I’m tickled to be here, Leanne. Thanks so much for the invitation to visit
your wonderful site.
(I'm delighted you're here, Tess. I look forward to learning more about you and your writing.)
Contact information: Teresa.Karlinski@gmail.com.
Teresa Karlinski lives in a multigenerational household in Ontario, Canada with her cat, Lady Gaga. She is a grandmother and a student of life with a passion for cooking. Although retired, she’s annoyed she can’t keep up with her overwhelming collection of unread books. Daily life consists of writing, reading, blogging and looking after her two grandchildren. Her stories have appeared in a number of anthologies and magazines.
Life is too short not to enjoy it. If you have a dream, grab it for it will nourish you.
How/why did you start to write?
At age 10, I’d entered the Fire-fighters’ Week Writing Contest, a challenge
between the two schools in town: Catholic and Public. I entered without a second
thought and won. The prize was a whopping $12.00 which held no interest for me
and was given to my parents’ safe-keeping anyway. I won? I won!
Afterwards, until I retired, I occasionally wrote stories, but filed them
away. I dreamed someday I’d make time to write as much as I wanted.
How did you become an author?
I registered for writing classes at our local college and met a magazine
publisher who invited me to make a submission. The singular theme was inanimate
objects that talk. I wanted to accept the offer but the subject was foreign to
me. I didn’t think I could manage it but I did. Afterwards, I submitted stories
to other magazines, which were sometimes accepted.
I began life online as Tess Kann because I was unsure of the internet when
I started blogging. Now that I am publishing, I use my legal name, Teresa
Karlinski.
What was your first published piece? Where was it published? How long
ago?
My first published piece (Friends?) appeared in an on-line magazine called
Perspectives in July of 2012. It was one of the most stunning electronic
publications I had ever seen. The invitation to contribute to such a glamorous
masterpiece had me awestruck.
Reflections on your writing process
If confession is good for the soul, here’s my truth. I’m disorganized, but
while I’m writing, I hate interruptions. My morning begins at 6:00 or 7:00 a.m.
with a large pot of coffee and the local newspaper. Afterwards, I clear my
inbox, catch up on all the newsletters and blogs I subscribe to, and respond to
comments on my blog. Poof, the morning’s gone. After lunch I concentrate on
writing, editing, and searching for magazines to which I might submit my
stories.
Another confession: I am a slow writer and only rarely—maybe once—wrote
anything I polished in one day. My story, Friends? wrote itself—well,
almost.
What did you do before embarking on your writing career? Was it an asset to
your writing? How?
My entire working career took place in an office environment. Writing
correspondence on my company’s behalf kept up my grammar and punctuation. After
I retired and my mom died, I decided the time had come to take writing classes,
and now I spend most of my day at the keyboard.
What inspires you?
Inspiration is everywhere: the way someone does something, how they respond
to a situation or it can be a specific word. I don’t know the people in my
stories, but I do get to know them once I write and they introduce themselves.
They inspire me as well.
Please share one of your successful author platform building
technique
I hadn’t put any thought into author platform building as I don’t have a
book published. I started my blog three years ago in the hope of meeting other
writers, to learn about writing, and to nurture my life-long passion of writing.
I learn something new every day from the fascinating people I’ve met in the
blogging world, and am astounded at the number of readers I’ve acquired.
Palpable Imaginings (published July 2014) is an anthology in which I’ve had the extreme
pleasure of being included. Russ Towne of A Grateful Man http://russtowne.com/ is behind this
collection.
Slice of Life, (published September 2014) is an anthology of selected non-fiction short stories.
