Annette Gendler's Blog, page 4

Free 3-Week Mini Course on Writing Stories from Family History

I’m currently offering a free mini course on writing stories from family history.

As I’m working on creating my own online course business, things are moving much faster than I anticipated.

Last week, while out on a walk, I had an idea for a little course.

The caveat: It needs to run before the holidays begin. Could I pull that off in such a short time? I noodled on that for a bit and decided that I could. No more circling the perfectionist roundabout but rather learning by doing!

So, here are ...

A Favorite Family Recipe to Savor Fall: Chunky Curried Butternut Squash Soup

Butternut squash, its color, smell and taste, are quintessentially fall.

I realized that years ago when I once made this soup in March, using a butternut squash that had lasted all winter. Wrong season! Just cutting it up I felt out of place.

So, to savor my favorite season, I always make this butternut squash soup come October.

Even though I love it, I used to push off making this soup as I find peeling it cumbersome. However, the soup is so worth it that I’ve accepted the nuisance of getting ...

9/11 – In Memoriam of Those Who Lost Their Lives 20 Years Ago

I can’t quite believe 9/11 happened 20 years ago!

Thankfully, my husband reminded me this morning that I usually do a memorial post for 9/11 every year by sharing some of the obituary titles from the great New York Times book Portraits 9/11/01. Perhaps honoring that tradition is the push I needed to break my blogging hiatus?

Since this is the 20th anniversary of that still unfathomable attack, I will share twenty obituary titles, randomly chosen:

David L. Angell – His Heart Was in Cape Cod (54 y...

How to Deal with the Challenge of Multiple Languages in your Family History Stories

My grandmother left fourteen pages of these handwritten memoirs. For us grandkids they are a real treasure but thankfully we can all read German.

Welcome to another installment of my advice column where I answer readers’ questions about writing compelling stories from family history:

Doremi asks: My mother tongue is Hungarian, but English is my second mother tongue, and my kids are more at home in the latter. In our family we use both languages equally. I feel mixed up sometimes: Some stories,...

How to Jazz Up Store-Bought Gefilte Fish the Aunt Rachel Way

First of all, I’m back! I’m sorry I’ve been MIA for three months but I guess, after ten years of regular blogging, I needed a break. And truth be told, I needed a break from just about everything by the end of last year.

Now we are one year into the pandemic and thankfully there is light at the end of the tunnel. However, we are about to celebrate another Passover under COVID restrictions. My family is giddy that, unlike last year, dear friends will be joining our Seders this time around. They ...

This Site Is Currently Under Construction

Dear Readers and Visitors,

You might have noticed that all kinds of gibberish code is appearing on my home page and other pages. Some images are not loading properly. This is due to an outdated theme, and I am aware of it. Thanks to those of you who went to the trouble to let me know about it!

My web designer and I are working on an overhaul of the site.

Look out for an updated look soon, and thank you for putting up with our “dust” in the meantime!

Annette

 

The post This Site Is Currently Unde...

Finding Bliss on the Balcony and Sharing that Experience in the New Bella Grace Issue

My best writing happens when I manage to package my own experience, habits or insights into an article that might bring inspiration to others.

Sometimes, my own life is too obvious for me to see what might be worth packaging. Its just want I do, why write about it?

Thankfully, this spring I did manage to step back and see that my habit of sitting on my balcony, even in the nippy weather of March, and forcing myself to be still and enjoy the sun on my face, might be worth writing about. I got...

Podcast Interview – The Difference between Autobiography and Memoir, and all Kinds of Other Points Pertinent to Writing Family Stories

My dad’s first outing in the pram, pushed by his Aunt Resi (a major character in Jumping Over Shadows). Walking along are the proud parents, i.e. my grandparents, Karl and Hanne. Reichenberg, Czechoslovakia, 1933

I am happy to share that the lovely ladies of the Genealogy Happy Hour hosted me for their podcast episode this month. It was fun to talk to them about how to begin writing your family history stories, whether to reveal secrets you discover, or what to do with the stories once you’re do...

How Do you Deal with the Plethora of Names When Writing Stories from Family History?

At my Great Aunt Resi’s for New Year’s Eve, early 1940s, Czechoslovakia (This picture is from my memoir Jumping Over Shadows.)

When you write a story from family history, the cast of characters can be quite large. This can be confusing to the reader.

So the issue of how to handle all those names within the text can be a challenge for writers of family memoirs.

First of all, you need to make sure your reader can easily follow the narrative.

It should always be clear who the characters are. Provid...

The Magic of Needlepoint Projects – Easy-to-do, Therapeutic and Beautiful, They Might Also Connect You to Your Past

A month ago I was suffering from a broken heart (being a mother is hard…), and I found myself opening this cross stitch kit I’d ordered back in May from easy123art. I threaded the needle, started counting, and rediscovered a craft I hadn’t done since high school.

I was amazed how therapeutic this embroidery project proved to be!

It seemed as if moving that needle in and out of the canvas, and engaging in making something beautiful helped to mend a broken heart. I just sat there, sewing, and fel...