“On the day she turned 18, she told her parents she was leaving for school, but then she hitchhiked to Mexico.”

This was yet another of my friend Laura’s wild stories about her mother.

“That’s where she met my dad, who was stationed there. They got married within a month.”

“Geez,” I said. “Has she ever written all this down?”

“No. She hates writing.” Her eyes went wide. “Hey. You’re a writer. Can I pay you to do it? Like, you talk to her, then write it down? I would love to have my mom’s stories on paper.”

And so was born the idea of gifting time with a ghostwriter.

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Personally, I think it’s fabulous.

Many of us know someone with enough stories to fill a book. But often the family storyteller prefers to talk, not write.

In my family, those stories – the ones all us cousins know by heart – aren’t as out-there as Laura’s. Mostly they’re things that happened at home or at school, or, in one case, a random gas station in Ohio. (That one gets told every holiday.) They’re the fabric of my childhood, the stories I grew up hearing.

It’s sad that many of those stories will be lost with the turning of generations.

But they don’t have to be.

Here’s a unique gift idea:

Give your loved one time with a ghostwriter, who can help get those stories on paper.

This way, you can preserve them. Turn them into something that will last.

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How does that work?

✅ You buy a one-off session with a ghostwriter (like me).

✅ Said ghostwriter will interview your loved one and write down their stories.

✅ You can then get them printed, or make a scrapbook, or find another way to make them pretty and long-lasting. You can even print copies and give them out as gifts to family.

Look for a ghostwriter who’s also a book coach (like me). That way, if your person decides they want to write their stories themselves, the ghost can toggle roles and give structure, guidance, and feedback instead of writing.

If you’d like to give this gift to someone special this holiday season, send me a message below.

Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy all your favorite family stories this holiday season.