I can’t believe it. After years of working on it, off and on, my book is finished. And not just finished, but self-published and on Amazon. Yes, AMAZON. I submitted it for publication yesterday around 8:00 PM and by 4:00 this morning I had an email from Amazon with the subject line “Your book is … More I finally did it…I’m officially a (self) published author
This is a photo of James and William Shaffer, my grandpa and great-grandpa. James was 18 months old in this photo and his father William was 23 years old. They lived in Northumberland, PA where William worked at a silk mill and was a member of a local baseball team. The photo was taken in … More My great-grandfather died in the 1918 flu epidemic. I never thought we’d face something as bad, if not worse
I’m an impatient writer. And an impatient artist. I want to get everything done right away, which is definitely not how most writing and art works best. So that I was able to push through and finish my book on family and local history, page count over 500 (including bibliography), is amazing. And even though … More Lesson learned: taking time between rough draft and revision is invaluable
The first place I saw the phrase “Glen Onoko” was in an autograph album that we found in family records after my grandmother passed away. Also known as a friendship album, they were popular in the mid to late 1800s. This album, owned by my great-times-three Aunt Mary Boyd, has signatures in it from the … More Glen Onoko, a place to visit no longer
…and how a visit to a cemetery solved a mystery I’ve recently finished writing a book based on the signatures in my great-times-three Aunt Mary’s autograph album. These albums were a little like high school yearbooks in the 1800s. Friends and family wrote something on a page, often a little poem, and signed their names. … More Ancestor sleuthing–the case of the three Anna Todds
I spent most of my life in the suburbs of Washington, D.C., which is technically part of the Mid-Atlantic area but I always considered myself a northerner, in the world of north versus south. Recently, my husband and I moved to Virginia, so far south we’re in the Richmond TV market. I wasn’t fully aware … More What is a monument?
I’m at an exciting point in my life. I’ve written a book about part of my family’s history and the region it occurred in, and it’s done. I’ve taken the exhilarating and terrifying step of sending out my first query letter, and have already moved on to my next project, that of illustrating a story … More Invisible elephants in the room
I’ve been interested in my family roots ever since I had to write a report in 10th grade called “My Family Tree”. I remember that I took it seriously, interviewing both my grandmothers and taking notes like a reporter. I drew maps, created family trees and spent a lot of time and effort in writing … More Ancestor hunting online? Here are a few tips I wish I’d known before I started
I announced a couple of days ago that I’m finally done (after nearly five years) with my writing Work-In-Progress. My WIP, as I affectionately called it, can’t even go by that name any more. What should I call it now? FIP? As in Finished Project? Even though I say it’s finished, I can’t seem to … More When it’s hard to let go of the writing…and Jim Thorpe
When the writing is done and the courage is found to send a query letter to a publisher … More Where the Writing Rubber Meets the Road
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