Benjamin Franklin Silver Award Winner

The last few weeks were a bit of a whirl wind around here.  For those of you who follow me on other social media networks you already know the exciting news. I was a Silver Award winner for the IBPA Benjamin Franklin Awards on my book Genealogy Basics in 30 Minutes.  While I did not win the coveted gold award with crystal trophy, this time, it was an experience I will never forget.

This was my first visit to Portland, Oregon.  I know, hold you shock.  So I though I would give you a glimpse at the weekend I spent there.  Including the award ceremony.  It was 2.5 days of jammed pack stuff!  Thankfully I was able to spend it with a good friend of mine since my family was on Spring Break (I joined them later).

It really was a fun and amazing night.  First there was the cocktail hour meet-n-greet.  All of the finalist books were on display and it was an opportunity for people to talk to the writers, editors, and publishers in the room.  My friend and I, completely unplanned, wore very similar dresses.  Lets just say it was a great conversation starter as many people came up to us and asked if it was planned!

During this time I also met my publisher, Ian Lamont, for the first time face-to-face.  We have talked numerous times over the phone and email but meeting someone in the flesh is a great experience.  It is like you finally know them!  Ian finally learned exactly how odd I can be.  I think that was a good thing though, since I am full of odd information.

Highlight of the evening was getting my book back with the silver sticker on it and having my picture taken in front of the IBPA Award wall.  Even though I was exhausted (working on 3 hour time difference) we did go back to the hotel bar and celebrate more with a bottle of bubbly.  I mean, who wouldn't?!

My one free day in Portland was spent sight seeing and shopping.  Of course we had to visit Powells Bookstore.  The one place everyone told me I HAD to go to while in town.  It was truly amazing and we spent way too much time in the rare book collection.  They were just so cool!

Spent the afternoon at the Portland Art Museum.  I found the English Silver collection and stayed an hour documenting the heraldry on each piece that showed one.  There was a lot.  Including some Elizabethan pieces.

Our day in town was topped off with a late lunch with the most amazing clam chowder and apple cider sangria.  Yum just cannot do the meal justice!  Instead of potatoes in it they put gnocchi in it.  O.M.G.

It was an amazing weekend that I will not forget.  I can only hope that I have another book that makes it this far in the future.  You know that I want that crystal trophy.

2017 Benjamin Franklin Awards Finalist

I am so happy to announce some very exciting news. My book Genealogy Basics in 30 Minutes has been named a finalist in the 2017 Benjamin Franklin Awards competition in the Craft & Hobby category.  To say I was gobsmacked when I got the email from my editor was an understatement.  

My editor from In 30 Minutes described it as the "Oscars of the independent book world."  From what I understand there is one gold winner (who receives the nifty crystal trophy too) and the other finalists are silver winners.  This means I am now officially an award winning author.  Yeah, that is still sinking in too.

On April 7th at the awards dinner in Portland, OR I will find out if I won the top prize. My flight and hotel are booked. My best friend is attending with me since my husband and kids will be holding down the beach (it is their spring break). Now all I have to do is figure out what to wear!

Do you have a genealogy hero?

Earlier this week my good friend Jennifer Alford published a post that really spoke to me.   She said it better than I ever could so make sure you go over and read it.  In a nut shell though she talked about how it takes many hands to make this community go and in our community ther are many, many unsung heroes who may get overlooked by the genealogy masses.

I am taking up the torch to name the people who pop into my head when I think to myself “jeesh, xyz would not be here without that person!”  To keep it fresh, I will not rename the ones Jen did (and she stole some of mine!) but I will name 5 people who I admire within our community and, well, have taught me a thing or two.

So, in no particular order, a few of my heroes whom I am lucky enough to also consider friends and at times mentors.

·Midge Frazel

When I was the Family tree First Blogger Midge was the instructor of the cemetery class I took through Family Tree University.  I LOVED it!!  Really, I am a bit of a teacher’s pet but the course was amazing.  We started to talk more and more through email.  I followed her blogs.  We became Facebook friends.  While we still have never met in person, yet, she was one of the first people to help guide me through those first timid steps into the genealogy deep end.  She is quick witted and full of so much great information.  While she is retired now I enjoy reading up on what she is doing with her family tree and the new projects that she is taking on.  Her blogs and other writing on everything to do with cemeteries and technology is extensive and an amazing asset to this community.

·James Beidler

Jim scared me.  He seemed so intimidating and serious.  For those of you who know him, stop laughing.  When you are new to something and then suddenly all the people you read about, listen to, and idolize are all in one room together and acting like, well, normal people it is a bit overwhelming.  If you are like me the shiny wears off in about 5 minutes as you say something extremely off the wall and realize that everyone in the room puts their pants on the same way as they laugh at with you.  I have confusing German roots so I read and admired Jim’s work.  Then I got to know him through a couple different encounters.  His “Roots and Branches” column is amazing work (and celebrating its 900^th story!) as well as all he does with the German community.  A real asset to the field.

·Gena Philabert Ortega

Gena and I have worked together now for 2 years (wow, it has been that long!) on the blog for the National Institute for Genealogical Studies.  I am their American Certificate student blogger and you should totally check it out if you have not already.  Poor Gena gets to deal with me on Skype complaining asking for clarification about things in each course.  What many of may not know is how much she does.  Not only is there an amazing amount of work for The Institute but also with her own endeavors.  She writes several blogs, is a published author, did a YouTube series, and will literally give you the shirt off of her back to help you.  Recently she merged the fields of genealogy and geology into an amazing lecture (you should ask her about it).

·Lisa Alzo

This will sound odd, but I can’t remember exactly how I first met Lisa.  She has just always, well, been there.  I did take 2 courses from her while I was the Family Tree Firsts blogger.  Amazing courses on researching overseas.  We talked over social media and finally met in person at NGS in Richmond.  A talented writer and lecturer with spunk and a beautiful personality.  Her work on Eastern European research makes her one of the go-to people in the field.  She will also take the time to really talk to you and answer questions.  There has been more than one time I turned to her for advice or mentoring, and I have never been let down by her guidance. 

·Kerry Scott

Next to my children, she is the reason I am here today.  Not only is her Clue Wagon blog hysterical but she is always on point and never afraid to say what a majority of us are thinking.  She just typically says it first and in her charming snarky way that leaves me with tears rolling down my face.  Kerry was an editor at Family Tree when I began my genealogy journey.  She put up with a lot of bad writing those first few months.  Trust me, it took me a while to get comfortable with my voice (the grammar I am still working on) but she was passionate and encouraging to this fledgling genealogist.  Her encouragement, that awesome passion, and ability to cut through the BS shines through still in all she does.  I am so grateful to her for that.

One Lovely Blog Award

On September 22nd Carolina Girl Genealogy nominated this blog for the "One Lovely Blog Award."  I was surprised by the shout out and humbled too.  Thanks Cheri! It means a lot that a fellow blogger and reader not only appreciates but likes what I do.  

Of course, an award like this, which is meant to be passed on, comes with some rules.  

1.      Thank the person who nominated you and link to that blog

2.      Share Seven things about yourself

3.      Nominate 15 bloggers you admire (or as many as you can think of!)

Since I already thanked Cheri, here it goes with 7 things about me.  Hope you learn something new, and if not, at least you get a giggle with my honesty!

1. I am actually very shy and struggle on a daily basis to put myself out there.  Many people find this hard to believe since I tend to be bubbly, loud, funny, engaging...gosh what other words have been used to describe me.  Well, that all takes work, and I have to be in the mood.  I am not completely an extrovert but I am not an introvert either, some people call that an ambivert.  The jury is still out on what that means.
2.  I love cats, but my nose doesn't!  Yep, I'm allergic.  The way I found out?  When my last cat died and the house was cat free for the first time in years I realized that I could breathe.  I mean really breathe!  My eyes didn't water and itch all the time and I had clear sinuses!  Now I get very controlled kitty fixes from my friend’s cats and I wash my hands very promptly and don't let them in my face.
3. I am a sci-fi addict.  My dad hooked me in 9th grade with Anne McCaffery's The Dragonriders of Pern series.  Until then I mostly read historical fiction (a type of fantasy I guess) or books similar to the Judy Bloom genre.  It was the first book recommendation I took up from my parents.  Usually I rolled my eyes and ignored them, so I am not sure what made me take it.  It could have been the big white dragon on the front.
4. My favorite color is blue.  I would dress head to toe in it every day if that were possible!  Not that it isn’t possible, but I don’t want to be known as the blue lady.
5. I have a bucket list of places I want to see before I die.  Besides ancestral villages and most of the typical European places I have a slew of sites I want to see in Asia.  Oh, plus Australia and New Zealand.  Hubby and I would really like to go there one day.
6. My absolute favorite flower is Lilly of the Valley.  I, however, cannot get them to grow and have to live by looking at other people’s gardens and pictures.  The house we rented in college had a row of these flowers planted against the side yard fence.  I loved watching them pop up, grow, and then produces those delicate little white fragrant bells. 
7. While I may be a perfectionist and tend to the OCD side with my work, my house is a wreck.  I never really learned to clean.  Well, beyond the pile and stack method.  Woe to those who mess with my piles!  Cleaning is one of those things I have to be in the mood to do.  That mood is usually anger or frustration and when it hits I am like the Tasmanian Devil around the house cleaning in a big whirlwind of activity!

Now it is my turn to share with you those I think have an amazing blog.  Some of these blogs I am sure you will recognize. If you don't know these talented bloggers though, I hope you take the time to get to know them!

Adventures is Genealogy Education

Anglers Rest

The Chromosome Chronicles

Clue Wagon

 The Educated Genealogist

Elyse’s Genealogy Blog

Granite in My Blood

Homestead Genealogical Research

Kinexxions

The Legal Genealogist

 Marian’s Roots and Rambles / Fieldstone Common

Midwestern Microhistory: A Genealogy Blog

Moultrie Creek

Nutfield Genealogy

Your Genetic Genealogist

Congratulations to all the winners!

Last night I received word that my article “Getting You Pointed in the Right Direction" which was published in the “Society Pages” December 2013 edition won an honorable mention from the International Society of Family History Writers and Editors (ISFHWE).  The Society Pages is the regular column I write for the Going In-Depth magazine about lineage societies. 

This is the 2^nd honorable mention I have received from the ISFHWE.  Last year I was awarded an honorable mentionfor my article published in the December 2012 issue of Family Tree Magazine titled “Testing The DNA Waters: How to Get Started With Genetic Genealogy And DNA Research.”

I am thrilled to have been recognized by the ISFHWE as there is always stiff competition each year.  Can’t wait to see what happens next year!

Congratulations again to all the winners.  You are amazing writers!

The following announcement was written by the International Society of Family History Writers and Editors (ISFHWE):

The International Society of Family History Writers and Editors is proud to announce the winners of the 2014 Excellence-in-Writing Competition. The winners are:

Category 1 – Columns

1st Place – Shelley K. Bishop “The Legacy of Mary Comfort Eberhard”
2nd Place – Nancy Ann Calhoun “People can ‘flesh out’ genealogy at library”
3rd Place – Maureen K. Wlodarczyk “Precious Paper in the Digital World”
Honorable Mention – Shannon Combs-Bennett “Getting You Pointed in the Right Direction”
Honorable Mention – Michelle Roos Goodrum “Using Social Media to Enrich Stories of the Family Home”
Honorable Mention – Carolyn Schotts “Fading Family Roots”

Category 2 – Articles

1st Place – Schelly Talalay Dardashti “The Other Side of Jewish Genealogy: Learn how to get started exploring your Sephardic roots”
2nd Place – Shelley K. Bishop “Turning Forests into Farms: the George Clark Family of Licking and Delaware Counties, Ohio
3rd Place – Mari Margaret McLean, PhD “Finding Maxa Ann Hadden and Mr. McLean: Serendipity and the Brick Wall”
Honorable Mention – Smiljka Kitanovic “Appreciating Genealogy Angels”
Honorable Mention – Carolyn B. Leonard “Early Settlement Leaves Quiet Legacy”
Honorable Mention – Chip Rowe “Who Was Joel Holcomb of Wallingford, Connecticut”

Category 3 – Genealogy Newsletters

1st Place – Patricia Mansfield Phelan “Irish Family History Forum”
2nd Place – James M. Beidler “Der Kurier” – newsletter of the Mid-Atlantic Germanic Society
3rd Place – Kay Waterloo “Goodrich Family Association Quarterly”
Honorable Mention – Carolyn B. Leonard “Dutch Cousins”

Category 4 – Unpublished Authors

1st Place – Shirley McKenzie “Sylvira Said ‘They burned My House’- June 1864, Silver Springs, MS”
2nd Place – Robbi J. Ryan “A Strong Will to Live”

Category 5 – Unpublished Material by Published Authors

1st Place – Rondie Yancey “Murder at the Post Office: One Family’s Tragedy”
2nd Place – Leslie Tichenor Mason “Create a Colorful Picture of Your Ancestors from a Grey Palette of Facts”
3rd Place – Marie Navarro “Fighting on Both Sides of the Alamo”
Honorable Mention – Kenneth R. Castle, PhD “Eden Booth, a Tale of Westward Migration”
Honorable Mention – Sherri Hessick “Al Allan Alton William Wade Wendergren Westman”
Honorable Mention – Barbara Lee “Carolyn 1947-1947 – Hanford Nuclear Site and a Baby’s Death”
Honorable Mention – Chip Rowe “What Happened to Boyd?”
Honorable Mention – Jodie Lynn Strait “William Henry Hunt: An Original Texter”

Category 6 – Poetry

1st Place – Smiljka Kitanovic “River Journey”
2nd Place – Marie Navarro “Another Day, Another Time”
3rd Place – Andrea Ramsey “Young Girl”
Honorable Mention – Kenneth R. Castle, PhD “There Once Was a Man…”
Honorable Mention – Paul K. Graham, CG, AG “Genealogy Standards: A Poem”
Honorable Mention – Nicole Gilkison LaRue “To My Isa…”
Honorable Mention – Darcie Hind Posz, CG “Generations”

Address questions to Competition@isfhwe.org.

Details on the 2015 Competition will be released shortly. The competition will open on 1 October. Details may be obtained on the website at ISFHWE.org.