A Mother’s Day gift: her life story, in her words
Flowers last a week. Her stories can last for generations. Start a Life Story Book for Mother’s Day and she gets one gentle question at a time about her childhood, the family she grew up in, the work she did and the people she loved.
You read every answer as it arrives, add follow-up questions about the stories you want more of, and when she has answered enough, the answers become a memoir in her own voice, with her photos and a foreword from you.
Life Story Book is coming soon. Create a free account and tap “Notify me”; we’ll tell you the moment it opens.
At launch: preview in a first chapter after three answers
Start it on the day
Write a personal note to go with her first question and pick the date it arrives, so the first email lands on Mother’s Day morning.
Easy for her
One question a week, large type, no account or password. She can save a draft, add an old photo from her phone, and skip anything she would rather not answer.
Her voice, not ours
Chapters keep her phrases and humour and never add names, dates or events she did not mention. Gaps come back to you as questions to ask her.
Step by step
- 1
Choose the questions
Start from 72 questions across eight life themes, then edit, reorder or write your own.
- 2
Invite the storyteller
We email one question a week or fortnight, or you send their private answer link by WhatsApp or text. No account for them.
- 3
They answer in their own words
Large type, drafts that save as they type, photos, and a skip button. You can also type answers while you chat.
- 4
Preview a chapter
After three answers, see a first chapter in their voice. Add follow-up questions where a story deserves more.
- 5
Make the book
Answers become chapters with your foreword, their photos and a contents page, ready to edit, share privately and download.
- The storyteller’s name, your relationship and (optionally) their email
- Questions from a curated bank of 72, edited or written by you
- Their answers, typed on a private page with no account, or by you as you chat
- Photos with captions, and a foreword from you
- A memoir in the storyteller’s own voice, chapter by chapter, lightly edited
- Nothing invented: gaps become questions for you, and details not in their answers are flagged
- Their photos with captions, your foreword and a contents page
- A normal Penwrite book you can edit, share privately for comments, narrate or translate
- Screen and print-ready PDFs at 6×9 or 8×10 on a paid plan
Previews are free for signed-in users during the 7-day Pro trial. Making the full book uses a Pro book credit (Pro includes one a month), and downloading or printing needs a paid plan.
Example pages
Illustrative artwork shown while sample books are being made.
Making it special
- Mix easy questions (her favourite meal as a child) with bigger ones (a turning point in her life) so the first weeks feel light.
- If email is not her thing, send the answer link on WhatsApp, or sit with her and type her answers while she talks.
- Write the foreword last: once you have read her stories, you will know what to say.
Frequently asked
Can brothers and sisters contribute?
One person runs the interview today, but you can add any question your siblings want asked, and share the finished book privately with the whole family for comments.
What if she only answers a few questions?
Short answers are fine. You can make the book once there are five or more answers, and rebuild it twice as more arrive. Most families wait for twenty to fifty.
Will it make things up?
No. Chapters use only names, dates and events from the storyteller’s answers. Where the story has a gap, you get a question to ask them instead, and any detail that is not in their answers is flagged for you to check.
Does the storyteller need an account?
No. They answer on a private page with large type, by email or from a link you send. They can save a draft, add photos, skip any question, and stop the emails with one click.
Be first in line for Life Story Book
Life Story Book is coming soon. Create a free account and tap “Notify me”; we’ll tell you the moment it opens.