jack Wilson started a company on a wing and a prayer. In order to breathe life into it, he served as president, salesman, designer, machinist, and financier. For years, he refused to draw a salary. When times got tough, he looked to himself for answers. He had learned early in life that…
Read More February 24, 2017
Obscure Books: Mark Twain and Medicine, Any Mummery Will Cure
My favorite books are the ones most obscure, which will never make the NY Times top 20 list. To be honest, many, if not most, of the books on the best-seller lists aren’t worth my time. Give me books that were written out of a pure passion for the subject. Such a treasure is Patrick Ober’s…
Read More January 4, 2017