Introducing...Well, I'm Not Sure What!

Am working on this book project. See there, I am now able to call it what it is. It's intimidating to be sure and it's taken me this long to be able to call it what it is. Up to now it's been simply "the project."

Frankly, I'm not sure I can do Mom's work and family stories justice! I've stumbled around looking for a proper format for quite a while. The usual descendancy books are not what I'm looking for. I realized that when I had a browse through the book by Samuel Doak Porter, A genealogy of the Porter family of Maryland, West Virginia, Michigan. Upon reading this well researched book it came to me that the most useful aspect was the short biographical sketches of each male family head. Of course no proper mention of the wonderful and fascinating pioneer women! Grrr.

Then I read The Journey Takers, by Leslie Albrecht Huber, which was a wonderful read in narrative form. Very  much liked and enjoyed the way it's organized by family line capturing what she has found out about her ancestors and each generation's time and place. Everyone who mentions this book is enthralled by how the author interweaves her own imaginings about the lives and times of each ancestor, done with love... and tons of solid research.

So what was this book going to be: fish or foul? Am seeing that the Porter book could easily (perhaps more easily) have been an online tree. So that leaves narrative form for me.

Am at present working on the introduction bit by bit. (See previous post, below, Beginning at the Beginning.) It's slow going now and that's to be expected. This funny thing happens: I write a bit and then slow to a halt, then I realize that what I've written wants more or something slightly different. And so it goes. A story here, a thought there, all strung together like - what did someone say - a strand of pearls. Well, that's making too much of it! Right now it's more like a strand of broken macaroni.

Today's photo from the Archive:

Enoch Clise (1843 - 1896)
Civil War Veteran, Mayor of Frostburg, MD twice and
Husband to two of my Great Grand Aunts...

Don't ask;)

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