TIOGA Rhonda Kulczyk is an avid reader who turned her lifelong hobby into a sideline writing career.
Kulczyk, who moved with her family from Oklahoma to Tioga in 2008, runs Tioga Ready Mix and also is kept busy with her four sons, so she has less time to write than she did when she first started out.
"I started writing in 2001 but I didn't pursue publishing until 2007," she explained.
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Submitted Photos - - Rhonda Kulczyk of Tioga has released a new installment in her “Freedom” series.
She had always enjoyed writing and journaling, she said, but didn't set out ot market her book until years later. At that point she sent out queries to several major publishers, but they wanted her to have sold at least 5,000 books before they'd take her on as a new author.
Kulczyk then sent queries to regional publishers. Tate Publishing of Oklahoma expressed interest in her query and asked Kulczyk to send in her manuscript. She was offered a contract for her series of historical romances in the "Freedom" series.
The first of the series, "Freedom to Love," is set in 1858. Its sequels, "Freedom to Live" and "Freedom to Surrender" are set a couple of decades later and are about the children of the characters in "Freedom to Love."
The most recent book in the series is about school teacher and a minister who end up living in houses next door to each other, which gives a poor impression. They are pressured to either resign from their respective positions or to marry one another.
Kulczyk said she does her research either through historical texts or on the Internet when a question comes up about the place or time she is writing about. She has not ruled out setting a book in North Dakota at some point. People often ask her if she will have a book set in Dakota territory, so she knows regional books are popular.
Kulczyk will be signing copies of "Freedom to Surrender" from 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday at Barnes & Noble at Dakota Square Mall.