Guest: Sara Reinke on becoming a storyteller

Sara Reinke I’ve been writing stories since I was very young, pretty much as long as I can remember. My mom has all of them packed away in an attic somewhere, I’m sure—spiral-bound notebooks filled with handwritten tales of unicorns, dragons and little-girl detectives. I don’t know what inspired me at that time, except that I could read from a very early age, and undoubtedly books helped my imagination to bloom. I don’t think it occurred to me that the people who wrote those books did so for a living; for me, it was always an intrinsic sort of call, and I guess I’ve always assumed—then and now—that anyone else who did it, too, felt the same way.

When I was in second grade, my uncle Pete gave me a paperback set of The Lord of the Rings trilogy, and I read them cover to cover, until they were falling apart, literally taped back together. I remember realizing as I dove into Tolkien’s world of Middle Earth that this was what I wanted to do—I wanted to be a storyteller, a writer; I wanted other people to read and enjoy my work.

Throughout my childhood from that point forward, I went through a series of typewriters. My parents bought me a play one when I first told them I wanted to be a writer. As they watched me pound out stories on its little keyboard, I guess they eventually figured I was serious, so they bought me a real one—a huge steel-cased manual that probably weighed as much as I did. I’d lug it from room to room, pecking and typing. At some point over the years, my family got sick of the racket and bought me a (silent) electric one. By high school, I’d upgraded to word processors, and in college, I bought my first laptop.

The tools of the trade may have changed over the years, but the desire behind them has always remained the same. I love to write. I would write stories even if no one else ever read a single word of them. That I get to share them with readers—that other people enjoy them—is an added bonus and one of the greatest sources of satisfaction I know.

Read an excerpt of Sara’s latest, Dark Passages.

ABOUT SARA
“Definitely an author to watch.” That’s how Romantic Times Book Reviews magazine describesSara Reinke. New York Times best-selling author Karen Robards calls Reinke “a new paranormalstar” and Love Romances and More hails her as “a fresh new voice to a genre that has grownstale.” Find out more at www.sarareinke.com.

CONNECT WITH SARA

Blog: sarareinke.blogspot.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/people/Sara-Reinke/100001807057213

Twitter: twitter.com/SaraReinke

http://heathermccorkle.blogspot.com Heather McCorkle

Sara, you made me recall my very first typewriter. It was huge, clunky, manual, and the bottom of the g never hit right. But I loved it and wish I still had it.
http://www.selena-blake.com Selena

It was sad to hear that the last US typewriter maker closed its doors earlier this year. There’s something so soothing about the click-click-click of a typewriter. I think future generations will be missing out. My keyboard is practically silent these days. The click-click-click is, to me, a sound of progress.

Thanks for stopping by Sara!
barbara

Hi Sara, great post! I can just imagine you lugging around your clunky typewriter.

I’ve not read your work but will definitely check it out for my tbr list. I love all things paranormal. Thanks for sharing your story.
http://www.selena-blake.com Selena

Thanks for stopping by Heather! I was reading about an actor who collects typewriters. Gosh, I can’t remember who it was. Tom Hanks maybe? He had over 150 in his collection! That’s a lot of typewriting ribbon and correction fluid.
http://www.selena-blake.com Selena

Isn’t that an endearing picture, Barbara? Little kid lugging around an enormous typewriter? There’s got to be a coffee mug or a greeting card in there somewhere.