First off I grew up near the corner of TN, KY and VA (on the VA side). Lots of interesting history in that part of the world. My advise for you Krista or anyone that wants to start writing, is to start small. Don't just jump into a novel b/c odds are you won't finish it. Until you have actually written one you have to work your way up to it. As far as you Grandpa's old stories, writing them down as he told them (exactly or loosly "translated") may be nice for your family, however I think if you use his stories along with some history and put them together with some of your own creativity you have something with the potential to be very good. wether it turns out to be a collection of short stories or one big piece it is something worth working out. Start with some of the shorter ones and then as you go along your research may bring you to the realization that you can expand it out. Don't be afraid to think of the stories as a simple background for a Character. For example you can have a character that overheard one of the stories when she was young and that story could somehow shape her life down the road or be part of an internal struggle with your main character. You can even have your characters stumble upon an old man telling stories and they stop to listen and that story could play a role in the outcome of their "adventure" later. Having anectdotes to insert into your writing can help the flow sometimes...and having a short story within your story can be great. Basically what I am saying is don't just think of how you can get your grandfathers stories on paper...discover how you can use them for inspiration or build on them using your own creativity. You could be surprised that you Grandfathers storytelling ability still lives within you. Hope my ramlings help someone in some way. occasionally they do. and welcome, everyone in here is pretty easy to get along with and always someone is eager to help.