Local author and book ()
Rachael Balke has always been into writing. In the second grade, she wrote short stories about a character named “Nancy” such as “Nancy Goes Camping” and “Nancy’s First Day of School.” Unfortunately, Nancy’s stories didn’t survive a tornado, but Rachael’s love for reading and writing did. Her favorite genres are Young Adult (YA) and Horror. She exclaimed, “I have this bubbly personality, but want to be terrified.”
Her love of horror started when she started down the library’s row of Steven King novels. Her favorite book series is the “Redwall” series by Brian Jacques. Both authors inspire her, and she hopes to develop the world-building skills of Jacques and the descriptive power of King.
She combined those two genres and wrote her first published book, “Leza of the Alpha Line,” about a young werewolf who finds herself captured in enemy territory and learns quickly that everything she thought she knew may not be what it seemed. I had the opportunity to sit down with Rachael and talk about the writing and publishing process.
She began “Leza” in high school and wrote it throughout high school, college, a move to Ohio, a writer’s group and a move to Germany. 12 years later, the book is written, published and available for public consumption. She recalled, “I was nervous for anyone to read it, so it sat there a long time.”
She continued, “Ninety-nine percent of trying to get published is rejection. You just have to have a thick skin and keep submitting.” As a writer, you must be ready for harsh criticism, reworking, editing and rejection. Thankfully, Rachael found a publisher that loved her book.
Wandering Minds Publishing is a women-owned independent publisher and they worked closely with Rachael to help bring her book to life. Four months from her acceptance, the book was ready to go. When I asked Rachael what made her choose to submit to Wandering Minds she said it was their sustainability efforts as well as the fact that the company features its pet as “emotional support personnel” on their website. The company also donates a portion of the book’s proceeds to the charity of their authors’ choice.
When asked about the difficulty of publishing with a U.S. company while living overseas, Rachael responded “you just got to be flexible.” Rachael was unable to bring her U.S.-based job with her when she and her active duty spouse moved to Germany, and she said that was a “blessing in disguise.” Because of this, she was “really able to focus on the book and getting it published and marketed.”
When asked about what helped make the publishing process so smooth once she was accepted, she stated that she truly believes it was the writer’s group she joined in Ohio that really helped make the book what it is today. By “relinquishing control” to that writer’s group, they helped her with character development and plot holes. So as scary as it is for any potential writers, you have to let others read your unfinished work for it to become the best version of itself.
10 percent of the proceeds from “Leza” go to sponsoring wolves at the Wolf Conservation Center. The book is now available as an e-book and in a paperback edition. Interested readers can find the book here.
Rachael is making her publishing debut with Wandering Minds Publishing. She was born in the Dallas Fort Worth area, but shortly moved back to the middle Tennessee area to be closer to family. She was raised all over middle Tennessee with her formative years spent in Manchester, TN and her adolescent years spent in Hendersonville, TN.
Rachael has loved writing ever since she was a little girl. She started writing short stories in the second grade and took her first creative writing class in high school. As she grew older, she continued to write in her free time, but acknowledged that free time dries up the older you get.
Her love of writing was reignited when she joined a creative writing class offered by her local library.
Rachael was awarded an honorable mention in the 2022 NYC Midnight Microfiction Writing contest and can’t wait to see where her writing takes her next!
When she isn’t writing, Rachael enjoys playing video games, doing arts and crafts, hanging out with her husband and loving on her two kitty cats.
