By Sheila Quinn
Charming, But Insufficient
Many of us are inspired to write family stories. Motivated by duty, nostalgia, or a desire to set the record straight, we feel set about recording the history of our ancestors. I inherited suitcases full of photographs, letters, maps, receipts, and even locks of hair from three generations of my maternal grandmothers. I had no lack of primary source material to draw my stories from.
A letter my grandma wrote to her aunt in 1935 inspired a handful of chapters as well as the title of my upcoming novel, Where Flowers Once Grew. While I find my family’s stories charming and their artifacts endlessly fascinating, most of our families’ tales are not interesting enough for a marketable book. A novel needs conflict, an antagonist, and an arc that can rise and fall in the course of eighty-thousand words.
In my case, farm life in Eastern New Mexico was too quotidian to carry a plot. And yet, I find the idea of starting from scratch more daunting than suitcases of ephemera.
Looking Beyond Libraries
When it comes to finding primary sources beyond Great-grandma’s luggage, think beyond libraries and museums. In my experience, small town, local businesses love to tell their stories. They are proud of their roots and work them into their marketing and promotional materials.
I found what I needed under the About tab of the JP Stone Community Bank website. The webpage includes the link for a brochure written by David Stone, a former bank president and descendant of its founder. Mr. Stone recorded his family’s tale, just as I’m attempting to do. Among the pages of history and lore, I found this tidbit:
“The night before, John Beeman, the bank’s cashier, had been playing poker with some out of town cardsharks [sic] and had lost heavily. The winners forced John to open the bank and its vault after midnight to pay his gambling losses. Mr. Click was furious when he discovered his cashier’s indiscretion and fired John Beeman on the spot.”
There it was. I found a true-life conflict and a villain that fit my story’s timeline. There was even a reference to gambling, a recurring narrative thread carried over from my first book in the series.
Primary source material is a valuable resource whether you’re looking for corroboration or inspiration. Explore the “About” pages of schools, churches, banks, even auto mechanic shops. Chances are, they’re as charmed by their origin stories as David Stone and I are.
…grew up in West Texas and spent significant time in Eastern New Mexico listening to the stories of her grandma, upon whose life and family her fiction is based.
Where Flowers Once Grew: A Roosevelt County Novel will be available April 7, 2026. Request a copy from your favorite independent book store.
Feature image: by Aaron Burden on Unsplash
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