short memoir in present tense

How do you guys feel about short memoirs (personal essay type things) written in present tense? Is this a big no-no since it obviously already happened or is there room to play with this as a style technique? I've been playing around with one of my pieces and trying this out. I can't decide if this is a real option, though, when it comes to memoir writing. I know Karr switched between past and present in one of her books. But will using present tense make it harder to get published? Have any of you tried this? Is it a distraction? I guess I don't have a good reason not to stick to past tense which could be a problem. Just wondering what you guys think.