Roots Television | Megan's Roots World

I recently received this update from Ksenija Yoder Batič, a woman from Slovenia I gave a grant to a few years back. I thought it was interesting that there's been a genealogical mystery published in Slovenia! Apparently, Ksenija set it in Wales and one of the characters is named Megan -- very appropriate since it's a Welsh name! I wanted to post the cover here, but am having problems with my blog, so I'll post it to my Facebook profile for anyone who might be curious.

Hi, Megan.

Well, I have finished the 2nd level of genealogical studies course at The University of Toronto and soon after that I started with my thesis (at my own Faculty in Slovenia) that was, much to everybody's surprise, based on genealogical and family history research and was connected to my studies of Ethnology and Cultural anthropology through Social Anthropology.

I successfully defended my thesis, got the best grade possible for it and was awarded with special award of the Faculty called "Presernova nagrada" for the year 2006.

After that I got a bit more realistic in connection to what is possible and what is not possible to do with Genealogy at my Faculty. So I redirected myself from the Faculty, Professors and Students towards young adults from 15 to 25 years of age. My goal was to introduce young adults to Genealogy and Family History in an interesting and appealing way.

So I connected my love for Genealogy and Family History with my vivid imagination and my writing skills. As a result of that, at the end of March 2008 my very first book was published - The Curse of the LeRoy's - a suspense/mystery novel for young adults where the main character is researching her roots ... I included detailed family trees and placed the story in a real historical and geographical context, so many readers ask me if the book is based on a true story. :-) I was also told that I must be one of the first writers including Genealogy in fiction book in Slovenia (if not the first). I didn't check if that is true, but it is still a great compliment to receive.

Despite the title, the book has overall positive message and that is also one of the reasons why the book was so well accepted.

The feedback I get from my readers is fantastic, though it turned out the book is appealing to ALL generations not just young adults as it was my original idea. I have more books (for young adults) coming and I intend to include genealogy in those aswell.

Well, here is my very loooong up-date. :-)

Have a nice day!

Ksenija