How did you first become interested in family history?
A couple of things came together, that placed me on this incredible path. I lost my in-laws quite suddenly and that set me on a journey of thinking about all the family history questions we had failed to ask. Secondly, I made the decision to become a stay-at-home mom; this allowed me some free time to take up a couple of hobbies, one being writing and the other genealogy. That was 10 years ago.

Who have you discovered in your own family tree?
I am related to Sir Wilfred Laurier, Canada’s seventh Prime Minister. However, the majority of my ancestors are peasants and farmers, ordinary people and yet true heroes in their own right. I’m continually astonished by how incredibly brave my ancestors were to leave their country and family behind to start new lives. It is unfathomable to me to send my children off barely adults and never see them again. I’m amazed by the difficult choices made by my ancestors.

Do you have roots in the UK and, if so, how far have you traced them?
My 4x-great-grandmother was a Protestant born in Northern Ireland in 1781. She married a young Catholic man from Kilkenny and they brought their family to Canada in the early 1800s. They came early before recordkeeping and, combined with missing Irish records, they continue to be my biggest brick wall. I also believe I have some Welsh roots but I haven’t connected all the dots for that ancestor just yet. The line I have documented the furthest back is my French line to 1601 in Normandy. I hold out hope I can do the same and more for all my lines.

How much would you say family history can be done from the armchair?
I believe the internet is the best place to start, not just because of the vast amount of documents now online but also for the large amount of genealogy education that is readily available. It’s wonderful to be able to do so much from your armchair; it’s how I started and it’s how so many are starting today. This is why I chose The Armchair Genealogist as the name of my blog; we are the new generation of genealogists.

What’s the value of getting out of that chair sometimes?
There is so much to learn online but there is an entire world in the archives you are missing if you stay behind your computer. It can be intimidating at first, but there are many wonderful people waiting in the archives to help you. There are thousands of small archives that have storage rooms full of valuable material but no resources to get them digitized and online. You have to go to them. Also, don’t underestimate heading out on the road and travelling to your ancestral hometowns. It is an incredible opportunity to lay your hands on your great-grandmother’s tombstone or stand on your 3x-greatgrandfather’s land: these experiences change you forever.

How did you first come to focus particularly on the process of writing family history?
I decided I want to compile my father’s paternal and maternal lines into a book for our family reunion. I knew I wanted it to read like a novel, so I took some creative writing classes, read many books and dived in. I realized that writing was a passion for me and once I finished that book I was changed by it, and I really felt the need to share my lessons and experience with other family historians.

What do you think are the common mistakes people tend to make when writing their family history?
Two things come to mind immediately. First, so many procrastinate on writing their family history because they want that one more piece of information. Let’s face it, we are researchers: we will always be searching for the next document but compiling your research into a sharable format and leaving it as a legacy for the next generation is in my mind the goal. We can all think of one ancestor at this very moment and we could tell their story. Start there, go ahead write that story, don’t focus on what you don’t know, and share what you do know.

Secondly, many think their family history has to be all encompassing. Family history stories can be big, but they can also be a series of short stories, or one-paragraph snapshots about one surname, one family or even one ancestor. Too many think it has to be a compilation of all their research in a mammoth book; they become overwhelmed and give up.

Start small!

What are your favourite family history books?
That’s a tough question. So many books have helped my research and writing journey. But I’ll tell you about a little book that changed my world. If I look at my bookshelf, the book that is most dog-eared, highlighted and bookmarked would be my copy of You Can Write Your Family History by Sharon DeBartolo Carmack. Research methods are important skills but learning to share my family history stories has changed how I will move forward for the rest of my life. Do not get me wrong; learning how to research has certainly changed me. However, learning to write and share my stories has allowed me to change others. By learning to write my family history, I have influenced my family in how they view themselves and their place in history. For me that is big! For the last three years, I’ve gathered family historians together for The Family History Writing Challenge. Every February, we commit to writing family history every day and I share a daily newsletter with motivation, writing tips and inspiration. This year 800 family historians participated and Ms Carmack has been an incredible support to this project.

Reading other family history memoirs has also been an important part of my writing journey. Two stand out for me: the iconic Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt and Oh Beautiful by John Paul Godges. Angela’s Ashes was my first introduction to a family history memoir many years ago, but Oh Beautiful is a more current family history memoir that demonstrated for me how to tell a contemporary family history story of my generation.

What are you working on next?
I’m currently compiling a family history book for my mother’s lines, our French ancestors. I will be touring Quebec in the fall for that particular project. Next year, I hope to travel to Ireland to do some research for a novel based on my Irish grandmother. I also have a couple of short stories currently on my desk that I’m polishing up and hope to publish soon.

I will let you in on something new that I’m working on for The Armchair Genealogist and have yet to share in public. I’m currently developing a series of videos to help readers identify the kind of family history they wish to write. Once they’ve worked through the videos, they will have a variety workbooks, self-paced courses and online classes to choose from to help them reach their goals; this will all be contained in a new website. Readers can sign up to my monthly newsletter Storylines to stay up to date on that release, which is on the calendar for later this year.

Get more advice and one-to-one tuition from Lynn via thearmchairgenealogist.com, or follow her on Twitter, @LynnPal. Readers of Discover Your Ancestors can also download her free ebook The Complete Guide to the Family History Interview via discoveryourancestors.co.uk .