There’s been quite a bit happening in my world of genealogy over the past two weeks. As well as doing the things on my list that I had planned, I’ve been down many rabbit holes which have eaten up my time. However, they are fun! I’m having a love affair with Substack and the genealogy community. It brings a joy to my blogging and family history story telling experience that hasn’t been there for quite a while.
A to Z Challenge
Every year for the past ten years, I have eagerly looked forward to the Blogging April A to Z Challenge, where bloggers from all over the world participate, and blog on many varied topics. The idea is to publish a post every day in April, except Sundays, and to make it a little different, the posts will be to a theme. If having a theme doesn’t suit, it’s ok to post without a theme. The first day of April will be a post beginning with the letter A, the second day, beginning with the letter B………and so on.
It’s a fun challenge and gives the opportunity to read blogs on topics that I wouldn’t usually read, meet new bloggers, and discover new blogs to follow.
To me, it’s a must to be organised and have posts ready to go on the first day of April. The first year I participated, I had planned to write and publish a post every day, and, well, that’s a nightmare.
This past week, I’ve been completing research on my chosen theme, and drafting my posts. The drafts are almost complete now, so I’m about where I want to be, this far out from April. I like to have all posts drafted and ready to go by Christmas, except for adding the AtoZ images, which are released closer to April. I find if I’m still drafting posts after the New Year, I get myself in a bit of a mess, as before I know it, April is here, and I still have a huge amount of work to do. I have put quite a few hours into the challenge this week.
Genstack
Projectkin and Mission Genealogy Events
I have attended wonderful genealogy and family story telling events on Zoom over the past two weeks. It never fails to amaze me that even when a topic isn’t one that is particularly important to me, I always find something to love about it, and by the time the session is over, I’m happy to have attended, and usually leave with at least one new piece of information.
I have been a big fan of Jane Hutcheon for many years. When she hosted her interview series, One Plus One on ABC TV in Australia, I never missed an episode. When I saw that Jane was hosting this six part series, I didn’t hesitate to register. This episode left me with so much to think about, and I’m now looking forward to the second session in the series. Check out the recording if you missed it.
Forget Me Not: How We Memorialise
Emma Explores is always interesting to me. As a genealogist, author and podcaster, Emma has a huge amount of experience and knowledge, and many stories to share. Emma shares her hints and tips for researching by sharing her own research challenges and family stories. Emma explores is a monthly event.
I look forward to Office Hours each month, as I am still trying to learn all that I can about using Substack and there are many practical hints and tips given. Also I love the community that is being created and look forward to catching up with increasingly familiar faces.
Roundtable Conversations are casual meet ups, where the discussion is around genealogy, researching and telling our family stories. I take inspiration from others, who are working on particular projects, or sharing their experiences of researching their family history. This is a topic that I don’t get to talk about much ‘in real life’, so to be able to catch up with like minded people is more than enjoyable. On this Zoom meeting, we split up into separate rooms for our conversations. It was wonderful having conversations with and getting to know a smaller group of people.
Posts over the past two weeks:
Inquest: Thomas James Jones
Sunday Snippets - October 13
The Murder in our Family: Part 1
Oh, my goodness, @Jennifer Jones , you've blown me away. I'm so touched, and I call in our community lights @Jane Hutcheon , @Emma - Journeys into Genealogy , and of course our own @Robin Stewart to share the joy with me.
Yes, there is something special happening here. 🫶
I'm going to have to check out this A to Z challenge now. 🧐 Interesting...
I haven’t thought about my A to Z challenge yet. Lacking inspiration at the moment 😕