To
Kathy Wiechman's Ohio, SCBWI, and Facebook friends, this two-part series will come as no surprise. But since many of my readers are from North and South Carolina, I can safely say this will be news to many of you. I hope everyone will enjoy hearing how Kathy, like
Jo Hackl, persisted on her path to publication and is now reaping the rewards.
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I first "met" Kathy through reading and reviewing her debut middle grade novel, Like a River. In our correspondence, she has jokingly referred to herself as the "poster child for perseverance." When I heard she had received the first Grateful American Book Prize, I asked her to share her journey.
 |
Kathy with her husband Jim
and her award winning debut novel. |
CAROL: At one
point you said it took you 39 years before you published your first book. What
were the highlights of those years? What sacrifices and choices did you make? How did you balance life (raising kids, teaching,
etc.) with writing? Most of all, how did you keep going?
KATHY: There is
no short answer. It was thirty-nine years between my first novel submission to
an editor (1974) and the day I was offered a contractfor my novel, LIKE A RIVER (2013). I actually began writing poems when I was
five years old.
In the late
1970’s, I took a series of classes from author Stephanie Tolan. She taught me
the correct way to submit a manuscript and encouraged me to keep at it. She
read a couple versions of an early manuscript and gave me feedback. Having
Stephanie tell me I had talent was a definite highlight.
During the 1980’s,
I joined SCBWI (which was still SCBW). I wrote, submitted, and received a lot
of rejection letters. The slow turn-around from editors taught me how quickly
manuscripts became dated. That’s when I combined my love of writing with my
other passion, history. Historical fiction was always my favorite read, so why
not write it?
As I headed into
the 1990’s, I wrote mostly historical fiction. In January, 1990, I joined a
critique group in Newport, Kentucky. It has been the source of not only good
criticism, but also great friendships. I attended conferences. I craved being
with other writers, people who understood the struggle and shared the drive,
people I could learn from. In 1996, one of my short stories (MALL MAGIC) won a
prize from Children’s Writer. What a
highlight that was!
My critique group
told me about the Highlights Workshops at Chautauqua. I told them I couldn’t
afford it, but I applied for a scholarship. The highlight (from Highlights)
that changed my writing life was when I was offered a partial scholarship to
attend Chautauqua, 1999. That workshop was fantastic, magical, and my
introduction to the Highlights Foundation and their incredible workshops. It
was definitely life changing, and an opportunity to make more writer friends.
 |
The writers group Kathy has been
meeting with for almost 26 years. |
In 2002, I was
invited to join a second critique group in which nearly everyone was published.
I felt quite out of my league initially, but they extended a warm welcome. MY
FACE, a poem, was published in Ladybug
magazine in 2002. That year, Meadowbrook Press ran another of my poems (NO
RETURN) on their website. In 2011, another of my short stories (ONE YEAR AFTER)
won a prize from Children’s Writer.
In 2012, another poem (IMAGES OF 9/11) was published in an anthology from a
small press that no longer exists, and in 2013, ONE YEAR AFTER won a prize from
the Center 4 Writing Excellence. In the context of writing novels, these may
seem like small victories, but they were confidence-building. And a victory is
a victory.
 |
| Kathy's second critique group which she joined in 2002. |
When I was writing
that first novel I submitted in 1974, I was expecting my third child. (In 1977,
I added a fourth.) I worked in part-time sales in those days to help make ends
meet. Money was tight, but I learned how to be frugal. I taught beginner French and Creative Writing. I
tutored Language Arts and helped prepare eighth graders to take their high
school entrance exams.
We couldn’t afford
expensive vacations, so we went to places where we had friends or family to
stay with. We took short trips to nearby locations. We visited Hodgenville, KY
(where Abraham Lincoln was born), Shaker Village (KY), Mammoth Cave (KY), Conner
Prairie (IN) and much more. My kids might disagree, but I never felt those
trips to be sacrifices. They were family time and experiences that fueled my
historical interests.
 |
| Toby Wiechman, 1989, exploring Mammoth Cave |
I wrote whenever I
could snatch a bit of time. When my kids played outside in the yard, I sat at
the picnic table and wrote. When they played games in the family room, I worked
at my desk in the corner. I also wrote late into the night after everyone was
asleep and the house was quiet. I often stayed up until 4:00AM. I was younger
then and could manage on less sleep. You might say I sacrificed housekeeping,
and I was much too willing to skip that.
What kept me going
was my passion for words and stories. I truly love writing! The person who made
it possible for me to keep going was my wonderful husband, who bore the
financial burden for all those years. He was also always ready for a road trip
so I could do research. He took an interest in all the places I needed to go.
In short, the highlights
were the writing itself, small victories, workshops, family trips, and making
friends.
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I hope you'll come back on Monday, December 7 to read about the people in the industry who helped Kathy, her thoughts about receiving the Grateful American book prize, and her next book, Empty Places. After her next post I'll give away a copy of Like a River. If you leave a comment on both posts (with your email address if you don't think I have it) I'll enter your name twice. Share it on your social media of choice (and tag me!) and I'll enter your name accordingly.
