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YOUR PERSONAL & FAMILY STORIES

(helping everyday storytellers write and tell the stories that matter most)

There's something glorious about family and personal stories...

Most of us carry them - stories about our people, our places, the lives that made us who we are.

But when we sit down to write them, something seizes up...There's too much to say, no clear place to begin, and a nagging worry about getting it wrong.

Story River is here to help you find the story, start it, and see it through.

"Once Upon A Time Isn't Just For Fairytales" with Tina Konstant

Start with your family story.

Family Stories with Tina Konstant at StoryWrangle

This is a storyteller's guide, not a genealogy course.

We don't begin with timelines, charts, or perfect memories. We begin the way stories have always begun: around a fire, with something true to say.

If you've ever thought any of these things, you're in exactly the right place:

I want to write this down, but I don't know where to start
I've got boxes of things and no idea what to do with them
I don't want to hurt anyone or get it wrong
I want my children to know where they came from
I have a story — I just can't make it come alive

A fireside approach to family stories

The Story River is built on one simple idea.

The stories that last - the ones told and retold, the ones children ask for again - aren't the polished ones. They're the human ones.

Here, we work with stories the way people always have: one at a time, around the fire, with honesty and care. Reflective and real. Built to be told, shared, and remembered.

Start Here...

From: Tina Konstant, Aberdeen, Scotland.

When: Around 5.30 am, coffee brewed, fog heavy over the river, Calypso camped and comfortable, Jack the dog still sound asleep.

Don't feel like reading? Listen here: Audio-letter from me to you

Hello, most amazing human

I have no idea how you found this page, but I'm really glad you did.

Maybe someone told you about this book. Maybe you searched for help with your personal or family history and ended up here. Maybe you have a box of old photographs sitting on a shelf that make you pause every time you pass them by.

It doesn't matter how you got here. What matters is this...

Memories too often die with their owner,
and time too often surprises us by running out.

~ William Zinsser

If you have stories that haven't been written down yet, and you know, somewhere, that they should be, then this book (and everything that comes with it) is for you.

Let me tell you why I wrote it.

I was at my grandmother's side when she died. She was in bed, calm and peaceful, surrounded by old photographs. I remember the moment she passed. I glanced up at those old photos and thought, "Who are they? Who were they to you?"

It felt like one moment I could have asked her, and the next, I couldn't.

I sat with that loss for a long time. And then I decided to do something about it.

I've spent years helping people tell, write, and share their stories. I've sat in retirement homes, genealogy groups, and family kitchens, listening to people describe the same paralysis: "I have all this material. I don't know what to do with it. I don't know where to start. I'm afraid of getting it wrong. I don't want to hurt or offend anyone. I don't know how to turn this into a story people will want to hear!"

What I discovered is that the problem is never the material. The problem is the approach.

Most personal story or family history guides treat story-writing like a research project. They begin with timelines, genealogy charts, and document organisation. They produce dry, exhaustive records that nobody reads.

This book begins at the fireside.

It begins with the stories that matter. The moments that reveal character. The traditions that captured belonging. The difficult truths that deserve to be told with honesty and care.

It begins with your voice — the warm, alive version of you that already knows how to tell a story. Because you do. You tell stories every time you sit down with someone you love. This book simply teaches you to do it on the page.

The Fireside Method (the framework at the heart of the workbook that comes with the fable) will show you how to:

Choose the right story to tell first (not the biggest one — the one that opens the door)
Write for one specific person so that everyone who reads it feels it
Turn chaos into three manageable piles: what you know, what you need, what you can imagine
Give yourself permission to begin imperfectly — because finished and imperfect outlives perfect and unfinished every time
Speak your story before you write it — because your spoken voice is already warmer than your first draft
Choose a shape that keeps your book focused, readable, and finishable

WHAT'S INSIDE...

Keep The Fire Lit — the novel. A fable about the stories we share and the stories we leave behind.
From The Beginning — the full companion guide workbook. 18 chapters across six parts (Feel It, Learn It, Tell It, Shape It, Make It, Share It), each with practical tools and worked examples, closing with the Fireside Oath and a bonus chapter, "A Twist in the Tale: How To Add Fable Magic to Your Personal and Family Stories."
The Video Course — 20 short video lessons across seven modules, each one demonstrating the workbook's method live.
Five Practical Checklists — Before You Begin, Research Gathering, Responsible Imagination Quick-Check, Before You Interview, and Ready to Publish, placed at the exact points in the workbook where each one is needed.
Three Bonus Tools — Deep-Story Map, Story-Spark Notes, and Uncover Family Story Games.