Frequently Asked Questions
Explore the answers to commonly asked questions.
I’ve been passionate about genealogy research for over 20 years and have served as a family historian specializing in Mayflower, early New England and New York, Welsh, Ashenazi Jewish, and African American ancestral lines, including ancestors who were free, indentured, or enslaved.
I write historical fiction, non-fiction historical narrative, scholarly articles, and maintain a genealogy-focused blog.
My writing is entirely genealogy-driven, focusing on the compelling true stories that emerge from historical research. I specialize in military naratives from the Revolutionary War through World War II, exploring both the front lines and the families they left behind. My work also spans social history—such as German immigration in New England manufacturing towns—and historical fiction inspired by personal memoirs.
Cross-cultural genealogy takes traditional genealogy one step further by examining family lines that cross cultural or national boundaries, exploring how different traditions, languages, and migrations shaped your ancestry. The key difference is the focus on multiple cultural contexts rather than a single cultural or national background.
Start with your documented family tree, identify an ancestor who was alive during 1775-1783, and then verify the claim by primary records such as pension files, service records, muster rolls, or bounty land records. Remember that Patriots included those who gave civilian service, such as food, supplies, and services.
Creative ways to display family history at a family reunion include setting up interactive timelines, hosting a family trivia game with prizes, printing recipe books featuring ancestral meals, or projecting a rolling photo slideshow. Think about having a reunion theme and display illustrated banners on topics that affect your family, e.g., founding generations, migration trails, occupational heritages, double cousins, and naming traditions.
I recommend leaving behind technical pedigree charts, spreadsheets, and dense documentation when speaking to a casual audience. Instead, hook them with a single, compelling narrative focused on universal human experiences like survival, romance, conflict, or triumph. Use this bite-sized story as a gateway. Be ready to share deeper background information if they ask, but avoid massive data dumps that shut down engagement.
The core facts, timelines, and settings remain unchanged. Historical fiction brings the archival record to life by imagining the plausible emotion, dialogue, sensory detail, interiority, and vivid secnes.
I approach sensitive family history with the utmost care and ethical responsibility. For living individuals, I only share or adapt stories with explicit permission. When exploring complex family secrets or deceased relatives, I am deeply mindful of how revelations affect living descendants. If a sensitive historical theme is vital to a project, I fictionalize the characters and alter the narrative trajectory entirely. This protects real-world privacy and prevents emotional harm while still honoring the emotional truth of the story.
At this time, I am only taking pro bono clients throuth the SOFAFEA Forgotten Patriots project. I am preparing to launch paid coaching services for historical fiction and genealogical storytelling later this year and would welcome the opportunity to discuss how we might work together.
