One of my first words was, “Why?’ It’s still my favorite. My nonfiction urges people to think about the answer to that question.
While I was growing up, I never thought about becoming a writer. In high school, I took office courses and worked in one while I was single. After our three children were in school, I expected to return to that sort of job. Instead, I was intrigued by a newspaper ad and became a freelancer reporting on the Durand community for the Rockford Morning Star. Most area residents subscribed to the daily and read my articles about village board and school board actions, which affect everyone in the community.
I joined area writers’ groups and attended workshops to improve the craft I was learning by doing.
Thirteen years later, the newspaper dropped their part-time freelancers. I queried national magazines for women, farmers and police. Some accepted my articles about people and their passions whether it was seeking ancestors, participating in an antique tractor pull or enforcing the law.
I joined the Illinois Woman’s Press Association, which is affiliated with the National Federation of Press Women. Their numerous awards for my published articles assured me I was doing the right thing.
At the beginning of 2008, our 48-year-old, developmentally different daughter, Linda, was diagnosed with terminal breast cancer. I quit writing to care for her. After she died in August, I was at loose ends.
As Ken and I made plans for our 50th anniversary celebration the following April, I decided to write a memoir about our seven-year courtship in the 1950s. A lot had been penned about the ’40s with World War II and the wild ’60s but little about the decade in between. As a guideline, I had Mom’s diaries that she’d left behind when she died. Every day, she jotted down what they were doing on the family dairy farm. That gave me the who, what, when and where of the times. I checked our high school annuals and old newspapers for specific events. My memories fleshed out the happenings. Attending workshops on creative nonfiction taught me to write my story like a novel. I joined the Janesville Area Writers and read aloud excerpts from my work-in-progress at their monthly meetings. The other members gave thoughtful critiques. It took ten years of writing and rewriting to finish the manuscript. I was elated when Adelaide Books, an independent New York firm, offered me a contract to publish “The View from a Midwest Ferris Wheel.” It’s available from Amazon in Kindle and paperback.
Writing a blog was my next step. I started lolita-s-bigtoe.com aimed at the growing contingent of older women but I do have some male readers, too. On Wednesdays, I share what’s on my mind hoping to stir others’ thoughts.
Why did you pursue your career?