Claudia C. Breland

Born to Research, Born to Write

I was born in Albuquerque, NM when my father was in the Air Force. From there we moved to South Bend, IN and then to Cincinnati, where I spent my elementary school years. I learned to read at a young age, and when my father suggested (when I was 8) that since I loved libraries so much, I should become a librarian, I never thought of any other career. I remember riding my bike from our suburb of Forest Park to the storefront library in Greenhills, and checking out as many books as my bike basket would hold.

We moved to Merritt Island, Florida when my father began working for the space program at Cape Kennedy. When I was 13, my mother introduced me to historical fiction and the Williamsburg stories of Elswyth Thane. All throughout high school I devoured historical fiction, and when my paternal grandfather died and my dad came home with a file folder full of family history, I was primed and ready.

That was in the 1970's, when genealogical research was done (mostly) by mail. I sent for vital records, and I interviewed elderly relatives. I also inherited my grandfather's journals that he kept from 1928 to 1958; a real treasure trove. I continued research while I was at Florida State, getting my Masters of Library Science, and later at the Seattle Public Library, where I viewed microfilmed Michigan newspapers during my lunch hour.

I decided to become a professional genealogist in 2009, when I realized that I could use my gifts for online research and genealogy to help other people. I wanted to "level up" from being a hobbyist, and in the years since I have increased my skills and helped hundreds of clients, here in the US and internationally. I have also worked on my own family history, finding more in the last ten years online than I ever did in my early years of research. With DNA analysis I have solved a 40-year brick wall, and discovered a motive for the murder of my 2nd great grandmother Rhoda (Wiltse) Prosser Jones in 1883.

It was after I attended a virtual writer's conference led by writer Anne Lamott that I ventured into fiction, publishing Home to Beulah in February 2024. To my surprise, that turned into a series, with North to Naubinway, The Murder of Rhoda Jones, and Snoqualmie Bound following in quick succession. I'm now working on my fifth, titled Journey to Benzonia, to be published in early 2027.