Paul and list members,
    I agree with you Paul, anyone can write a book on one's families.  I
have written 2 and am on my third.  Using FTM's Genealogy Report is a good
base to start with and then go on from there.  You just start writing and it
all comes after while.  Get stories from grandparents, (if alive, you are
lucky) and parents.  It was one thing I did before my Dad died 2 years ago.
His story of growing up on a "truck" farm in NJ  the years before and during
the Depression.  It was not an easy way of life.  Story from maternal
grandmother who lives in Phila in early 1900s who had a "mean stepmother."
Really interesting stuff.  With today's software, pictures are so easy to
add to make then more interesting.
    I agree about interest from family members.  The first book I published
23 copies and the second one had about 45.  Kids and grandkids could care
less, but someday maybe one of their kids will be interested in knowing who
their ancestors were.  I do this work for ME; I enjoy researching and
finding out how my ancestors lived and died.  It is absolutely amazing what
they went through to settle the land, and make it a free country for us to
be able to live here.
    I found a Revolutionary Patriot which enabled me to become a member of
the DAR; a colonial settler which entitled me to become a member of the
National Society of Colonial Dames, XVII Century, having settled in
Jamestowne in 1619.  And eventually found a Confederate soldier farmer from
Virginia.  Born and bred a Yankee from NJ, it is still hard to accept the
southern way of life back then.  Most of my ancestors in Virginia were slave
holders as they had large farms.
    It is fun; heh, what else is there to do on a hot summer day?
So don't be afraid to start.  You never know, you may really get "hooked."
As they say,
    "Genealogy begins as an interest,
    Becomes a hobby;
    Continues as an avocation,
    Takes over as an obsession,
    And in its last stages,
    Is an incurable disease."
            Author Unknown
Betty MacDuff
The Villages, FL

----- Original Message -----
From: "Paul Drake" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Tuesday, July 12, 2005 8:54 PM
Subject: Fw: [VA-SOUTHSIDE-L] Re: My published books


>I have just now received a response worthwhile for all of us.
> Donna writes:  "....Be sure to encourage these folks too that even if they
> think no one will ever be interested in the finished work that there will
> always be at least one who is - the author!!"
>
> To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe please see the instructions
> at
> http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-roots.html
>

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