Hi, everyone. This summer’s shaping up to be one for the record books — and I want you to know what’s coming, in case any of it calls to you.
I just finished submitting two proposals for AWP 2027 in Chicago, and I’m keeping my fingers crossed for BOTH! The conference is March 17-20 and NOT TO BE MISSED. Writers’ Haven will host an exhibitors’ booth with tons of literary offerings, and I’d love to see you there. More info about the annual AWP Conference here.
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I’m honored to be headlining the very first Storyteller Sessions — a new live storytelling series coming to Wichita Falls. If you’re in the area, I’d love to see you there — tickets are just $5.
Storyteller Sessions
Collective Coffee
4001 Taft Blvd, Wichita Falls, TX 76308
7–10pm
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I’ll be traveling to Arizona to scout locations for the May 2027 Write to Heal Retreat. If you missed the first retreat in Carefree, Arizona — or if you’re curious about what these experiences are like — you can learn more at christinewolf.com/write-to-heal-retreats. More details on the 2027 retreat to come!
Okay, this one requires a little backstory!
In 2022, I discovered I have an older half-sister, Elizabeth (who goes by the nickname Lisa). At the time, I was 53, and she was 55. Though we share a biological father, we never knew about each other. For the past four years, we’ve been building a sisterhood, and it’s become one of the most unexpected and meaningful relationships of my life.
Though credit goes to the scientists behind 23andMe for the genetic test that confirmed our DNA match, I actually credit many people for bringing us together:
1. Lisa’s husband, Mark, who purchased 23andMe kits in 2021 for each of them.
2. Our younger sister, Beth, who’d created a family tree on Ancestry.com before she passed away in 2018. Beth’s family tree was discovered online in 2021 by a woman in France researching her own genealogy. That woman’s name is Claude Laurent-Cramer, and though we don’t share a language (she only speaks French; I only speak English and some Spanish), we used translation apps in 2021 and early 2022 to confirm that we are, in fact, descendants of the same family in Poland. Claudie and I are second cousins once removed: her grandfather and my great-grandfather were brothers.
3. Podcast host Nora McInerny, whose unfiltered approach to life got me through some of my darkest seasons. On March 8, 2022, Nora re-aired her interview with author Dani Shapiro on her podcast, Terrible, Thanks For Asking. Shapiro’s DNA discovery — chronicled in her memoir Inheritance — fascinated me. She’d grown up an only child, certain that her parents were her parents, but in 2016, after she and her husband took at-home DNA tests, she discovered that she’d been conceived through a sperm donor. The father who’d raised her was, in fact, not her biological father. Shapiro was 54 years old when she made this shocking discovery, and she later went on to find her biological father and meet some of her half-siblings. A week after hearing that podcast, on March 15, 2022, I went back to my own 23andMe account and added my new cousin, Claude, to my family tree. And from there, things took an unexpected turn.
On my 23andMe family tree, I saw a name I didn’t recognize — “Lisa de las Heras Birchmeier” — listed as my “Likely Half-Sister.” I’d never seen that name before, so I assumed this was a clerical mistake. I had two younger sisters, and neither one was named Lisa. But, with Dani Shapiro’s DNA surprise still fresh in my mind, I spent an entire afternoon at my dining room table obsessed — no food, no water, no getting up — clicking and searching, telling myself I had to stop looking into this. Surely, I was being dramatic, right? But I couldn’t stop. The possibility of a DNA surprise felt more real than ever.
Still, a voice inside me kept saying, You know who you are. You know who’s in your family. Step away from the laptop. But I couldn’t. There was something about the possibility of having another sister that kept me planted in that chair. Having lost my younger sister, Beth, four years earlier, I felt more driven than ever to solve this mystery. Who was Lisa? Why did she show up on my DNA test?
After hours of dead ends, I found a Facebook video of a woman with the right name who looked eerily like my late sister Beth — same gorgeous blue eyes, same dark hair, same fair skin, and same big, bright smile. I ran a background check. I learned where she lived, and that her birth name, just like our younger sister, Beth, is Elizabeth.
I messaged Lisa through 23andMe. Two days later, she wrote back: “Hi Christine, nice to meet you.”
I think I’ll save the rest for another story time. For now, here’s the first photo we took as sisters:
I write about our first meeting in a chapter of the forthcoming anthology of DNA surprises called Relative Strangers: Inheritance, Identity, and the Meaning of Kinship, Ed. by B.K. (Kate) Jackson, to be released by ELJ Editions on June 23, 2026.
Lisa and our cousin, Claudie, both turn 60 this year. And, they recently wore me down until I relented and accepted a plane ticket from Lisa to go and celebrate with them. For the first time in my life, I’m on the receiving end of having an older sister tell me, “This is what’s happening, and you’re not going to argue about it.” LOL.
Our cousin, Claudie, lives in Brie-Comte-Robert, about 45 minutes southeast of Paris, and she’s planned this itinerary for us:
Friday, June 27, 2026 — Arrival & History
Arrival Charles DeGaulle airport (7:05 AM) · Picpus Cemetery, the resting place of the Marquis de Lafayette — the French general who fought alongside Washington and is buried beneath an American flag · Caillebotte estate · Dinner at The Mosaic · Stay in Brie-Comte-Robert
Saturday, June 28, 2026 Versailles Castle · Vaux-le-Vicomte Castle by candlelight · Stay in Brie-Comte-Robert
Sunday, June 29, 2026 — The Anniversary/Birthday Celebration Stay in Brie-Comte-Robert
Monday, June 30, 2026 — All of Paris by Métro Quai de Seine · Conciergerie · Louvre · Tuileries · Olympic cauldron · Notre-Dame · Place de la Concorde · Pont Alexandre III · Champs-Élysées · Champ de Mars/Eiffel Tower · Invalides · Arc de Triomphe · Opéra Garnier · Montmartre/Abbesses · Sacré-Cœur · Stay in Brie-Comte-Robert
Tuesday, July 1 — Departure CDG flight at 1:10 PM
— January 2018: My younger sister, Beth, dies suddenly at 47.
— December 2021: Cousin Claudie reaches out from France after she discovers the Ancestry family tree my sister Beth made before she died.
— March 15, 2022: My own 23andMe reveals a half-sister, Lisa (born Elizabeth). She, Beth, and I all share the same biological father. When I make the discovery, I am 53, and Lisa is 55.
— April 25, 2022: Eric and I meet Claudie and her son, Pierre, for the very first time in Paris.
— April 30, 2022: I meet Lisa for the very first time in New Jersey. I am 54, and she is 55. We’ve been building a sisterhood ever since.
— June 2025: Lisa and her husband fly to Chicago for my wedding to Eric. And, as I walk down the aisle, I spot Claudie and her family, who’ve secretly flown in from France to surprise me. Here’s the video Claudie took as I realize who I’m looking at:
June 25-30, 2026: As you might imagine, this upcoming trip to Paris to celebrate the 60th birthdays of my “new” sister and my “new” cousin will be many things all at once: a milestone celebration for them, a family reunion for all of us, and proof that hope exists in the places we often cannot see. I promise to write about it all when I’m back.
I’m teaching a 6-week journaling course at Northwestern University’s Norris Center this summer — and it’s open to the public. Please join us!
Tuesdays
July 7 thru August 11
12-1p Central
Northwestern University’s Norris Center
Register Now
I’ll be reading from my chapter in the forthcoming anthology Relative Strangers: Inheritance, Identity, and the Meaning of Kinship (Ed. by B.K. (Kate) Jackson) at P&T Knitwear in New York City.
July 9
P&T Knitwear
180 Orchard Street
New York City, New York
Purchase Tickets ($10)
I’ll be reading from my chapter in the forthcoming anthology Relative Strangers: Inheritance, Identity, and the Meaning of Kinship (Ed. by B.K. (Kate) Jackson) at Secret World Books & Comics
Pre-Order Relative Strangers (Due 6/23)
Here’s an absolute dream of a blurb:
“In this groundbreaking collection of essays, B.K. Jackson has assembled a group of writers who, while wildly different, share a profound truth in common — a truth that was kept from them all their lives. If you’ve ever wondered what it might be like to have your life upended by a DNA discovery, as so many thousands of us have, this book is for you.”
— Dani Shapiro, author of Inheritance: A Memoir of Genealogy, Paternity, and Love
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Clearly, it’s a full summer — full of stories I didn’t plan and some I’m still figuring out how to tell. Thank you so much for being here for all of it!
What are you most looking forward to this summer? Got some exciting news to share? What are your writing goals? Travel goals? Relaxation goals? Got some good news to share? Feeling stuck and needing some advice? Drop it all in the Writers’ Haven comments section…
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