Personal Memoir Service — your life story, told in your own voice
Every life contains a book. Most of them go unwritten — not for lack of a story, but for lack of time, tools, or the right words.
This service exists for people who have lived something worth preserving — a remarkable life, a particular era, a family history that deserves more than fading memory — and who want help giving it lasting form. Through a series of recorded conversations, I draw out the details, the texture, the voice that is uniquely yours, and shape it into a manuscript you'll be proud to share.
This is not ghostwriting. It is collaboration. Your memories, your language, your perspective — my craft, structure, and decades of experience as an award-winning writer and editor. The result is something neither of us could make alone.
Whether you're thinking of a full autobiography or something more focused — a wartime story, an immigration history, a portrait of a vanishing place or way of life — this service can be shaped to fit what you actually want to preserve.
This also makes a meaningful gift. If you have a parent or grandparent whose stories deserve to outlast them, a collaborative memoir is something that can be passed down through generations — a family heirloom in the truest sense.
I hold an MFA in Creative Writing, have taught literature and writing at the university level, and have received national recognition for my essays and fiction, including fellowships from Yaddo and the MacDowell Colony. I have also spent years researching my own family's oral history and genealogy in rural Kentucky — work that has given me a deep appreciation for the stories that live just below the surface of ordinary lives.
A focused life story — or a chapter of one. Ideal for a particular period, theme, or experience you want to preserve in depth, in your own voice, for family or wider sharing.
Additional interview sessions available at $100/hour. Significant revisions beyond the second draft billed at $100/hour.
A comprehensive life story — the scope of a full-length book. This is for the story that demands more room: a life of real breadth and depth, a family saga, or a narrative that spans decades and deserves full treatment.
Additional interview sessions available at $100/hour. Significant revisions beyond the second draft billed at $100/hour.
Once your manuscript is complete, I can help you bring it into the world as a physical or digital book — whether for private distribution to family or for wider availability.