Latest From the Blog
Helga: A Memoir of Privilege, War and Family
The glamour and beauty of Helga’s youth still radiate from her face, defying both her eighty-eight years and the events thereof. Look closely and you will see a shield of Germanic pride: the self-control over her expression has yielded very little over the years. “I have tended to be stoic about life,” she says, “believing…
Read More August 27, 2013Benefits of the memoir-writing process
Beginners are both fascinated and daunted by the idea of having a biographer writing their memoirs. In this video, made a few years ago, I briefly explain and illustrate some of the benefits to having your memoir writen.
Read More July 22, 2013
Memoir Writing: Easy as Falling Off a Cliff
“Have you written your memoirs?” she asked me. I’m a biographer so the question leaves a big, long echo resounding in the air until I answer. It’s a test, I know. “I’ve written…parts,” I confess. A mini-memoir about my last year with my mom before she died (“My Name As A Prayer” on Amazon.com). A…
Read More June 4, 2013“I’m Staying Alive for This Book Signing!”
“I’m staying alive for this book signing!” Helga is in her eighties. We have been working on Helga’s memoir for about a year. It has now been through a copyeditor and a proofreader, and Helga’s daughter now is going through it one more time before it goes to our book designer. After the memoir manuscript…
Read More April 29, 2013
Paris in the Snow
Somewhere over the cold Atlantic, French words start sailing through the waters of my memory. Seventh- and eighth-grade French classes (thank you, Mrs. Watts!) and my three previous trips reward me now. “Bonjour madame!” I say to the border policewoman at the airport, feigning confidence. I manage the airport ATM, withdraw Euros (high to the dollar…
Read More January 29, 2013
Memoir vs Biography /What is the Difference?
The Oxford English Dictionary confirms how I view the difference, which is that a memoir is generally not considered a full historical record of a life, while an autobiography or a biography is thoroughly researched. My Simple Explanation: A memoir is written in first person (“I”) and includes only information that the subject of the…
Read More January 9, 2013
How to write your memoirs – organize by decade
The first step in beginning to write your memoirs is to think by decade. Create an outline that allows you to organize your memories by decade. This is only one of many approaches, but it helps the beginner because most people just do not know where to begin. If you map your life roughly by…
Read More November 27, 2012
The Wake: Spirit Singing for the Dead
Last week I was asked to play harp and tone for a three-day vigil over the dead body of a friend. Dear Claire followed anthroposophy (see Rudolf Steiner), which holds that the soul hovers around the body for a while after the heart stops beating. They prescribe that the body be attended for three days…
Read More November 19, 2012
Florence Nightingale and the Divine Feminine
Working with a client’s biography this morning, I took time to look briefly at one of my client’s heroes: the Italian-born Florence Nightingale. Nightingale felt a spiritual calling when she was a teenage girl. In thousands of pages of writings she left behind, she describes a painful awareness of the suffering of others, particularly European soldiers fighting…
Read More November 6, 2012
Hire a Memoir Author On A Budget
“Dad’s birthday is coming up and I don’t know what to get him,” the voice said. “I thought maybe the perfect gift would be to hire a memoir author.” A memoir is certainly the gift for the person who has everything, who seems to need nothing. It is the ultimate gift. Most of the memoirs…
Read More September 6, 2012