Family Trees

What do a Florida horse thief, a Dutch dressmaker who can speak seven languages, and an Austrian dairy farmer living in Brazil have in common?

Each one can be found on the family tree of the friend I had lunch with today at Fat Boys ("where the locals go"). One branch of Joy's family traces its Georgia/Florida roots back as far as the 1700s. Another vines its way back in time to pre-World War I Austria and Holland (with that detour to Brazil).

I'm emerald green with jealousy. Sure, my mom's paternal ancestors go in a straight trunkline back to the late 1700s in Ohio. But I'm not sure how they got there or where they came from. And what about their wives' ancestors? They are lost in the mists of history.

My kids know that one of their dad's Irish ancestors probably married a shipwrecked sailor from the Spanish Armada. There's also a chance they have a drop or two of Native American blood. But my husband's genealogical record is even more sparse than mine.

So, yes! I'm envious that my friend has treasured keepsakes from her Dutch dressmaker maternal ancestor.

And I'm thinking I want to learn more about this woman's long-ago life. Her intriguing "fact" may inspire fascinating fiction.

And I'm thinking it's past time to seek out the mysterious women in my own family tree.

Florida Christian Writers Conference After Hours

With less than three weeks before the FCWC,  my writing pals and I are hunched over laptops getting our projects ready for editors and publishers. And that's not all -- we're also getting ready for After Hours presentations.

Conference After Hours, held after the evening general session, are informal workshops. Here's what we're doing:

• On behalf of the Kindred Heart Writers, Clella Camp will present tips on forming an online critique group from our booklet, The Write Team. You'll get ideas for starting a group, finding new members, and critiquing.
• Jeanie Wise and Melinda Means are presenting Blogging Tips from the Trenches: Lessons Learned by Two First-Year Bloggers. These ladies are steadily building their readership and want to share their ideas with you.
• I'm presenting Novice Novelist Novel Notes, the lessons learned about creativity, theme, characters, and plot while finishing a manuscript.

If you're coming to conference, please join us for our After Hour workshops. We hope to see you there.

Quotable Quotes

A child's hand in yours -- what tenderness and power it arouses.

You are instantly the very touchstone of wisdom and strength.

Marjorie Holmes


Line by line, moment by moment,
special times are etched into our memories in the permanent ink
of everlasting love in our relationships.

Gloria Gaither