Koda Post 6

Writing from the heart. - Guest post by Wendy Siefken.

A friend of mine recently told me I should write a blog and write from the heart. I have always been a very private person, not letting anyone get too close to me. I have kept people at arms length if  not more. I can relate to a lot of people's pain whether it be from abuse or a painful past or even surgeries. I don't talk about my own much but am willing to talk to others and help them with theirs. I let them know that I have been there too so can understand. I used to talk when I was young but found no one really cared. One person even said, "the further in time you get from the incident the less people care." So I stopped talking about it.
Now flash forward a life time with kids and getting them raised and again I find myself talking about something I never figured anyone would want to hear about. My son, Charlie who has learning difficulties while in school, people want to know about! Charlie has dyslexia and cross modalities. Together we have written a book called "Kai's Journey". We are indie authors and have come a long way. I found that people wanted to know more about Charlie's struggles and how he overcame them and still graduated high school. When we were querying agents I was told by an ISU professor to not share too much. Less is more. So I stopped telling the agents about Charlie and his struggles to become an author. Now that we have joined the MasterKoda site on facebook and gone onto a few of their parties and talked, People want to know about him!
The local school has contacted us asking if we would talk to a student about how to become an author. The AEA is wanting to talk to us also to maybe help set up a new way of teaching for kids who don't learn in the "normal" way. As the principal Mr. Kozak stated, "teach outside the box" by incorporating their passion with the lessons needed to be taught. To go along with that, I have also contacted the guidance councillor to talk about doing presentations to schools concerning some of the perils to watch out for when walking the road to getting published. I have found that here in Iowa,even authors who have been published for a long time really don't' want to impart much information as for the ways of getting published. I want to let those kids know that while it is something to strive for to be careful out there and question everything!
I am by far an expert on any one thing in regards to getting published, but I am learning everyday new things and new ideas. I hope to pass that knowledge on to new and upcoming authors from Iowa. We may not have Chicago, or New York here but I am here and all it takes is one snow flake to start an avalanche! I am quoting a friend there. Just because we are out in the boonies doesn't mean we can't help others find their way. While we don't know how this will all come about we are pro actively reaching out to others to possibly help out aspiring authors and poets to realize their dreams. I realized long ago, no one is going to come knocking on my door asking for my knowledge or to ask us to speak. I am taking the initiative and going out to our local school and using them as a pilot to see how it goes and how we could improve if needed. We are still working on stories but also trying to start other venues in our area too.
Our journey to getting published wasn't' just us writing a story, it was a group effort. Our local school helped us, friends helped us. Our local newspaper took an interest in us and helped us. Our local library was a great resource for information we were looking for. No matter how outlandish it sounded. Even our local vet helped us too! We hope to repay all those people who have helped us by paying it forward and helping others who are also looking to reach their dreams. So to sum all this up. You never know who does want to hear your life's story, good or bad. You never know who you can help until you try. Most important of all, if you have a dream, never give up!

A Link to Wendy and Charles' book can be found HERE 

Find Wendy on Facebook

Siefkenpublications Blog