Organize a story collecting party to gather information for writing your—or anyone else’s—memoir. A gathering of family members to share stories about family events can help you double-check the information you already have and seek new material to flesh out your stories.

Reunions, weddings, funerals, birthday and holiday celebrations rate well on both of these tasks: scattered relatives, each of whom has a piece of the family history to share, are in one place at one time. Gathering stories at family events is an opportunity not to be missed.

Organize a story collecting party!

Since our lives are usually lived in a community and our lifestories have evolved with other people in tow, take advantage of this symbiosis to write the best memoir you are capable of by accessing a collective memory of your life’s events. (more…)

It’s fair to assume that most and perhaps all the readers of this blog post are writers. We may not like marketing but we recognize its importance. In this post, I want to write to you about the importance of bundling in your marketing efforts. You—and I—ought to be always asking ourselves about how to reach an audience of readers, a larger audience. to find an audience of buyers who are willing to invest in us. Our books won’t attract attention without being out in the world to actively garner that attention. One way to garner attention is marketing, but (more…)

This is how an idea becomes a book. ___ Every month (at 1 PM/ET, 12 CT, 11 MT, 10 PT), you can participate in a live memoir-writing workshop on ZOOM. Usually, it occurs on the third Thursday of the month, but in November, I will be traveling to give a book talk on the third Thursday. I will be a guest speaker at a university at some distance and will not be available. As I write this, the next Gathering of Writers is scheduled for Wednesday, November 19, 2025. $10 fee or monthly subscription to my Substack. To participate, email (more…)

[This review of my latest book was posted on Substack on October 20, 2025, by Jean Edouard Pouliot. Thank you profusely, Jean, for your support in publishing Book recommendation: “Here to Stay”.] [Jean’s text] I wanted to mention a wonderful new book by my friend, Denis Ledoux, who has been writing for years about the Franco-American experience. His new book, Here to Stay, describes the settling of Canada in the 17th century — not from the point of view of lords and cardinals, but from that of the settlers themselves. Book recommendation: “Here to Stay” Offers Missing Information The story (more…)

Until October 31, 2025, Here to Stay / Lives in 17th Century Canada is available with no S/H. Get your copy today. In 1995, I became intrigued with tracing my ancestry to the first of the Canadian colonists who bore my patronym. Who were these of my people who came to North America four and a half centuries ago? I knew the names of my first progenitors on this continent, but I didn’t know much more about them. It was time to become acquainted with my personal Franco-North American history and about my group’s history in general. What resulted was (more…)

Here to Stay has gone live today. As I write this, I have sold the first copy of my newest book, Here to Stay / Lives in 17th-Century Canada prior to my Here to Stay launch event. The public life of my book has begun. It is now in the world and has to live on its merits. It’s always a bit daunting to send one’s creative work—in this case, a book—out to be read and judged by strangers who will leave reviews here and there. I’ve spent years writing this book and, of course, want people to enjoy it (more…)

Can you master these 9 for self-publishing a memoir? If so, you are on your way to succeeding. 1) Do you want to reach a larger audience than family and friends? If so, you will need to write a book that will appeal to that larger audience. Your book must contain history and psychology and references to social concerns to appeal to a larger readership which knows neither you nor your family and friends Simply said, the reader drawn from a larger audience does not care about you. This reader cares about how you embodied a certain category of people, (more…)

[Jeanne Mance, founder of the first hospital in Montréal (the Hôtel-Dieu) and a key figure among the women in early Canada.] We want to believe that European settlement of North America was identical, but it wasn’t. The French and the English colonies established different patterns. The women in early Canada had a more public presence. In many ways, women in early Canada and those in New England did not have a similar status as I explain in Here to Stay / Lives in 17th Century Canada. A few peaks on the public role of women in early Canada as described (more…)

The Stalled Writer An unfinished manuscript haunts a stalled writer, sapping energy that ought to go into more writing. You started with a burst of writing motivation. You were super energized! You even perhaps had the best motivation for writing—ever! “By gosh, this memoir is going to get written and it’s going to be good!” you tell yourself. And the writing flows for the first while. Your energy remains high. You write regularly and you think about how to make your memoir better and better. At last, you feel like you are a “real writer!” Then, you beome a stalled (more…)

You don’t have to remember your lifestory alone.

By Denis Ledoux

Since our lives are usually lived in community and our lifestories have evolved with other people in tow, take advantage of this symbiosis to write the best memoir you are capable of by accessing a collective memory of your life’s events. Today, you will organize a lifestory party. (more…)