A Memoir Meant to Be Used, Not Just Read
The book I never thought I’d write turned into more than a memoir. A personal journey. A lifetime of wisdom. A practical toolkit.
Where Stories Lie Buried is part memoir, part craft narrative, part family history — and the toolkit is the part I want to tell you about today.
As I worked through each chapter, outlining my journey, and the inspirations and background to my novels, I also wrote about my learning curve. At times, that curve was a steep arc, at other times, my progression came more gently. The more I wrote the more the words took shape under my fingertips.
But the story began to offer insights I’d not considered valuable until my beta readers and members of my writing group repeatedly mentioned they’d learned something from those words.
They kept telling me I needed to add the points I was making into a list, to make the lessons I learnt easily findable, and to collate all the websites I referred to in one place. I needed to reassess. Should I use Footnotes as I would in an academic thesis? Should I have Key Points at the end of each chapter? Should I do a Bibliography?
I experimented with several different formats, but since I was still telling a story as if I was talking to a reader in person, I felt breaking it up with key points between the chapters interrupted the flow too much. Neither did footnotes work.
What I ended up with is a section on Resources, neither definitive nor exhaustive, but my preferred ones. I added numerous handy hints and separated the general pointers for genealogist and for writers into two segments. I wrote about what I’d discovered and the best methods I had used, but none of them are meant as step-by-step instructions. They are guides and suggestions.
For genealogists
There’s a handy list of all my favourite and most frequently used websites, with tips on where to find records, and how to find them again, and comments on naming patterns. I’ve passed on a definition given to me when I started researching of the difference between genealogy and family history, but most of all, so my readers tell me, I’ve passed on my passion for genealogy.
For writers
I’ve included quotes throughout from other writers to reflect what a writer’s life is in reality. I’ve talked about the business of being an author, the pitfalls, the scams, the costs and being locked into algorithms. I’ve written about writing and how to make it flow.
Like when I mentioned my creative writing tutor at university had taught us not to start a sentence with ‘It’ but to identify the subject, or that removing the word ‘was’ became my simple trick to turn a sentence from passive to active (eg: the ball was chased by the dog versus the dog chased the ball).
I didn’t want to write a manual; I wanted to write a story, to entertain readers while outlining my life – not my personal life, but my genealogy and writing life. Most of all, I wanted this book to be used, not just read. That’s why l included lined pages at the back, waiting for your own notes, your own stories. Take a peek through the book here.
Where Stories Lie Buried – A Memoir of a Genealogist Turned Author
Official Launch at Orewa Library 10am, Friday 25 September. Do join me, I’d be delighted to see you.
