Search Results for: blog writing a personal history the actual writing

How to Start Your Own Genealogy Blog

Ready to start your own genealogy blog? There are plenty of good reasons to do it. Genealogists need to be careful not to steal content, or break copyright laws on their blog. It is also wise to make sure that your blog doesn’t contain information that can lead to identity theft. Many people think that the best way to start creating a brand new blog is to jump online, put together a WordPress blog, and think of a catchy title. In reality, your blogging experience will be much more successful if you take the time to think about what you … Continue reading →

What Does the Hague Convention Agreement Actually Say?

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Adoption periodicals and websites often refer to the “Hague Convention”, to “Hague requirements” and to countries being “Hague” or “non-Hague”. What does that mean? I gave a brief overview and shared some potential concerns. But what exactly does the Hague Convention say? “Hague” refers to the international courts at the Hague in Holland. The adoption agreement referred to is formally titled “Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect to Intercountry Adoption”. The introduction states that “the child, for the full and harmonious development of his or her personality, should grow up in a family environment, in an atmosphere … Continue reading →

Journal Writing

A journal is a great resource for genealogy. It is also a great resource for putting together your family history. As you read journals you learn about daily life, big events as well as small ones. It is a chance to really see inside someone’s mind. As you read other people’s journals you may learn things that you want to add to your own journal writing or it may inspire you to begin writing your journal. As you write in your own journal you should be aware that it may be read by others at some point. This does not … Continue reading →

Writing Your Personal History

As you complete your family’s genealogy and personal history’s for other people, you may become interested in passing on your own personal history to those who come after you. I have really enjoyed reading my grandparents’ personal histories and learning from their lives. I was fortunate enough to grow up and have good relationships with each of them. I heard some of their life stories first hand and others I heard my parents or their personal histories. It can be intimidating to sit down and think about writing about your entire life. It is a lot to cover. Many people … Continue reading →

Three Steps to Writing a Family History

Writing a family history is a big project. If you are working on your own personal history a history that spans generations there are basic steps that you can take to make the project a success. It is important to begin working with a plan in mind. The first step in writing a family history is to begin with the research. You should look at old family journal and letters. This can help you begin to fill in the details of your family’s daily life generations ago. As you add these details you bring your family history to life. The … Continue reading →

Underwrite, Underwriting and Insurance Underwriter–Who Are These People?

I once told a very wonderful editor that an Insurance Underwriter was just about the same job description as the editor of a bunch of Bloggers. When I first started in the Business of Insurance my best boss ever used to kindly refer to underwriters as “people from a different planet.” Of course, we did our very best to make sure we kept our underwriters happy, because they had an amazing skill of causing extra work when we didn’t do our end of things correctly. An Underwriter is an intermediary between the insurance company who offers to accept the liability … Continue reading →

On Koalas, Dogs, and Writing: An Interview with Author Lee Barwood

I’ve interviewed a couple of authors now. Besides the fact that many base animal characters on their own pets, or that animals influence their writing as a career choice in some way, they all have something else in common too: a deep sense of reverence, tenderness, and love for their pets that only an animal can elicit. Lee Barwood is no exception. And perhaps she sums it up best in her answer to my question about whether animals factor into her fiction writing. “I think we’ve gotten too far removed from animals in modern life,” she says. “and if we … Continue reading →

No Handwriting on the Walls?

Whatever happened to penmanship? Gone are the days of children learning penmanship in the classroom. Gone are the days of writing pages upon pages from the class history book to (a) learn history, and (b) improve penmanship. Frankly, it just takes too much time away from test prep. As long as the teacher can make out what the child has written it is OK. But how will the teacher be able to read it if penmanship is not practiced? With the dawn of computers in the classroom, and soon, one assigned to every student, the need for proper penmanship becomes … Continue reading →

Uppity Women of Shakespearean Times

Soldiers, spies, businesswomen, lobbyists, those Shakespearean women really knew how to live. Outspoken and daring, all while keeping their heads during a time when women could be flogged for speaking harshly to their husbands, or in the case of King Henry VIII, loose their heads for not producing an heir, the women portrayed in this book are proud, passionate or just trying to make a living. Uppity Women of Shakespearean Times is one of a series of books about groundbreaking women of history that really got lost in the shuffle. You won’t find the famous, at least not today, but … Continue reading →

Cozies, Stray Cats, and Past Dogs: An Interview with Marion Moore Hill

I’m pleased to introduce you to mystery writer Marion Moore Hill. I’ve been trying to coordinate an interview with her for months now, but my efforts were somewhat waylaid by having to tend to affairs with my mom. However, I am pleased to finally bring you this long overdue interview. Enjoy! (And, Marion, thank you so much again for your patience and cooperation.) Courtney Mroch: What kind of things do you write about? (Genre, subject matter, themes, what have you.) Marion Moore Hill: I write traditional, amateur-sleuth mysteries (sometimes called cozies). I do two series, the Scrappy Librarian Mysteries and … Continue reading →