I belong to a network of Australian authors and genealogists who are preserving the history of their own families and those of others. Each of us chooses our own style of writing, the method of research, the selection of content, and the preferred publishing strategy. For you the reader, we aim to preserve the history and write compelling stories and hold your attention for a while. The process takes time and careful attention to detail. This month I interviewed Karen Guest, author of Barefoot to Boeings. Listen to the podcast below. To find out more about Karen and her books, visit her website.
Quotes from Karen
“I have always enjoyed writing. From having a dream to be an author and the determination to see it through, my resolve and hard work has been worth it. I have published Barefoot to Boeings, a memoir about a boy who had a dream to fly, and now A Better Life – An Italian Immigrants Journey, a story about a boy who always dreamt of a better life.”
“It’s ordinary people living extra ordinary lives. It is these stories that are not often told. I believe that they are so important, not only for one’s own family, but because they need to be told before society forgets what life used to be like.”
“Whenever I talk with people who I haven’t met before, I always ask about their story and how them come to do what they do. I did that most recently with my podiatrist, believe it or not, and found out some really interesting information. It’s funny, I often think there’s a book in that, when I’m talking to people.”
Bringing your ancestors to the page!
During the conversation with Karen we unpacked some of the strategies for writing family history stories. Karen said
“It was recently that I met you, and bought your book, Storifying your Ancestors. This particular book, whether you know it or not, has been an invaluable resource for me. This is what I’m doing. I’m storifying my ancestors.”
In that book I invite storytellers to write ancestral stories. Here’s my opening gambit:
“Have you ever wanted to write a story about a particular ancestor of yours? Maybe they had an extraordinary life. Maybe they had a vastly different life to yours, and you would like to share that with other members of your family. I am delighted to bring you into my world of storifying your family history, one ancestor at a time. I call writing these stories – storifying. I think you will enjoy delving into your family history, as I have for mine. Writing family stories has been a passion for many, many years. What about you? Do you want to tell stories about your ancestors? What about grandma or great grandmother or even great, great, great grandfather? What is it about their lives that intrigues you? These are the stories that will help to preserve your family history and share with your children or other members of your family.”
How to get the ebook: Storifying your Ancestors
Option 1:
Get your ebook to read on your Kindle from Amazon. Available from my Amazon Author’s page. You can get the book for free if you have a subscription to Kindle Unlimited.
Please leave a review after reading the book, this will help the book sales of course, but will also enable me to harvest suggested improvements for the next edition. View the script of ‘Diary of a Nurse‘; one of the stories contained within the book.
Option 2:
Enrol in the ‘course‘ at my Academy and for the same price you can get a PDF copy of the book to read anywhere and on whatever device you prefer.
This is one of many courses I have developed during the pandemic years of 2019-2021 for the
Preserving Family History Academy.
One reply on “Storifying your Ancestors!”
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