family history

Writing Life Stories in November

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Preserving Memories book cover

November is Family Stories Month and National Life Writing Month.  I remember as a young child my grandfather telling stories about his days as a cowboy. On holidays when the big extended family gathered to celebrate, he regaled us with his exploits. No one ever bothered to write the stories down. Grandpa was always telling his stories. … Read more

I Love to Write Day 2012

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Today is I Love to Write Day, and 2012 marks the 10th anniversary of the event. Author John Riddle started I Love to Write Day to encourage people to write and to nurture a love of writing in children. November is National Lifewriting Month. I encourage everyone to write their own life story or family … Read more

Author Interview: Karen Fisher-Alaniz

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My guest today is Karen Fisher-Alaniz, author of Breaking the Code: A Father’s Secret, a Daughter’s Journey, and the Question That Changed Everything . I met Karen several years ago through her blog and have been interested in her book long before it was even accepted for publication. You can read my review of Breaking … Read more

November is Lifewriting Month

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In addition to being National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), November is National Lifewriting Month. Although you aren’t likely to find lifewriting in the dictionary, you can probably guess its meaning–writing about life, specifically memoir and family history. I encourage everyone to write their own or their family’s life stories. In my ebook, Preserving Memories: How … Read more

More Free E-Books

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I have added the following short how-to e-books to Smashwords. The books are free through March 13, 2010 with the coupon code RFREE. Visit my Smashwords page to order any of my e-books. I’m also including the novels Dream or Destiny, Stroke of Luck, and Fern’s Fancies in the Read an E-Book Week promotion. Learn how to find the information … Read more

Memoir and Family History: Part 6—Publishing and Distribution

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Some memoirs and family histories will appeal to a wider audience and be appropriate for traditional publishing. If your story falls into that category, this installment won’t apply to you. Since the percentage of personal and family stories that are published by conventional publishers is small, I will focus on self-publishing and subsidy publishing in … Read more

Memoir and Family History: Part 5—Writing

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Memoirists and family historians are not necessarily experienced writers, and they often don’t realize how many drafts it takes to achieve a finished product. The first draft will be “pure green dreck.” Start writing, and expect that you will re-write … and re-write … and re-write. But get the first draft written first. Here are … Read more