The Armchair Genealogist

Discover Your Ancestors From The United Kingdom!

2013-05-21T23:55:00.000-04:00

Do you have an ancestor or two that arrived from the United Kingdom? I know many of my readers here in Canada, the United States and Australia fall into this category and are going to be very interested in reading this new online magazine, Discover Your Ancestors Periodical. Discover Your Ancestors is an affordable UK based digital magazine that is geared to the beginner and intermediate

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New Scrivener Tutorial - How to Use Comments

2013-05-13T23:55:00.000-04:00

I've added a new Scrivener tutorial to our video library. This week, we take a look at comments and how to use them in writing your stories. If you're new to Scrivener be sure to check out our Scrivener page and learn more about this fantastic tool for family history writers. You can find more mini-webinars in our Scrivener series on our You Tube channel.

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Discover Your Ancestors - New Online Magazine

2013-05-10T08:55:00.000-04:00

I was recently contacted by the publishers of a new online magazine, Discover Your Ancestors. Discover Your Ancestors produces a yearly bookazine and is now filling in the gap with Discover Your Ancestors Periodical. I am intrigued with this new online magazine and I thought I would share with you some of the details today. Discover Your Ancestors is a UK based magazine with a focus on

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My Interview on What's Up Genealogy?

2013-05-03T18:28:00.000-04:00

Yesterday I had the opportunity to chat with Caroline Pointer from the blog 4YourFamilyStory.com and the genealogy show known as What's Up Genealogy? Every Friday evening Caroline reviews the news of the week, offers tips and chats with a special guest on her Google+ Hangout. Caroline was kind enough to invite me this week. We talked about The Armchair Genealogist, the writing program

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The Stovepipe: A Memoir with Many Lessons

2013-04-24T23:55:00.000-04:00

When we write our family history stories, it’s important to tell our tales from a place of empathy. Sometimes, we have to wait to share those stories. Regardless of whether they are personal memories or they belong to our ancestors, the pain can often get in the way of recalling an honest account. A story-line that tells a difficult truth but does not live in a place of anger or revenge is

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The Long Distance Interview

2013-04-22T23:55:00.000-04:00

Often we use the excuse of geography as a reason not to conduct a family history interview. In this day of technology and all things of instant communication, there is just no reason why we cannot connect with relatives in far off places. The long distance interview is a little more challenging and limiting than a face-to-face interview, but no less valuable. Today we have at our

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The Cake is a Little Sweeter!

2013-04-18T23:55:00.000-04:00

Tomorrow, The Armchair Genealogist rolls past its fourth anniversary and I couldn’t think of a better way to celebrate then by finding this blog listed in Family Tree Magazine’s 40 Best Genealogy Blogs for 2013. Some mornings I get up and wonder how I ended up here and why I continue to blog. There is little reward or remuneration in blogging. Few can make a living from it. Yet day after

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A 10 Step Plan: Getting Sources & Citations Under Control

2013-04-15T23:55:00.000-04:00

Let's not kid ourselves, many genealogists started their researching careers with a lack of knowledge or understanding of the importance of citing their sources. I didn’t get drawn into genealogy because I love to write a citation. Before I started genealogy, I hadn’t used a citation in probably 30 years. Seriously. It was not part of my daily diet. It still is the least exciting part about

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Scrivener for the Family History Writer - Annotations

2013-04-10T23:55:00.000-04:00

We are back with another video in our series Scrivener for the Family History Writer. Today we discuss inline annotations. A handy little tool to help you stay focused on your writing while not losing track of the added research, editing, social history and various other elements that need to be addressed but often distract us from the task of writing. Check out my list of Scrivener

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Monday Morning Mentions Says Goodbye!

2013-04-07T23:55:00.000-04:00

For the past 2 years, Monday Morning Mentions has been bringing you some of the best highlights from the genealogy blogs and beyond. I have shared with you blogs, books, webinars, podcasts that span research and writing family history to social media and productivity. Each week, I've helped introduce you to new bloggers and shared some of the finest blog posts from across the internet. However,

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Monday Morning Mentions

2013-03-31T23:55:00.000-04:00

Monday Morning Mentions is an opportunity to reflect on the events of the week at the Armchair Genealogist and in the blogging and book community. Over my morning cappuccino, I will take the opportunity to share with you some of my favourite blogs posts this week and give a nod to my peers. You can also find me on Facebook. Stop by and leave a message. I often will link some great

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The Timid Family Historian

2013-03-28T09:13:00.000-04:00

One of the first actions we are encouraged to carry out when we begin our family history is to interview the living. Our living family members are the links to the past. They hold the memories that we so desperately need to acquire to help shape our research. We need to obtain from them their experiential accounts of their life and their impressions and understandings of the ancestors they had

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Turn Family Lines into Story Lines!

2013-03-26T08:09:00.000-04:00

There was a lot of talk last week coming out of Rootstech 2013 with regards to the importance of story and enlisting its assistance in sharing our family history. I was thrilled that the theme of the conference was storytelling. Great emphasis was placed on moving beyond the dates, names and places in our family history to create these stories. Here at the Armchair Genealogist we’ve

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Monday Morning Mentions

2013-03-24T23:18:00.000-04:00

Monday Morning Mentions is an opportunity to reflect on the events of the week at the Armchair Genealogist and in the blogging and book community. Over my morning cappuccino, I will take the opportunity to share with you some of my favourite blogs posts this week and give a nod to my peers. You can also find me on Facebook. Stop by and leave a message. I often will link some

Want to tell a great family history story. Join our newsletter Storylines- monthly tips and tools for creating and sharing your family history stories.

RootsTech Conference: 10 Tips to Make the Most of Your Virtual Experience

2013-03-19T13:21:00.000-04:00

Thursday marks the start of the RootsTech Conference in Salt Lake City. While I’m a little saddened that I can’t be there in person this year, I’m thrilled to be attending virtually through the live streaming lectures. RootsTech celebrates its 3rd year and combines the worlds of genealogy and technology through this unique conference. The focus of many of the lectures and workshops is to

Want to tell a great family history story. Join our newsletter Storylines- monthly tips and tools for creating and sharing your family history stories.

Monday Morning Mentions

2013-03-17T23:55:00.000-04:00

Monday Morning Mentions is an opportunity to reflect on the events of the week at the Armchair Genealogist and in the blogging and book community. Over my morning cappuccino, I will take the opportunity to share with you some of my favourite blogs posts this week and give a nod to my peers. You can also find me on Facebook. Stop by and leave a message. I often will link some

Want to tell a great family history story. Join our newsletter Storylines- monthly tips and tools for creating and sharing your family history stories.

Need Help with Your Family History Interviews?

2013-03-15T09:48:00.000-04:00

The March issue of The In-Depth Genealogist is now available for download. Make sure you grab your copy and read my article, Capturing Life Stories through the Family History Interview. Then be sure to come back to The Armchair Genealogist and download your free copy of my new ebook, The Complete Guide to The Family History Interview. Open publication - Free publishing - More britain

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Monday Morning Mentions

2013-03-10T23:55:00.000-04:00

Don't Be a Wallflower at Your First Genealogy Conference!

2013-03-06T23:55:00.000-05:00

Attending a genealogy conference can sometimes be intimidating. Often family historians arrive in pairs, they come with a friend, or they all know attendees from past years, from the online community or through genealogical societies. This can be extremely intimidating if you’re attending solo. It can be difficult for a newcomer to get comfortable at their first conference, and overcome their

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The Family History Writing Challenge: Lessons Learned

2013-03-05T23:55:00.000-05:00

A few days ago saw the end of The Family History Writing Challenge for this year. Many of our challenge members expressed their gratitude for the opportunity and all that they learned through the newsletters. However, the newsletter and the tools, tips and education contained in the Daily Dose were only a very small part of their journey. The real learning came from sitting down and doing

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Monday Morning Mentions

2013-03-03T23:55:00.000-05:00

Writing Family History with Author Ryan Littrell

2013-02-27T23:55:00.000-05:00

I could think of no better way to close out the last day of The Family History Writing Challenge then to share with my readers this interview with Ryan Littrell. Ryan wrote and self-published his family history memoir Reunion: A Search for Ancestors. He was kind enough to share his writing experience with our challenge members.  Lynn: Welcome Ryan to The Family

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Would You Rather Clean the Shower Tile Than Write Your Family History?

2013-02-25T23:55:00.000-05:00

You Don’t Have to Write a Book! Writing Your Family History as Personal and Memoir Essays (Once again I am pleased to welcome Sharon DeBartolo Carmack, MFA, CG to The Armchair Genealogist.) Does the thought of writing your family history send you straight back to bed to hide under the covers? Is the grout in your shower tile suddenly in need of cleaning every time you attempt

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Monday Morning Mentions

2013-02-24T23:55:00.000-05:00

Write Your Family History Using the Tools of Creative Nonfiction

2013-02-18T23:55:00.000-05:00

(Today Biff Barnes from Stories to Tell joins us to discuss the writing genre of Creative Nonfiction as means of writing our family history stories) A lot of people think creative nonfiction is an oxymoron. If you are writing a family history you are writing about things that have already happened. Your job is to recount the facts of those events. Where’s the creativity in that?

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