Ancestry—In the Looking Glass

More than once fellow writers have asked me, “Where do you get your ideas from?”

Is it from other stories, books, plays or the media such as radio, television, or the internet? Or is it something more?

In the past couple of months I have, as mentioned in other blogs, like Alice in Wonderland, gone down the rabbit-hole of Family History.

What has ancestry or my heritage got to do with writing and publishing, you may ask?

One of the reasons, in my case, is research. A detective novel I am working on requires understanding of genealogy, and the process of DNA analysis. So, down the proverbial rabbit-hole I have gone.

What I’ve discovered so far are the beginnings of a revelation and like a detective novel, the clues/information presents itself like puzzle pieces gathered, then sorted and finally fitted together.

I’ve learnt that like a detective, I must be patient, methodical and have a keen eye for detail. Nothing worse than being sloppy or having sloppiness thrust upon me in the process and getting sidetracked by a red herring.

For example, in the beginning of my family history quest, there was the mystery of the extra “brother” of my great-grandfather. On further investigation and checking of Census data, it turned out the “brother” was a nephew. My great-grandfather from Bavaria, being new to Great Britain and the English language, labelled his brother’s son as a “brother” in the first Census he completed. Ten years later, in the next census, the mistake had been corrected.

Learning what it takes to become a good detective for my Detective Dan series, I’ve discovered that creativity is a part of problem-solving. One lesson learnt was the problem of my youth, tunnel vision. Thirty-five years ago, my auntie handed over the family historian mantel and box. Dutifully, I read the material, joined the local genealogical society, and began my search. I helped a family historian relative with my branch of my paternal grandmother’s family history.

But in the early 2000’s, once grandma’s history was done, dusted, and launched, with the internet in its infancy, continuing with the whole deal got too hard, and was looking like being expensive. So, I turned to the comfort and ease of fiction writing. I eased my guilty conscience of abandoning the project by knowing that my relatives of German descent were doing a much better job than I was in digging up ancestors, building family trees and producing more books. I was happy to receive their hard-earned research usually published in large tomes by local publishers and enjoy what they had uncovered.

Meanwhile, ideas flowed for my Sci-fi novels. The good crusaders fought against evil alien cockroaches. Injustices challenged, good people imprisoned, innocent people burned at the stake as witches, young nobles went missing and evil cockroach aliens wreaked havoc on the universe. Often ideas came in the form of dreams or ideas for a novel sprouted while showering. Worlds were built on these dreams and with the recall of stories of my German ancestors migrating to Australia, the Lost World of the Wends was born.

In late 2023, I delved into Family History once again, this time with more sophisticated computer technology. While plotting my ancestors using all those family history books, I had accumulated, I discovered a noble family line in Lausanne, the French part of Switzerland, stretching back to the 12^th Century. Why had I missed this gem when reading the translation in 2010? Tunnel vision. It wasn’t my father’s family name from Bavaria, therefore the family name presented that was of French origin meant nothing to me. I must’ve skipped over that part when reading it.

Further investigation unearthed a pedagogue (a cousin I think from the other branch of this family). However, the pedigree showed me that this line of the family may have been influential in our family’s value for education, not just for the males, but females as well. Plus, it explains my affinity with France.

Now, to answer the question posed at the beginning of this post. Where do my ideas come from? I’ve often wondered if dreams have a genetic component. Sure, family passed stories down from generation to generation, but couldn’t it be also the case that significant emotional events of our ancestors are also passed down through our genetic code? Who we are, our identity, our creativity, is made up of the sum of our predecessors, our ancestors. Could explain why unpublished novel, Mirror World, Adelaide is French…Just a thought.

On that note, I feel as a writer, that with family history, it’s not enough just to fill in the birth, death, and marriage details. The genealogical books that most interest me are the ones which give the context of history, description of the land in which they lived, and a brief resume of each family member’s lives. Photos too are important and make history come alive.

All this research takes time. I’m at the beginning of my quest, searching, digging, and fitting the puzzle pieces together. I’m learning the art of research, once again, as I delve into the rabbit-hole of ancestry. At the same time, I’m learning what makes a good detective for my Detective Dan series which will be under the pen name, Tessa Trudinger. Watch this space.

© Lee-Anne Marie Kling 2024

Feature Photo: Lake Geneva, Lausanne © A.N. Kling 2014