# Eve, please **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 13, 2000, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eve-please/29171 "2000-08-13T05:34:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Montfort](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Montfort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Montfort)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2000, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eve-please/29171/1 "2000-08-13T05:34:05Z")
_(Sorry to do this on the SDMB, folks, but her e-mail’s not listed in her profile and I’d like to ask her some questions. If a moderator objects, I’ll understand if this thread is closed. Thanks.)_ Hi Eve, I am wondering if you wouldn’t mind giving me some pointers on researching and writing a biography. I normally write fiction (short stories, film screenplays, an in-progress novel, etc.) but I have this inkling of a thought to write a biography about my grandfather, who died nine years before I was born. I don’t know too much about him and I figure that writing one would be a good way to both learn about him, as well as pay tribute to him (I’m named after him). Could you please e-mail me ([michael@chanceofrain.com](mailto:michael@chanceofrain.com)) so I can bug you for tips and things? I’ll understand if you don’t want to, but you’re the only published and successful biographer I have (limited) access to, so I’m hoping you could help me out. I promise not to be too much of a bother, I’m simply curious how to begin and where to get a foothold to focus on. Thank you very much, A humbled and hopeful Montfort ---
**Author:** ![Sangria](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/87869e/32.png) [@Sangria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sangria)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2000, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eve-please/29171/2 "2000-08-13T18:37:55Z")
You’re on page two already! And no eve. Did you want me to boost this for you? ---
**Author:** ![nashiitashii](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7c8e57/32.png) [@nashiitashii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nashiitashii)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2000, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eve-please/29171/3 "2000-08-13T18:49:07Z")
Oh, since this seems to be question time for EVE, I have some questions about publishing. I eventually want to get a book of my poetry published, but nave little me knows shit about getting this done. Would it be posssible to have some advice via email for this? [ssskuggiii@evilbastards.com](mailto:ssskuggiii@evilbastards.com) ---
**Author:** ![Montfort](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Montfort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Montfort)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2000, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eve-please/29171/4 "2000-08-13T22:58:27Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Sangria \* > \*\*You’re on page two already! And no eve. Did you want me to boost this for you? \*\* I was going to bump it myself later tonight, but thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Ringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2000, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eve-please/29171/5 "2000-08-13T23:16:01Z")
Eve won’t see this until she’s back at work Monday. You should bump it tomorrow morning. See, Eve? I told you we talk about you all weekend. ---
**Author:** ![Montfort](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Montfort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Montfort)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2000, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eve-please/29171/6 "2000-08-14T12:29:36Z")
(bump) ---
**Author:** ![soulsling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@soulsling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/soulsling)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2000, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eve-please/29171/7 "2000-08-14T13:25:17Z")
Yes, please **Eve** , oh wonderfully revered writer. Please help to advise these young folk on their way to a true literary career. [sub](I couldn’t stand to see **ssskuggiii** begging out in the streets of Miami for change for her next meal…)[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2000, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eve-please/29171/8 "2000-08-14T13:28:51Z")
OK, I figure my answers will be fairly short, so I’ll post them here in case anyone’s interested. First off, “writing a biography” and “getting published” are two very different things. I assume, Montfort, that you want to write a personal history for yourself and your family? Which is terrific. Step one is hammering out a chronology. This is the hardest part for me, I’m just doing it now for my new book. Make a skeleton or chart of the outline: what he was doing, where he was, year by year, month by month. THEN you start filling it in. Since he was a relative, of course you have to interview (on tape!) as many friends and coworkers as you can. Also research his times: the era and place he grew up and lived, as that always effects a person’s life. SSS, I ain’t a poet and I know it. I’d say go to the bookstore and look for similar books of poetry, then call the publishers of those and ask them their submission policies. Get a NAME to submit to, not just c/o the publisher. Have fun—and if writing ain’t fun, DON’T DO IT. ---
**Author:** ![Montfort](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Montfort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Montfort)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2000, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eve-please/29171/9 "2000-08-14T13:51:45Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Eve \* > \*\*First off, “writing a biography” and “getting published” are two very different things. I assume, Montfort, that you want to write a personal history for yourself and your family? Which is terrific. \*\* Yes, that’s exactly what I want. If more than fifteen people want to read this, I’ll be amazed. Of course, I’m thinking the same thing about the novel I’m writing presently, too. 🙂 > [@](#): > > **Step one is hammering out a chronology. This is the hardest part for me, I’m just doing it now for my new book. Make a skeleton or chart of the outline: what he was doing, where he was, year by year, month by month. THEN you start filling it in. Since he was a relative, of course you have to interview (on tape!) as many friends and coworkers as you can. Also research his times: the era and place he grew up and lived, as that always effects a person’s life.** Very good advise. This is what I was looking for in my OP. Thank you very much. My grandmother (his widow) is still alive and for the most part, very cognizant. I should interview her while she’s still able to remember things, and my uncles will be very helpful as well. I only live an hour and a half from the town he lived in with my father until he died, so I can go there and check things out (and, visit his grave, something I haven’t done in almost 20 years). > [@](#): > > \*\*Have fun—and if writing ain’t fun, DON’T DO IT. \*\* Actually, I find that my fiction writing isn’t all that much “fun” but it’s something that _I have to do_. Of course, it’s a lot better than “having to” kill people, so I won’t complain. I don’t think this biographical endeavour will be too much fun, either, but we’ll see. Thanks again, Eve! ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2000, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eve-please/29171/10 "2000-08-14T14:12:16Z")
Montfort—good luck! Try the local library where he lived and see if there’s a local historian who can give you colorful background info. My grandfather left memoirs when he died, but they are agonizingly bad and pretty much unreadable even by relatives. ---
**Author:** ![sorrel554](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/91b2a8/32.png) [@sorrel554](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sorrel554)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2000, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eve-please/29171/11 "2000-08-14T14:29:50Z")
Eve, I just wanted to tell you that I took your Anna Held book with me on my trip to Ireland, and I enjoyed it very much. I thought it was very interesting and well-done. Looking forward to the next one! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2000, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eve-please/29171/12 "2000-08-14T15:43:16Z")
D Marie—thanks! I love to hear that . . . ---
**Author:** ![Montfort](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Montfort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Montfort)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2000, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eve-please/29171/13 "2000-08-15T04:53:31Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Eve \* > **Montfort—good luck! Try the local library where he lived and see if there’s a local historian who can give you colorful background info.** On the town, you mean? It’s not that small (Lebanon, PA, near Harrisburg), and I really doubt he was well known by anyone who’d be in that position. I know he didn’t write memoirs since he died unexpectedly (car accident). Like I’ve said, I can’t imagine a market for this biography except for those with the same last name as me (not including Shayna :)), so I’ll see if anyone there remembers him. Thanks again. I must admit I’m not a big biography reader (I generally don’t like reading non-fiction; the last bio I read was Berg’s _Lindberg_ because I was considering a novel based on the kidnapping of the Lindberg Baby), but the next one I do pick up will definitely be one of yours!