Give me a stage, and I’ll show you how important it is to write your personal and family histories.

Whenever given the opportunity to speak on the importance of writing life stories and family histories, I jump on it.

I grew up in a town of 400 people in South Louisiana, surrounded by grandparents, great-grandparents, great-aunts and uncles, and a host of other family members, but…I asked no questions. By the time I grew interested in my family history, all those who knew the stories were gone. That loss drives me to encourage others not to make the same mistake I did.

Many of us still have a ninth-grade English teacher with a red pen perched on our shoulders, telling us our writing ain’t no good. In all my talks, I dethrone that negative voice and focus on my philosophy on life story writing: The only way to do it wrong is to not do it at all!

My presentations are fun, lively, and inspiring. People walk out with tools and confidence to know they can write their life stories and family histories.

Here’s a list of my most popular presentations:

• Raising the Dead: Bring Your Ancestors to Life
• Get Started: Write Your Life Story
• Put Some Meat on Dem Bones: Turn Genealogical Data into Story
• Moments to Memoir: Bring Your Story Down to Size
• Editing in the Electronic Age
• Breathe Life into Your Characters
• Timelines—A Necessary Tool for Writers

Travel reimbursements and honorariums gratefully accepted.