My ever handsome friend Larry Palmer (on the left) with his niece and younger brother. I’m very proud that his excellent family memoir Scholarship Boy is coming out in May because I saw its beginnings when I served as a teaching assistant at the Kenyon Review Writers Workshop in 2013.

Barbara Krasner from The Whole Megillah recently interviewed me about my new book How to Write Compelling Stories from Family History. I’m happy to share one insight from our conversation here:

TWM: You’ve been teaching this subject for a long time. What do you think are the three toughest challenges in writing compelling stories from family history?

My answer:

    1. Focusing on stories that are interesting and relevant to the next generation
    2. Figuring out where to start
    3. Dealing with uncomfortable truths and taboos

Read the whole interview in the Author’s Notebook at The Whole Megillah.

Many thanks to Barbara for the opportunity!