Thursday, October 6, 2011

Blogger Showcase: Amy Coffin

I got the chance to get to know Amy Coffin a little at the FGS (Federation of Genealogical Societies) conference in Springfield, Illinois. She and I went out to dinner with four other wonderful women. I have rarely laughed that much. Good conversation, good food and good people...spiked with genealogy...what more could you ask for.

Amy Coffin is the writer of the We Tree Genealogy Blog.

So many peoples blogs are a reflection of Amy's genius. She is our muse.
Without her prompts...so many of us would be tongue tied.

A couple of years ago Amy came up with the idea of a "52 weeks to..." series.
The first (in 2009 was a blog prompt list) entitled "52 weeks to Jump Start You Genealogy Blog"
The next one about a year later was "52 weeks to Better Genealogy"

We bloggers have been producing off her ideas ever since.

Not everyone uses Amy's prompts but boy are they a life saver when you are struggling with writer's block. (And watch for an upcoming e-book from her on Blog Prompts for Genealogy)

And her "52 weeks to Better Genealogy" series is a great way to improve you genealogy skills. I know it's helped me.

Amy's blog is not just about the "52 weeks..." series. She has a wicked sense of humor which is reflected in her posts. The tag line to the name of her blog is "If family history is boring, then you're doing it wrong." And in reference to search terms used to find things on her blog (the search term was genealogy blobs and it was not the first time someone had used that search term) she once wrote, "Looks like I am the foremost authority on "genealogy blobs" now. This time, they're taking over Ohio. You can run, but you can't hide. I think Genealogy Blobs of Ohio would make a great title for a horror novel. Someone make that happen."

And if you think that is funny...read this blog, "If Genealogists Ran Hollywood."   or "If Genealogists were in the Tabloids."

In addition to Amy being a wonderful writer, she's a heck of a gal. She's helpful and encouraging to others.

Remember how I told you that I have about a dozen or so genealogist who "rock my world." Well, Amy is absolutely one of them. If you're not reading her...you should be, and if you get a chance to meet her at a conference...tell her I said hi.