-- Inspiration Media Network Founder, Johnetta Alston, is preparing to release her upcoming book, Things My Mother Said. The book explores the advice, familiar expressions, and conversations shared by mothers and grandmothers that continue to shape people’s lives beyond childhood.
Scheduled for publication in early 2027, the book is being developed with Mother’s Day in mind, alongside a short documentary featuring people sharing personal stories about the women who shaped their lives.
The project draws on a familiar experience: hearing a parent’s words repeatedly, sometimes dismissing them at the time, only to recognize their significance years later. Alston wants readers to revisit those memories through their own experiences while discovering how similar lessons have travelled through families from different backgrounds and cultures from generation to generation.
“What advice did your mother or grandmother give to you that you wish you’d taken?” Alston asks, identifying a question at the heart of the book. She also wants readers to consider which words have stayed with them, what they regret overlooking, and how those early conversations influenced the people they eventually became.
The stories will cover a wide emotional range, from the humor of familiar maternal warnings to advice that takes on new meaning with age. Alston points to the kind of expressions that can instantly transport someone back to childhood, including a mother’s familiar warning, “Don’t make me come over there.” Such phrases, she says, can prompt laughter and recognition, opening the door to recollections that might otherwise remain unspoken.
Yet Alston is equally interested in the memories that carry more complicated feelings. Not everyone has enjoyed a close relationship with their mother, and some readers may look back on advice they wish they had followed or words they would approach differently today. She wants the book to make room for those experiences, allowing people to reflect on their own histories without feeling that their stories must conform to an idealized picture of family life.
“Everybody didn’t have a good experience because life happens,” she says. “What would you say to your mother now if you could?” The question gives the project a more personal dimension, inviting readers to consider both the words they received and the conversations they might still wish to have.
Alston has already seen how readily the subject encourages people to share their memories. She recalls conversations in which mentioning the book prompts an immediate response, with one person’s recollection leading another to remember a phrase or lesson from their own family. “It’s almost like this never-ending conversation,” she says, describing the enthusiasm people bring to recalling what their mothers and grandmothers used to say.
To Alston, these exchanges reveal the potential for family storytelling to connect people across generations and cultural backgrounds. The expressions themselves may differ, shaped by individual households and traditions, while the experience of being influenced by a parent or grandparent remains widely recognizable. The book aims to preserve those personal recollections and encourage readers to think about the family histories carried in everyday language.
A short documentary is being developed alongside the publication, extending the project through video submissions from women and men who have shared stories about their mothers and grandmothers. Alston plans to introduce the film before handing the conversation to its contributors, allowing their experiences to take the lead. Some submissions have already arrived, giving the documentary an early foundation as preparations continue.
The accompanying film is intended to give participants their own space to tell these stories, allowing the project to reach people who may recognize their experiences in another family’s memories.
With publication planned for early 2027, Alston hopes to build interest ahead of Mother’s Day through potential partnerships with sponsors, retailers, and other organizations. The occasion offers an opportunity to position the book as a thoughtful gift while encouraging families to exchange memories that might otherwise go unrecorded. She is also actively working on a Father’s Day companion edition, extending the concept to the words and lessons passed down by fathers and grandfathers.
Whether a remembered comment brings a smile, prompts regret, or offers a fresh understanding of an old relationship, Alston believes each person has a story worth preserving. With Things My Mother Said, she hopes to give those stories a place to be shared, remembered, and passed on.
Contact Info:
Name: Johnetta Alston
Email: Send Email
Organization: Johnetta Alston
Website: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnetta-alston-54239951
Release ID: 89208208
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