Forever Young Autobiographies

Small-Town Chaos: A country-life memoir by teacher Lenore Focht

Case study: New rancher and mother finds home in rural Canada

Small-Town Chaos: Lessons on Country Life by Lenore Focht is a tender reminder of what transforms a place into a home.

This soon-to-be released memoir recounts Focht’s experience moving to a remote community of 450 people in rural Canada.

At first this teacher doesn’t know what to make of this quirky prairie town but discovers that to thrive she needs to put down roots.

So keep reading to find out more about Focht, how she began her life-story project and tips for your own creating…

Wifedom: Biography uncovers George Orwell’s wife Eileen

Book review: Australian Book Industry Awards winner by writer Anna Funder

Wifedom: Mrs Orwell’s Invisible Life by Anna Funder is a deep-dive biography into the private lives and works of powerful literary couple Eileen O’Shaughnessy and Eric Blair (aka George Orwell).

Funder forensically unearths the vivid and ingenious Eileen while layering in much of her own modern domestic struggles and observations.

Importantly this Hamish Hamilton (Penguin Random House) life story won the Australian Book Industry Awards (ABIA) Biography Book of the year, plus many other international accolades.

So keep reading to find out more about this long-lost character plus tips for your own life-story creating…

No Woman Left Behind: A childbirth advocacy memoir by charity entrepreneur Kate Grant

Case study: Fistula Foundation CEO’s tale of compassion from Madison Avenue to Africa and Asia

No Woman Left Behind: A Journey of Hope to Heal Every Woman Injured in Childbirth by Kate Grant is a compelling personal journey of compassion.

This soon-to-be-released memoir recounts Grant walking away from a promising New York advertising career to begin a modest start-up that becomes the global leader in fistula treatment.

She shares vivid firsthand accounts of surgeons toiling in remote corners of Africa and Asia to fix this childbirth injury that leaves women incontinent and often shunned by their communities.

So keep reading to find out more about Grant, how she started the book plus suggestions for your own creating…

G-Man: Groundbreaking biography about Washington FBI director J. Edgar Hoover

Book review: A Pulitzer winner by Yale Professor Beverly Gage

G-Man: J. Edgar Hoover and the Making of the American Century is a groundbreaking portrait of a ‘bulldog’ who dominated history and shaped much of today’s political landscape.

Yale’s Professor Beverly Gage details this long-serving Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) dfirector across 896 pages using many fresh sources.

As a result, her Viking (Penguin Random House) bestseller took out the 2023 Pulitzer Prize in Biography.

So keep reading to find out more about this consequential character and takeaways for your own life-story creating…

I Was A Teenage Know Nothing: A 1990s coming-of-age memoir by Ryon Ownbey

Case study: Amazing tales of a motorcycle-loving teen from Washington

I Was A Teenage Know Nothing by Ryon Ownbey is a youthful life story full of turbulence and confusion.

This memoir is set in the 1990s “before Amazon, smartphones and streaming media dared exist”.

In sum it tells how Ownbey navigated new experiences and learnt to use his instinct.

So keep reading to find out more about Ownbey, how he started the book plus suggestions for your own creating…

Best life stories of 2024: Settle in with an award-winning book

What every life-story creator should read this year

Welcome to my best life stories of 2024 ‘to be read’ shortlist.

These are the best life stories to claim a prestigious award during the past year.

They include writers from Australia, United Kingdom and USA.

Use this list to get inspiration for your own reading and writing during the year.

Stay tuned as I’ll also aim to publish book reviews on the website during 2025…

Sit, Cinderella, Sit: A puppy love memoir by Lisa Cheek

Sit, Cinderella, Sit by Lisa Cheek. Cover of Sit, Cinderella, Sit, Cheek in China with Cinderella the dog in a basket, and a portrait of Cheek. Photos by She Writes Press, Lisa Cheek, Kathy Schuh Photography — *Sit, Cinderella, Sit* (left) by Lisa Cheek (right) and in China with Cinderella (inset). Photos by She Writes Press, Lisa Cheek, Kathy Schuh Photography

Case study: How a LA ad editor ended up on the set of a Chinese fairy tale

Sit, Cinderella, Sit by Lisa Cheek is a unique life story blending fairy tale elements with true-life experience.

This unusual and charming memoir tells how former TV commercial editor Cheek got a call (at 2.45am!) from a Hollywood director asking for her help to make the original Cinderella story.

So keep reading to find out if she granted this wish, how the She Writes Press publication got started plus tips for your own creating…

Super-Infinite: A historical biography about love poet John Donne

Book review: A British Book Awards winner and bestseller by Katherine Rundell

Super-Infinite: The Transformations of John Donne is a sparkling, modern biography about an ancient, standout scholar.

Oxford’s All Souls College Fellow Katherine Rundell brings Donne to life by detailing his myriad of careers and poems on love, sex and death.

As a result, this Faber bestseller won British Book Awards Book of the Year Non-Fiction Narrative.

So keep reading to find out more about this famous shape-shifter and hints for your own life-story creating…

Qualities of a good writer: Positive characteristics and habits

Ask Nicola Q&A: 5 positive traits to improve your writing

Welcome to Forever Young Autobiographies – Ask Nicola.

Regularly I get queries about creating life stories for family and friends.

Today’s Ask Nicola question is:

Help, I’m not a natural-born writer! What are some positive traits and qualities of a good writer that I can learn from?

So let’s dive into 5 top characteristics…

The Boy from Boomerang Crescent: Australian memoir by AFL star Eddie Betts

Book review: Australian Book Industry Awards winner about a First Nations and Carlton identity

The Boy from Boomerang Crescent is an Aussie sports memoir about Eddie Betts’s long, hard road from the bush to the stadium.

The Australian Rules football legend tells how he was once a “skinny Aboriginal kid” growing up in Port Lincoln and Kalgoorlie but found success against the odds.

Significantly the life story has become a bestseller and won the Australian Book Industry Awards 2023 Social Impact Book of the Year.

So keep scrolling to find out more about this giant of the sport, his life story and tips for your own creating…