Taking a quick break from book promotion today to talk about researching our heritages. 

A number of us heard the accounts growing up that we were part Native American. At times, the story was colored with a bit of fiction like a great grandmother being a Cherokee Princess. Now it is simple and easy to trace your Cherokee roots. If you are able to break it down into easy steps, it is not at all hard to trace your Cherokee roots. If that happens to be regarded as a goal you want to achieve, please read on to learn a fairly easy way it is possible to trace your Cherokee roots within just three steps...

The initial very important step is to take note of everything that you know about your family. This will be your kick off point. Write down yourself, your mother and father, your grandparents, and uncles and aunts. Spend some time and write everyone down even if you are not sure about their exact relation to you. This provides you a excellent place to begin as you move on to your next step.

The second step you will need to take is talking to older relatives. A couple of things you should be mindful in avoiding with this are family legend like the Cherokee princess. Allow your relatives to fill in the blanks of the family tree that you designed. Get essential details such as names, dates, and relations that you are unsure about .

The third and final step is obtaining the standard paperwork. This is truly important because with birth and marriage certificates, you can go even further back in your family tree. With this last step, you'll have the chance to discover the hidden jewels in your family history. You can also use methods on the internet such as family tree and ancestry sites. These range from free to a small monthly fee.

Don't forget, tracing your Cherokee roots can be a difficult task, but it is well worth the trouble. You may even learn an ancestor’s name on the famous Dawes or Final Rolls! These rolls are used to establish tribal eligibility and degree of blood for the recognized tribes of America. Each tribe has its own eligibility requirements, but the Dawes Rolls play some part.

Now that you know how to trace your Cherokee roots, why not get started on your family tree and discover you own heritage?

 

Are you ready?  I'm real excited to announce that the official promotion for Ghost Country kicks off tomorrow!  Be sure to catch up with me on the blog or on facebook tomorrow for details.

Wow!  Christmas is over and it's time to get back to work.  Ghost Country is now available on Kindle, Smashwords.com, and now the first proofs of Ghost Country are ready!

So, what does this mean?  It means that within the next few weeks the paperback version of Ghost Country should be available at Amazon.com and for order in your local bookstore! 

What does it mean for me?  It means that now I have to bust my butt to try to get some reviews, get into some book clubs, and fun stuff like that.  I get exhausted just thinking about it!

Ghost Country is now available for Amazon Kindle!  This mean that Ghost Country is already available in more formats than my Kindle bestseller Home Decorating for the Real World!

Keep Your Fingers Crossed!

Link:  Ghost Country on Kindle

  Carrying echoes of Amy Tan and Rebecca Wells, Ghost Country takes the reader into the lives of three Cherokee women and the lives of their modern day daughters.  Told in a series of vignettes that alternate from the era of the Civil Rights Movement, Woodstock, and the Vietnam War, to the present day.  Each story carries the reader through a world where a birthday wish can make people disappear; where a child, after being told that she is nothing, can find her way back to the forgotten Cherokee traditions; and where a woman can give her daughter a treasured bit of advice thanks to a dead rock star. 


"The idea for the novel sprang from the Cherokee heritage of my own family, from one generation to the next; our tie to the Cherokee has become less evident.  With the birth of my daughter, I began to research our Cherokee lineage so that perhaps my daughter’s connection could be stronger than mine was.  During my research, these characters came to mind.  Ghost Country became the result."

The cover that got the most votes was #3, so after a little more tweaking, here is the finished cover!  So, Ghost Country will now be available on Kindle within the next few days.  Look for the print version after the first of the year.

Okay, there is one thing that I have learned while working in retail.  I am clueless when it comes to picking what will sell and what won't.  If I think something is going to be hot, it won't sell at all.  If I think something is a dud, it sells out in it's first day.  So, there is no way I can leave something as important as my new cover up to myself.  So please give me your opinions on what the cover for my new fiction book should be.  Here is a slide show of my favorites so far....

I like it when the new book isn't even finished, but it's already in the news.  My new book will focus on my Cherokee roots and you can read more details in the Press Release.

Also, once I'm finished with this book, I'm going to start a series of articles about tracing your own Cherokee roots!  Watch for them to start sometime in January.

Talk about an early Christmas gift to me!  Home Decorating for the Real World broke into the top ten on Kindle for Decorating, Home Improvement Reference, and Home Design and Construction.

I know this won't last long since the figures change hour by hour, but for right now I'm doing a happy dance!

I'm still having a hard time believing it, but Home Decorating for the Real World made it to the bestseller list!  I was #53 for the bestselling decorating book on Kindle.  Yay!  Doing a little happy dance!