Published…what? I don’t know any publishers, agents, and would they even be interested in this story by a new author? Do I even qualify as a new author? Self publishing sounded way too complex to me. I was looking at a huge project, strategically with thousands of details and feeling very overwhelmed.

The telling of family stories planted the seeds of this book. There were stories I knew from my childhood as well as stories I uncovered in family pictures and keepsakes. Stories unearthed when I started going below the surface and asking more questions of my family and myself…