Congratulations. You got a book contract! Now it's time to finish the manuscript. Are you frozen with fear, wondering if you're up to the task? That, in my opinion, is a great place to be.

Want to finish and publish your memoir this year? Here are four resolutions to knock your writing up a level to create a memoir of enduring value that readers want to read and publishers will want to buy.

After nine years, while working full time and raising two kids, I finally had the book in my hands. I was driven to write the story of my childhood -- a life with my beautiful, smart and crazy mother and two older brothers in 23 New York City hotels and apartments.

How can you make your memoir compelling? Find something unique about your narrative and focus the book around that instead of navel gazing about your first dog, your last lover, etc.

Are memoirs fact, fiction, or a combination of both? It depends on how seriously you want to take them.

At a time when tweets alert us to one's trip to the restroom, is it any surprise that everyone thinks his or her life is worthy of a self-told tale?