Family Stories

So, how did Olive's story come about? you ask.

When I moved to Newcastle Ontario in 2006, I joined the Newcastle Village & District Historic Society. Their first newsletter (delivered to my home in person - joys of a small community) featured an article about the death of Olive Wilmot in 1903 at her home in Newcastle. I was intrigued.

But normal life took precedence; I had a business plan to implement; a store to open and run and years of single-minded purpose.

It was only after closing the store that I suddenly faced endless empty days ahead of me.

A membership to Ancestry.com; online research and personal visits with Olive's great-niece kept me occupied for months which turned into years.

When I began the eight year journey of Olive Wilmot's story, I had no intention of publishing a book. I simply wanted to discover as much as I could about her life and, for her family and mine, present an alternate view to the gossip told about her in her home village of Newcastle Ontario. As I said in the summary of the story; her life turned out to be far more interesting than the gossip about her death that  I had heard. 

I wrote and re-wrote more times than I can count, eventually coming to a linear tale of her life as I had come to know and imagine it. A personal goal was achieved. 

It was a neighbour who, after reading the draft, said it was a compelling story and suggested I hire a ghost writer to turn it into a novel. 

A ghost writer? Really? After eight years of living Olive's story, surely I was more than capable of writing it as a novel. Had They but Known Her was born. 

With great hesitation, I decided to self-publish the novel and send it out to the universe. The response I've received, and continue to receive, is rewarding and carries me along as I work on my next project.

In the immortal words of Nike, I encourage everyone who has ever thought they'd like to write a book, "Just Do It". 

Look to your own family for ideas. Olive's fell into my lap (literally) but I've learned from readers that most have an interesting character or situation within their own family. Some I've been told about are almost unbelievable and yet true. Others are the history of a family's journeys and growth. All are worth reading.

I sincerely regret not capturing my own grandmother's story. She was born in 1889; had seen most of the changes of the 20th century and yet still cooked on a wood stove and had an outhouse (by her own choice) when she died in 1972. Although her life was standard for her time, her story would be unimaginable to the young women of today. 

Even if you just document it for your own family, as I originally intended, do it.