The Origin Story of My Writing Life
The Origin Story of My Writing Life
Though I knew early on that I was drawn to the writing life, I didn’t start working seriously on my craft until I was in my twenties. I began with nonfiction—mostly human-interest pieces—and had a few published in small journals. At the time, I didn’t read fiction. It felt frivolous to me.
That changed thanks to a school fundraiser. A neighborhood girl came to our door selling magazine subscriptions, and I ordered either Writer’s Digest or The Writer. The first issue included the winning story from their annual short story contest. I read it, despite my aversion to fiction, and it made an impact. The story wasn’t realistic in a physical sense, but it captured the desperation of mothers trying to protect their children with limited options. It stayed with me.
Soon after, I started writing short fiction. I was persistent, and over time, I placed every story I wrote—some in small print journals, some online, and a couple in a glossy magazine called Kansas City Voices. Not every story was perfect, but I kept going.
Eventually, I moved on to novel-length storytelling. I’ve always had an interest in other cultures and a soft spot for underdogs. My first novel, Sparrow’s Song, features a young German-from-Russia immigrant in early 20th-century Nebraska. She joins the Army School of Nursing during WWI—a real program created to train student nurses for domestic military hospitals—in hopes of building a better life for herself. Her family doesn’t support her decision, feeling she’s turned her back on her cultural identity, and that’s the heart of the conflict. After years of writing and many rejection slips, I found a small press that believes in my story and has committed to publishing it.
My current work-in-progress is another immigrant story, set in 1927 Omaha. Leo, a young Irish immigrant, works at Boys Town maintaining instruments and uniforms for the Boys Town traveling band. His father is a homeless alcoholic jazz musician. The driving tension in Leo’s story is the struggle between loyalty and wholeness.
If you’re curious about the historical research behind these stories—WWI and WWII Army affiliated nursing educational programs, brass instrument repair, early twentieth-century Omaha, and Boys Town—you’ll find more under the blog headings Kathryn’s Story and Leo’s Story.