SAVING YOUR FAMILY HISTORY JUST GOT EASIER!

“So many people wish, too late, that they had saved the stories of their late parents and grandparents. I want to help prevent that situation for others,” says Nashville personal historian Deborah Wilbrink. The journalist and former English teacher has assisted over a dozen seniors in writing and publishing their memoirs. She’s now writing a book about saving one’s life story or family history, with chapters about the people she wrote with and songs she penned about family histories, magic moments in life and mementos that generate memories. Quilters from East Tennessee’s Rose Center Quilt Guild are providing some of the illustrations. Wilbrink is also writing songs!  

Her book and accompanying CD are titled Time To Tell: Your Personal & Family History. Wilbrink is serving tips to start writing one’s life story and importantly, motivating the readers with stories from seniors who have authored their own personal histories. The songs will trigger those ‘Oh, I remember!’ and ‘I should do that!’ reactions. Whether you just want to enjoy the music, read the stories, or… start writing or recording your own, that’s for you to decide!  

Using treasured mementos from the past to inspire a story is one tip Wilbrink writes about. A year ago she volunteered to lead Show and Tell events with seniors. She heard about earthquakes, emigration, equators, equal rights. Other stories surfacing featured a vaudeville act, a typesetter, even a kidnapping in a cotton field. Some of those stories are in Time to Tell and the song “Yesterday’s Trash, Today’s Treasure.”  

 She wants to have the book and CD out in time for Mother’s Day.  For more about Deborah see www.perfectmemoirs.com  Follow the project at  

https://www.facebook.com/TimeToTellbyDeborahWilbrink  

Angels Never Die Launches in Las Vegas, April 9-14

If you plan on being in the Las Vegas area next week, take a break from the slots and check out the book launching events for Gwendolyn McNutt's Angels Never Die, A True Story of Love, Loss & Faith.  

Gwen and her husband Henry always believed that God's greatest blessing was their six children. But when they lose all four sons to a rare blood disorder, their faith is put to the most agonizing test a parent can imagine. Angels Never Die is their journey of pain, hope and survival in the face of tragedy. It is also a powerful testament to the strength and bravery of their boys.     

If you're not going to be in Vegas, be sure to tune into the radio interviews!  



Tuscany Hotel
Book Launching and Signing / Dinner with the Author
255 E. Flamingo
Las Vegas
Wednesday, April 9th
3:00 PM - 5 PM - West Coast Book launching and signing
5 PM - 7 PM - Dinner with the Author

Radio Interview
Aspects of Writing with James Kelly
Live on VANR (VegasAllNetRadio.com)
Thursday, April 10th - 4:00 PM
This show will rebroadcast on KLAV April 22 nd at 2:00 PM (PST)

The Book Boutique
19 W. Pacific Ave.
Henderson, Nevada
Friday, April 11th
12 PM - 2 PM

Barnes and Noble
Henderson, Nevada
Stephanie and Sunset
Saturday, April 12, 2014
1:00 PM - 4:00 PM

Radio Interview
Community Angels with Josie Harrison
Sunday 5 PM - 6 PM (PST)
KLAV - 12.30 on the dail or KLAV1230am.com

The Coffee House on Water Street
117 S. Water Street
Henderson, Nevada
Monday, April 14, 2014
11:00 PM - 2:00 PM
 

Finding the Answer to, "Do You Love Me?"

By Deborah Wilbrink

Love takes many forms.  

“My book has turned into a mission,” Gigi calmly states.  “It is finding its way into the right hands, and I am being asked to speak at churches and women’s groups. They listen and their hearts are touched. This feels right.” If you hear Barbara “Gigi” Goodall speak, you’ll meet a self-assured, tall woman in her seventies, accompanied by her amiable husband, Newell. She radiates peace. It comes with telling her heartrending true story.

 “This is a true story of four adults who abandoned me, twice. Once as a five year-old to the state’s foster care system; and then again when a teenager, as I was left with strangers or even to fend on my own. I was born in 1940 and my memories begin at five years of age. . . My parents and grandparents, a couple of four, were always together – but there was no room for me.”

The “couple of four” once left their child alone on a sidewalk, and drove away “to see my reaction.” Later, they repeatedly placed the young teen in boarding situations where she lived without family or friends while her family, unbeknownst to her, collected her wages. It was only when she became seventeen and married that the young woman escaped emotional abuse and opportunism, and began to experience love.

A natural writer, Gigi laments the lack of books, reading aloud, and story-telling in her childhood. Perhaps it was the great stories within the Bible, her one readily available book, which instilled her skills with prose. Maybe it was the guardian angel she believes guided her life.

Gigi began with the intent of saving her story for her four children and their children. Her daughter, Tami, knew about Writers in the Sky and put her mother in touch with an editor there, starting with a gift certificate. It quickly became evident her story was an inspirational memoir that many would enjoy. Her message of love is especially motivating for foster children and foster alumni, restoring faith in their own abilities to succeed. 

Gigi Goodall completed high school when she was thirty-two, successfully raised four children, and provided a temporary home for twenty-five foster kids. She played a leadership role assisting the poor on both an administrative and highly personal level for her Tennessee county. Gigi’s answer to her own question, Do You Love Me? is simple. It’s never too late for love to change lives. The book sold well at Gigi’s book signing, and is available on Amazon.com.

Deborah Wilbrink is a personal historian, editor, and proprietor of PerfectMemoirs.com and is also affiliated with Writers in the Sky. Reprinted with permission from Mature Lifestyles of Tennessee magazine.