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Stories to tell: Dover spouse becomes published author

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Chad Padgett
  • 436th AW Public Affairs
Brenda Tetreault has enjoyed writing for as long as she can remember. She spent her high school days in Coos Bay, Ore., sitting in the back of the class writing stories.

"I wrote a lot for my friends," she said. "I would give them stories when I was in junior high and high school. It was just something that was always with me, I always had stories to tell."

Mrs. Tetreault never considered a career in writing. After graduating high school she joined the Air Force and was stationed at Travis Air Force Base, Calif. It was there she would meet now Tech. Sgt. Mark Tetreault, 436th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron. They married a little less than a year after meeting.

"I was busy being a wife and eventually a mom," said Mrs. Tetreault. "When I had the ideas it wasn't a good time to sit down, and when I did sit down it always seemed like there were other things that needed to be taken care of."

It was two years ago that Mrs. Tetreault was able to sit down and write a short romance story for her friends. She posted the story on various Web pages and received a lot of positive feedback.

"I try to write an hour every morning and an hour every night," said Mrs. Tetreault. "When things are going well, I'll write for hours. I do make time, even if it's just to take down some notes. I keep a notebook by my bedside because I wake up with a thought I know I won't remember later."

However, the road from publishing stories online to publishing a book can be very treacherous.

"I did some internet research on publishing and everything I saw, they wanted you to pay them to publish your books," said Mrs. Tetreault. "To publish through some of these online companies, you would have to put a ridiculous mark up on your books to make a profit, and they wouldn't help you with the marketing, so I set getting my book published off to the side."

A friend then pointed her toward a small publishing company.

"I sent them a letter of query," said Mrs. Tetreault. "It basically said who I am, a little synopsis of the story, the genre it falls under and how long it is. A couple days later I received an e-mail asking me for a copy of my manuscript."

The publisher sent Mrs. Tetreault step-by-step instructions on how to package the story.

"About a week later, the phone rang," said Mrs. Tetreault. "I really don't remember the conversation other than 'we decided to publish your manuscript.' They sent me a packet of information to fill out -- the next thing I know I'm getting page proofs back."

Before Mrs. Tetreault knew it, her book 'The Witcher Legacy' was available in both book stores and online.

"I'm currently deployed in Kuwait and wish I could have been there at her first book signing at Waldenbooks," said Sergeant Tetreault. "I'm so glad she got to fulfill one of her dreams by getting this book published."

"On April 4th I received my authors' copies of the books," said Mrs. Tetreault. "Then we found out it was on sale online. It just started snowballing. I was calling my mom, sobbing like a baby while announcing to her that I got my book published."

Mrs. Tetreault explains one thing that helps her write is knowing her subject. Her book, The Witcher Legacy, is a supernatural romantic story.

"I love ghost stories," she said. "The first book I bought in Delaware 10 years ago was a book on Delmarva ghost stories and superstitions. I recently went to a book store after my book was published, and I was so excited because that book was exactly two books above mine on the shelf."

This book is the first of six books Mrs. Tetreault has written. The other books will be printed based on the success of each previous book.

"This is just something I wanted to do, to see my book in print," said Mrs. Tetreault. "I wanted to see my book off the pages of my notebook and computer screen. I wanted to hold the book and hear the sound of the pages turning. I hope that I'm able to bring some of the magic that reading gives me to others."