Guest Post by Bonnie Rokke Tinnes
Several times
during my life, especially after I graduated from Bemidji State University in
Minnesota as an English and Russian teacher, I wanted to be a writer, but
something always got in the way of the time and energy I needed to actually sit
down and produce something of worth. I taught school for a while. Then my husband and I were married and I worked
on our farm. We had children who took a
lot of my time. After my husband became
ill, I returned to school, attaining a nursing degree from the University of
North Dakota just in time to take over as breadwinner and caregiver.
We were lucky
when I was given a job as a registered nurse in a Minnesota state hospital for
mentally ill adults in the middle of lake country, which was the one thing that
made moving and taking the job inviting.
The demanding job stressed and stretched my nerves and energy to their
max so when I was home, I’d sit down at the computer and try to change my
thoughts and mood by writing something of worth, something that was
beautiful. Writing had become a survival
technique taking me away from the harsh realities of what seemed a cruel and
heartless world.
Lucky me, I
bought my first computer a couple of years after I moved here in 1995. After I learned how to use it, I found it the
best tool a writer could ever have. It
was easy to write, delete, cut, copy, and paste, quite different from sitting
at the typewriter ruining paper with typos and other mistakes.
It was after
retirement that I became more serious about writing. Having a lot of time on my hands, I began
organizing all those pages of thoughts I had worked on for years, many about my
childhood and growing up in the middle fifties on a farm in northern Minnesota.
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Book signing
Franklin Arts Center,
Brainerd,
Minnesota |
I hired someone
to edit my work and began writing Growing
Up Margaret, a story about three sixth grade girls growing up in rural
Minnesota in the mid- fifties who become best friends. Following that, I wrote Margaret Inc, a story about the girls’ seventh grade year, which is
my second book in a trilogy I plan about Margaret. These books appeal to anyone
from middle school to those who grew up in the mid- fifties because they
portray the culture, setting, and time in history realistically.
During my lifetime, I had also written
numerous poems and organized some of my nature poems into a book called Snow Presents and Poems. I also plan to organize more of my poetry
for future publication.
Not getting any
younger and having all my poems and stories in my computer or on copy paper, I
began to dream of having them published.
I knew that if I didn’t do something, all my work would be in vain if
something happened to me, and I wanted to leave these stories to my
grandsons. If I wanted my dream, I
needed to jump in myself and try something because I was finding it almost
impossible to get my foot in the door of a publisher, and I didn’t have time to
waste.
During July, 2010, I attended a
Highlights Foundation writers’ workshop at Chautauqua Institution, Chautauqua,
New York. It was an educational and rewarding week, and I learned what I needed
to improve my writing for publication. The manuscript I submitted at Chautauqua to my
mentor, published children’s author Helen
Hemphill from Tennessee, was Margaret Inc. I was pleased and encouraged when she said
that my writing was almost there and would just take some tweaking. She also said that I had strong characters
and plot. What I needed was to use more
dialogue and to show more and tell less what was taking place in the story. Hemphill’s works include The Adventurous Deeds of Deadwood Jones, Runaround, and Long Gone Daddy.
I probably
rushed the submission to a publisher when I returned home. It came back to me with a note that said that
my writing was probably too Midwestern to sell nationally. The editor suggested I publish it locally.
With the help of
my editor, I continued to perfect my writing.
Since he was older, I also enlisted a younger reader for a second
opinion. Between the two of them, I was
able to tweak and polish my writing, making it acceptable for publishing.
I studied
published books and learned how to set up the title page, dedication page, and
all the other introductory pages. I
learned how to set up page breaks so a new chapter began at the top of its own
page. I even went to the internet for an ISBN number and also uploaded my
manuscript to the Copyright Office, paying for the whole thing electronically. I was learning and doing things I’d never
done before and even enjoying it.
When I felt
everything was ready, I uploaded my book to Amazon.com for Kindle, and it
worked. Once it was uploaded, I could
see how it looked and make adjustments before I saved it for publishing. It took a few times, but it was finally
uploaded as I wanted it. Next, I
uploaded to Barnes and Noble for Nook.
And just like that, I was published.
It didn’t end
there. Some people wanted a hard copy, a
book they could hold in their hands. I
am not an illustrator so I found a website, Dreamstime.com, and there I found
photographs that I could pay very little for the right to use on a book
cover. I hunted through them until I
found the perfect one for each book. I
searched the internet until I found a reasonably priced, good printer, DiggyPOD,
in Michigan who would print as many books as I wanted at a time.
Before I ordered
any printed books, I went to Facebook and to my email and asked my friends if
they’d buy a book if I printed some. I
received enough monies to pay for the first printing. They kept their word, and they also loved the
books.
A good friend once told me, “Everyone
wants to be a writer, but no one wants to do the work.” He should know because he teaches college
writing. I can tell you from experience that those
words are true. None of it was easy, but
it was worthwhile. It took jumping in
head first and a lot of guts, but I am happy where I am today as a writer. I
just told my husband that I am beginning to feel like an author.
Please visit my
website www.bonnierokketinnes.com. There you will learn more about my writing
and me and also how to get in touch with me.
I would love that.
--Bonnie Rokke Tinnes
