This is the Year to Tell Your Story

Many thanks to all who have purchased Little Sister, A Family Memoir, since its publication last September. And a million thanks for who have sent comments. Many say they relate to the stories in it about growing up in the 1950s. You all warm my ink-stained heart.

It’s been about ten years since I published my first book. I’ve met a lot of readers…and writers since then. Whether I’m speaking to groups or sitting at a table signing books, people seem to want to chat.

Often someone will ask how I got started writing. A few minutes into the conversation I realize what they really want to ask is, “How can I begin writing?”

I love those exchanges because they are so personal. Sometimes others will scoff at your dreams, so it’s hard to admit you want to write your memoir or have an idea for a bestselling novel. By telling me, they’re exposing a secret side of themselves, and we’re no longer strangers, but friends with a shared interest.

Let me encourage you, if you have a desire to write, 2025 is the year to begin. I published Little Sister after decades of stalling. I’m glad I did it now because memories fade and opportunities slip away much too quickly.

Most of us don’t feel qualified to be writers. But if a story is begging to be told, who’s more qualified to tell it than you? It’s sad to think of all the history that has been lost because someone was embarrassed by their grammar or spelling. Those things can be corrected, but only you can tell your story.

One way to begin writing is to keep a journal or diary. That way, you learn to write regularly and how to record your thoughts without the pressure of showing it to others. Sometimes the smallest details you write down become important decades later. Keep in mind that today’s mundane events become tomorrow’s history.

A great example of the usefulness of a journal can be is found in Dr. David Livingstone’s story. He kept a journal all of his life. He began working in a cotton mill in Scotland when he was ten. As a boy, he was in church working the bellows of the organ when he felt God calling him to Africa. Perhaps every Sunday he wrote in his diary, “I worked the organ bellows again today.” And then in one defining moment, the direction of his life changed from factory worker to future missionary. We know the details of that encounter and his exceptional life as a missionary and explorer because of the record he kept.

If you want to start journaling, here are some tips: Ask God to direct you. Choose a time and place to record your thoughts. You can write in a notebook or on your computer. Forget the flowery beginning and simply launch into comments about your day or week. Record the date and what happened and when and where. Why was it important? How did it make you feel?

To start writing down your memories try this: Don’t attempt to tell your whole life story, instead focus on one special memory. The happiest or saddest day of your life. A moment that changed your life’s course. Is your faith important to you? Why? What is your favorite scripture or saying? What advice would you give the next generation?

If you’re inspired to keep a journal, begin writing a memoir or launch into a novel that’s been on your mind, please let me know!

Writing Update

As the holidays neared, some of my writing friends and I realized we had all published recently. We decided to celebrate with a Christmas Coffee at the Bismarck Public Library in December. We were excited and blessed to talk about our writing to a room full of people. Pictured here are five of the six recently published authors.

You can obtain a copy of Little Sister, A Family Memoir at Amazon.com. At this time, it is sold out in Bismarck, but I hope to have them restocked by Valentine’s Day.

My other five books can be found at all online bookstores.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding;

in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall director your paths. Psalm 3:5-6