Exhibition exhaustion

Thank you to everybody who helped to set up and man the exhibition stand over the weekend. Sid, Margaret, Helen, Rosalind, Ligia—you are all wonderful! The three days were a great success and there was a lot of interest in The Book of My Life. We had many positive comments about the quality of our books and how beautiful they look and feel. Our stand looked great (see the photos below). It was really cosy and many people stopped by for a rest and a chat. Hopefully we will be back next year so look out!

Ten per cent discount off all biographies booked at Who Do You Think You Are? Live 2012

Don't miss out on this great offer! I hope to see you at the show. Remember, if you would like to find out more about having your book written, visit stand 412 for a chat.

Who Do You Think You Are? Live 2012

If you would like to meet me and chat about your book project, come along to this year's Who Do You Think You Are? Live. The Book of My Life will be exhibiting there at stand 412 so do drop by and say hello. I will be happy to talk you through the process of having your book written or edited and show you samples of some of our books.

The show runs from 24–26 February at London's Olympia. There will be loads to see and do at the exhibition and it's a must for anyone with an interest in genealogy. As well as The Book of My Life you'll find leading genealogy experts, one to one sessions, informative workshops and over 150 exhibitors with an interest in family history.

If you need help dating a mystery photograph or understanding a historical document, there will be plenty of experts on hand. Look out for the Military Pavilion if you have a special interest in historical military matters. There will also be a Celebrity Theatre, which will play host to stars of the TV show including the actors Larry Lamb and Emilia Fox. Antiques expert Eric Knowles, the Heirloom Detective, will be there to identify your family treasures so don't forget to bring them with you.

A day ticket costs £15 in advance. Book your tickets by calling 0844 873 7330 or visit the show's website.

Sally's story

Sally Kendall was a truly remarkable woman. Fiercely intelligent with a wry sense of humour, Sally was admired by all who knew her. She asked me to write her biography for her, as she felt that she had a unique story to tell and did not want it to be forgotten.

Born in Cumbria in 1924, the daughter of a farm labourer and a housewife, Sally was never expected to do more than spend a lifetime in service. Her beginnings were humble: soot was used instead of toothpaste and Sally had one set of good clothes, which were only worn on Sundays. Life was basic yet happy for young Sally, who enjoyed roaming the local area unfettered by overly anxious parents.

True to expectations, Sally left school at 14 and began work as a housemaid. But this was the last time in her life that she would conform to the imprint of her forebears. Despite a lack of formal education, Sally knew that the life of a servant was not for her. She gained her driving licence and became a professional driver instead, working first for the Forestry Commission and then for the Royal Air Force during the war.

With the end of the war came another career change and Sally trained to be a nurse. After a brief spell as a sister at St James's Hospital in Leeds, Sally was hired by the Colonial Service and posted to Tanganyika (now Tanzania) to work there as a nursing sister. Before long she was promoted to the position of matron of Tanganyika. There she was given the freedom to do her job without too much interference from above and was only constrained by a lack of resources. Although shocked by the lack of fresh water and sanitation that the locals endured along with the terrible nature of the diseases that were rife in that part of the world, Sally was determined to enjoy the experience of living in East Africa. When she was not busy treating people for rabies, malaria or malnutrition, she learned to play golf, become an expert rally driver and enjoyed the country's extraordinary wildlife.

On her return to the UK Sally became joint owner of an exclusive nursing home in Bath. It was during this period that she put her sound financial judgement to good use and started investing in property, eventually becoming a multi-millionaire.

Sadly Sally died shortly after her book was written, but she would have been happy to know that her remarkable story had been told and the life that she had led would be revisited by future generations.

Sally's book is called Uhuru: my life of freedom. You can read an extract from it on my website.

The magical art of spelling

Most of us have certain words that we have trouble spelling correctly. For some of us, no matter how hard we try, we stumble over the same words again and again. Poor spelling can make us appear unprofessional or uneducated, and most of us try hard to get it right. Fortunately, these days most writers come armed with the tools to overcome these problems. Few of us write with a pen and paper these days. Most of our writing is done at a keyboard, and our word-processing software is likely to come with a helpful spell-checking tool. So before you send off that important document to your boss, or that email of complaint, or your memoir or autobiography to the printers, you can ensure that you have not let any silly spelling mistakes sneak through. Phew!

The bad news is that spell-checking software is not one hundred per cent reliable. There are some situations where it takes a real human being to spot the mistake, because a computer simply does not have the capability. For example, words that sound the same such as 'there' and 'their' are often mixed up and misplaced. It is up to the human proofreader to make sure that words like these are used correctly, as a computer may not pick up subtle differences in meaning. The sentence "There proofreading used to be better" would be considered correct by spell-checking software. So too would "Their proofreading used to be better". It takes a human pair of eyes to assess whether or not the word is spelt correctly in this kind of situation.

So you think you can spell? Let's put your skills to the test. Here are ten commonly misspelt words. Half of them are spelt correctly; half are not. Can you spot the five words that are spelt incorrectly? Do you know the correct spelling? If not, you may be in need of a professional proofreader…

1 Seperate
2 Broccoli
3 Definately
4 Embarass
5 Referred
6 Conscience
7 Connosseur
8 Paralel
9 Supersede
10 Consensus

Answers: seperate, definately, embarass, connosseur and paralel are all misspelt. The correct spellings are: separate, definitely, embarrass, connoisseur and parallel.

If you want the reassurance of knowing that your document is free from spelling mistakes, please get in touch. I will be happy to proofread it for you!

Biography writing dos and don'ts

There are really no dos or don'ts when it comes to writing. In the final chapter of the novel Ulysses, for instance, James Joyce only included two punctuation marks. No commas, question marks or semicolons appear in the text to clarify the meaning.

I would not recommend leaving out punctuation when you are writing your memoir or autobiography. You want people to read it after all! But I would suggest that you try to find a style and stick to it. The style could be in the form of short, punchy chapters. You may wish to group your reminiscences by subject or follow the traditional chronological route. You could write in the present tense for emotional impact, or you could use the more traditional past tense, or why not try using a mixture of both?

Be as experimental as you like with your writing and have fun with it. But if you are looking for some tips that might help you get to the end of your biography or memoir with the minimum of pain, the following dos and don'ts may serve as a good guide:

• Do have a plan before you put pen to paper. Some writers never plan what they are going to say, preferring to let the words flow out of them as the muse takes them. Sadly we are not all so gifted, and this way of working can result in an overlong mishmash that requires many rewrites. This is why many writers prefer to work from a detailed plan. If I make a list of what I want to say and the order in which I want to say it before I start to write, I know I am much more likely to finish a book without too much difficulty.

• Do try to get your facts right. Your memory may not be crystal clear, and it probably won't matter if all your stories or anecdotes are not 100 per cent accurate, but try to check spellings and dates as much as possible. This is particularly important with the names of friends and family in your life-story book, but it is also good practice to clarify the spelling of objects or place names as you progress. The Internet is a good place to start (although be wary—not all websites are equally accurate).

• Do get your biography or memoir independently proofread before it is printed. It is always a good idea to get a professional pair of eyes to scan your written work before it is distributed. You will be amazed at how many mistakes you will have missed.

• Do include plenty of detail. Descriptions of how things looked, smelt or sounded can really bring your story to life. You may think that little things like the way your home was decorated when you were a child will not interest anybody, but you would be surprised. The reader will probably be far more engaged by detail like this than stories about famous people you have met or lists of your business achievements. These can also be included in your biography but again try to add the detail that will bring them to life.

• Do remember to talk about how you felt in certain situations. This is your life story and the reader wants to get to know you. That means showing your emotions. What was it really like to be in those situations? Were you frightened, sad or ecstatic? What have you learned from the experiences you have been through?

Now for the don'ts…

• Don't be tempted to use your biography or memoir to dish the dirt on friends, family members or colleagues. Be careful about using your life-story book as a place to get all the things that have irked you over the years off your chest. If you do decide to include potentially controversial or damaging things in your book, it is most important that you get your facts straight and that you can prove that you are telling the truth. If not, you run the risk of being sued for libel and losing.

• Don't linger too long on the mundane when writing your memoir. While details are important, nobody wants to know how many cups of tea or coffee you drink in a day or what type of mouthwash you use. Imagine that you are the reader. What would you want to know?

• Don't try to write other people's stories within your own book. If, for instance, you are writing the book for your children, there is no need to give a lot of detail about events in their lives such as marriages and the births of their children. They may, after all, write their own life stories one day.

• Don't edit your autobiography or memoir yourself. It is difficult to be objective about your own writing. You may wish to consider employing the services of a professional editor who will tidy up your prose for you.

• Don't assume that the reader knows everything that you know. Whoever reads your biography will soon get fed up if they have to look up every other word in the dictionary or each new topic on the Internet. Keep things clear and simple. If you think your average intended reader will not understand something, explain what you mean in a way that will be obvious to everyone.

Good luck and happy writing! Remember that if you feel that you need more help with your biography or memoir, you can always contact me. I will be happy to consider any biography project—large or small.

An artist's life

Most of the books that I have written are about people who are living. When you are writing a biography, it is obviously a great advantage to be able to quiz the subject on the details of his or her life.

When I was approached by Derrick Rowe to write the story of his late grandfather's life, I knew that this would require different skills. Writing about somebody who died many years ago would require a lot of research and interpretation of the material. I would not be able to phone up the subject and ask, "What do you mean by that?"

I was also concerned that there may not be enough information to base a full-length biography on. When we met, Derrick put my mind at rest explaining that he had a wealth of information on his grandfather's life. He had discovered a great deal about Ernest Arthur Rowe from government records, personal letters and other documents. Ernest, Derrick explained, was a renowned English watercolour artist in the Victorian period who specialised in painting the grand gardens of the gentry.

Derrick's research proved to be truly spectacular: he and his wife Pat had read and catalogued hundreds of the artist's personal letters and artefacts. They had government documents galore and photographs of the artist, his family and associates, not to mention dozens of Ernest's original artworks. These sun-filled scenes adorn the walls of Derrick and Pat's house, a proud reminder of the talent in the family.

The only thing that Derrick did not have was the knowledge of how to put his findings together into a book, and he was looking for somebody to take on this task. I was delighted to agree to write the story for him and transform the raw material into a full-length book. After we discussed in detail what shape Derrick wanted the book to take, he passed on the information that he had gathered. I was then able to begin to convert this into a comprehensive biography of the artist. Once Derrick was happy with the text, I arranged for the book to be beautifully laid out, printed and bound.

The result is an attractive glossy book, which tells the story of Ernest's life, from his days as a penniless student to his successful career as an artist whose work was coveted by royalty. The book also includes a selection of reproductions of Rowe's sumptuous paintings. You can read a chapter from this book and others that I have written on my website. If you would like to know more about Ernest Arthur Rowe, Derrick has also set up a website dedicated to his grandfather, and you can also purchase the book from there.

Derrick wrote to tell me that he was delighted with the finished biography. "My family are thrilled," he penned, "I am sure it will become a family heirloom!"

If you have researched your family's history why not get in touch with The Book of My Life like Derrick did? Instead of a jumble of files and papers you too could have a beautiful family heirloom—your own family history in a book.