The Kill Devill Series is the story told by my DNA genealogy. Thanks to the diligent and relentlessly meticulous research by my first cousin, Katherine, I can accurately construct a 350 year story of our shared genealogy from Barbados to Missouri. The adventure of discovery of our DNA appears in detail in book 7. My genealogy is truly an epic saga that defies logic and all odds. Collectively, Katherine and I can rewrite the history of the eastern seaboard using our family tree and the associated family history. NO SPOILERS! Let is be said no one, absolutely no one, could make this stuff up. To be blunt, my life has been bizarre. The impact of the native women can not be overstated and has been quietly overlooked for 350 years. Without them, we (Katherine and I and families) would not exist. Thanks to modern DNA analysis we can connect our living people to generations past, places long gone, and construct a well written qualitative narrative of their stories. The realities are not always pleasant. They were products and subjects of their times. While I have embellished with abandon to create a historical fiction series, the basis of the narrative is accurate, many of the characters were real people, from real places, who might or might not have been as colorful as depicted. The trajectory of the cultural dynamics is very real in illustrating the impact of the native matriarchs. Underestimated and overlooked for centuries, I tell their story and history.

Let the story begin…

This is an example post, originally published as part of Blogging University. Enroll in one of our ten programs, and start your blog right.

You’re going to publish a post today. Don’t worry about how your blog looks. Don’t worry if you haven’t given it a name yet, or you’re feeling overwhelmed. Just click the “New Post” button, and tell us why you’re here.

Why do this?

• Because it gives new readers context. What are you about? Why should they read your blog?
• Because it will help you focus you own ideas about your blog and what you’d like to do with it.

The post can be short or long, a personal intro to your life or a bloggy mission statement, a manifesto for the future or a simple outline of your the types of things you hope to publish.

To help you get started, here are a few questions:

• Why are you blogging publicly, rather than keeping a personal journal?
• What topics do you think you’ll write about?
• Who would you love to connect with via your blog?
• If you blog successfully throughout the next year, what would you hope to have accomplished?

You’re not locked into any of this; one of the wonderful things about blogs is how they constantly evolve as we learn, grow, and interact with one another — but it’s good to know where and why you started, and articulating your goals may just give you a few other post ideas.

Can’t think how to get started? Just write the first thing that pops into your head. Anne Lamott, author of a book on writing we love, says that you need to give yourself permission to write a “crappy first draft”. Anne makes a great point — just start writing, and worry about editing it later.

When you’re ready to publish, give your post three to five tags that describe your blog’s focus — writing, photography, fiction, parenting, food, cars, movies, sports, whatever. These tags will help others who care about your topics find you in the Reader. Make sure one of the tags is “zerotohero,” so other new bloggers can find you, too.