Passion For the Page: How I Became a Nationally Published Writer

by Kathryn Bechen

“The world is not made up of atoms; it’s made up of stories.”
--Muriel Rukeyser, American Poet

I think most writers would agree that “some writers are born and some are made.” I feel that for me personally, becoming a published writer has been, quite simply, my God-given destiny, and that the seeds of writing grace that have bloomed along my beautifully serendipitous, and yes, sometimes rocky, journey were planted from the very beginning of my life.

This is my story…

“There is one thing your writing must have if it is to be any good at all.
It must have you.” --Elizabeth Ayres

Born in 1958 to teenage parents who did not value books, education, or me, an extended relative read the classic nursery rhymes to me as a pre-school child, and enamored with the rhyme and rhythm of their words, I begged her to read them to me over and over again. By the time I was four years old, I was told I was reading small books on my own.

“Writing is an act of love; if not, it is merely paperwork.” --Jean Cocteau

As a first-grader, my teacher singled me out to tutor me privately in advanced reading books, and on a school bus trip to our local university at the beginning of my sixth grade year, as I observed a professor writing on a chalkboard, I instantly, deep within myself, knew I would one day attend this university and become an English teacher and writer.

“No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader.” --Robert Frost

In the intervening years before attending that university, still possessing a great hunger for words, I proceeded to read every book on the bookshelf of my small sixth grade classroom, and at home, to escape the sadness and turmoil of my life there, I kept my nose stuck in another much happier world: books. An essay I wrote for my 8th grade church class, “What Being a Christian Means to Me,” earned me a phone call from our minister, asking if he could read the paper to our congregation during his sermon. And a few years later as a high school senior, my English teacher asked me to submit several poems I had written for her class assignment to a college poetry contest and my poem, ICE, won an honorable mention award.

“A professional writer is an amateur who didn’t quit.” --Richard Bach

At age 17, I was accepted to attend South Dakota State University, the same university I had visited during my sixth grade bus trip. To pay for my schooling, I walked into a bank all by myself and applied for an educational loan, resolutely determined to put myself through college, no matter what it took. I succeeded by working many jobs, taking extra classes, and studying diligently. Major: English and Education. My alma mater's tagline? "You can go anywhere from here."

“The best writing style is the style you don’t notice.”
--Somerset Maugham

Very quickly I was destined to meet three people at university who, although I wasn’t consciously aware of it at the time, would profoundly impact my future writing career. The first one was my best college friend Mary Helgeland Marchand, whose father, Les Helgeland, was a well-respected newspaper editor I came to greatly admire. Nearly 34 years later, Mary is still one of my greatest writing fans and cheerleaders and often tells me, “Dad would be so proud of you Kath!”

“An original writer is not one who imitates nobody,
but one whom nobody can imitate.” --Chateaubriand

The second person I met who greatly impacted my writing life was my award-winning and future Pulitzer Prize-nominee English professor, Dr. Charles Woodard, whose quick recognition and kind encouragement of my writing talent further fueled my resolve to become an English teacher and writer. He patiently and persistently taught me the fine art of editing, or as Hemingway once said, “Write the truest sentence you know.” Some 30+ years later, I wrote Dr. Woodard a letter to thank him for all he taught me. StilI a professor at my alma mater, he mailed me a kind note saying that he remembered me as a good student, an interesting person, and that he was very proud of me. I framed his note, and it hangs on my office wall.

“True ease in writing comes from art, not chance, as those who move
easiest have learned to dance.” --Alexander Pope

Soon to walk into my college life was the third person who would profoundly affect my future writing career for a very long time: my future husband, Steve Bechen. Being young and possessing a fiercely independent spirit, marriage was not in my plan, at least not at that moment. But the handsome and very self-assured football-player-sized-blue-eyed-red-headed-farm-boy wouldn’t take no for an answer to his persistent requests for a date! The joke was on me because once I finally agreed to go out with him, I fell head over heels on the first date as I quickly realized that behind his big bold bravado was a fun-loving, tender-hearted, and generous-spirited young man. He asked me to marry him after only two months, when we were just 18 and 19 years old, and thirty years of marriage later I can confidently say that my devoted mate has been the “wind beneath my writing wings” by steadfastly believing in, encouraging, and supporting my writing talent and dreams. The numbers guy to this word lady, he jokingly refers to us as “beauty & the beast.” (And he still asks me to edit his writing!)

“I even shower with my pen, in case any ideas drip
out of the waterhead.” --Graycie Harmon

Relocating after university to small towns in Nebraska for our first jobs in banking and teaching, our next-door neighbor came into my yard one day to introduce himself to me, and he asked, “Are you interested in writing for our newspaper?” My first assignment? To interview the now legendary and world-famous financial wizard, Warren Buffett and his mother, Leila Stahl Buffett. I was paid $25 for that feature article and went on to write many more articles for that newspaper.

“A writer’s voice is like the stroke of an artist’s brush.”
--Patricia Lee Gauch

After moving to Omaha, Nebraska, I came upon the book, Living a Beautiful Life, by bestselling author Alexandra Stoddard. Once again, my life was to be profoundly changed forever. By reading her books, like her mentors before her, I knew without a doubt that I had found my greatest lifestyle mentor and teacher. When a friend asked me to go with her to hear Alexandra speak at a local country club, I was thrilled, and when Alexandra asked us to write to her, I did. Over a year later she called me, telling me she loved my letter, which she had found stuck in the drawer of her dear husband Peter’s desk since he is the one who reviews all of her reader fan mail. The postcards she has written to me over the years are some of my greatest treasures, as is the memory of her personal invitation to me and my husband to attend one of her “Happiness Weekends” at her home in Connecticut in 2006.

“I found that it was boring—not to write—
it made the world emptier and thinner for me.” --Alison Lurie

Fast forward a few years and many jobs later. Now living in San Diego, California, I had been on writing hiatus for a quite some time due to difficult health challenges. While browsing in a small boutique one day, I suggested that the owner should try and get her store featured in a newspaper or magazine. She mentioned that the local newspaper had expressed interest so I called there, introduced myself to the head editor, and offered to write the story. He hired me on the spot over the phone, liked my article, and proceeded to assign me more freelance lifestyle assignments.

“If there is one thing left that I would like to do,
it’s to write something beautiful.” --J.B. Priestley

Not long after, while agreeing to ride along with my hubby to go buy cat food at our vet’s office, I walked into a nearby bridal boutique and serendipitously struck up a conversation with the store’s owner, Dena Malasek. Turns out, she just happened to own San Diego’s premier wedding and corporate events magazine and resource guide, San Diego Style Weddings. When I told her I was a writer, she asked if I’d like to write a story about a celebrity wedding planner who had just orchestrated a $1.7 million dollar wedding. Would I! She liked the feature story I wrote so much that she immediately hired me to write 10 more wedding articles. I have also written for Nebraska Wedding Day magazine as well. Four years later I continue to write many wedding stories each year and my articles are seldom edited. To date, I have interviewed a bride who was an Olympic trainee, two caterers who have cooked for Hollywood celebrities, a Miss United States World beauty pageant winner, a top producing realtor from an award-winning agency that is highly ranked worldwide, and New York Times bestselling author/actress Meg Ryan’s former professional organizer, to name a few.

“Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart.” --William Wordsworth

One day, my author friend Marcia Ramsland, a.k.a. The Organizing Pro, asked me to write a testimonial for her new book. When I called the testimonial into the publisher’s office, project coordinator Rhonda Hogan asked if I was a writer too and when I said yes, she told me about a big book series she was compiling about miracles. She asked if I had ever had any miracles in my life. I laughed and said “many” and quickly submitted my biggest personal miracle story. It was immediately accepted for publication by Guideposts Books, one of the largest inspirational book publishers in North America, and my first Christian story was published, with no editing of my original manuscript. Since then, it has been my great pleasure to virtually meet and communicate with prolfic author and editor, Mary Hollingsworth, who oversees the Guideposts Books series.

"When something can be read without effort,
great effort has gone into its writing." --Enrique Jardiel Poncela

A phone call not long after that brought another publishing invitation from book author Kathi Lipp, who found my article “Decorate Your Bedroom Like a Bed and Breakfast Inn” online. She asked my permission to include it in her book, The Husband Project, and I agreed. Kathi's book was chosen as a featured book by CBN, one of the largest Christian websites in the world.

“What I like about a good author is not what he says, but what he whispers.” –Logan Pearsall Smith

By this time I had earned my interior decorating certificate, created a decorating website, and posted some articles I wrote to it. Not long after, an e-mail appeared in my in-box from veteran New York decorating magazine editor, Barbara Jacksier, saying she had found my website, liked my articles I had written, and wanted to hire me to write home and garden magazine feature articles for their national magazines which are sold at outlets like Borders Books and large national grocery and drugstore chains. A lifelong do-it-yourself decorator, organizer, and house lover, my answer was a resounding YES! To date, my home articles have been published in Cottage Style, Country Almanac, Small Room Decorating, and Country Victorian, all published by Harris Publications, and I have greatly enjoyed working with Harris editors Jodi Zucker and Janet Mowat. Most recently the article I wrote about our own beach condo, "Makeover Magic: These Dollarwise D-I-Y Projects Will Instantly Spruce Up Your Home" was published in Harris' Country Almanac magazine, Summer 2010 issue.

“All writing comes by the grace of God.” --Ralph Waldo Emerson

In the fall of 2009, within several days after attending a service at my church, St. James by the Sea in LaJolla, CA, where I asked God to further help me use my writing to positively impact others, I received a phone call from my writer friend Marcia Ramsland who offered to help me write a book proposal. I had not seen her in several years. She also suggested I attend the San Diego Christian Writer's Guild Conference, one of the largest and most prestigious conferences in the U.S., and as a result of that conference, without an agent (I declined one who offered to represent me), I signed a book contract in 2010 with one of the top Christian publishers in the U.S. to write a home-related book, scheduled to be released to bookstores everywhere, and on Amazon, January, 2012.

“Either write something worth reading or
do something worth writing about.” --Benjamin Franklin

Upon returning home from the writing conference, I learned that I had won two Excellence in Journalism Awards for my wedding magazine articles from the San Diego Press Club, one of the largest press clubs in the U.S. They had approximately 900 entries which were judged by other press clubs all around the country.

“A good style should show no effort. What is written should seem
like a happy accident.” --W. Somerset Maugham

Most recently in 2010, an AP news reporter found my website and blog and liked my poem, “Decorating Without Divorcing.” She asked if she could interview me as a resource for an article she was writing about couples decorating together and I agreed. Within just a few short weeks, the article, which quoted me, an HGTV designer, and others, appeared online in over 50+ international media outlets, including ABC News, MSNBC, The San Francisco Chronicle, and Metronews.ca, the largest newspaper in the world.

“(A writer’s) voice is like a snowflake—complicated, beautiful, and individual. It is the essence of self, distilled and offered in service
to the world.” --Mary Pipher, Writing to Change the World

Well, that’s my “overnight success” story of how I became a nationally published writer. As I read the heartfelt correspondence my readers send me from around the world telling me that I have inspired and motivated them, it brings tears to my eyes, and I can only conclude, and am thankful for the fact, that God created me to write in order to bring beauty, order, happiness, hope, and inspiration to others, through words.

This story to be continued... because I followed my dream, which is sung more beautifully here, by singer Priscilla Ahn, than I could ever describe. Whatever your dream, I encourage you to pursue it!

“And He said unto me, “Write.” --Revelation 2:15, The Bible

 

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