Goodreads asked C. Elmon Meade:

What mystery in your own life could be a plot for a book?

C. Elmon Meade How in the world am I related to Osman I, the founder of the Ottoman Empire?!?! (And, every single ruler of the Ottoman Empire to follow him!) I have my theories, but that's it... just theories. I will say the late author N. Brent Kennedy (distant cousin on Mom's side of the tree) had some very interesting theories connecting my Aniyunwiya/ Tsalagi (Cherokee/ Keetoowah) ancestors to Ancient Turkey and the Turkic peoples of Central Asian. My DNA test(s) have confirmed both mtDNA & yDNA traced back to Turkey, Armenia, Iran, India, and the "Stans" of Central Asia (Pakistan, Turkmenistan, etc.). For instance, Kennedy pointed out that my 10th
Great-Granduncle, Chief Attakullakulla's (A-tah-GUH-La-Guh) name in Tsalagi means "spiritual father of all chiefs" and "shares an identical pronunciation to the *Turkish atta-kula-kul, meaning "spiritual father of the red men." Also, my 8th Great-Granduncle, Chief Sequoyah (aka: George Gist), founder of the Cherokee syllabary is famously depicted wearing only what could be described as a type of turban. Sequouyah's regalia is prominently featured in Istanbul's Naval Museum next to a replica of a 16th century warrior-seaman of the Ottoman Empire. The two look exactly identical! One popular theory has Sir Francis Drake kidnapping Turkish sailors and "dumping" them or trading them for stockpiled food, water, & gunpowder along the Carolina & Virginia Coast. This is just one of many, many theories.

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