A Deep Dive into the Past Changed My Future

September 21, 2021 | By Women Writers Women Books | Reply More

I’ve always been a writer. I wasn’t that little girl who dreamed of becoming the next Judy Blume or writing exposés for the New York Times, but I was the editor of my high school yearbook and always felt confident writing essays for my literature classes in both English and German. Though I must admit that German grammar did often twist me into a pretzel! I experimented with fiction in college and wrote some short stories, but never seriously considered writing a novel until a genealogy project I began in 2012 took on a life of its own.

It all started on a boring Saturday afternoon in March when I decided to make stuffed cabbages, a favorite dish in my Slovak family. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find my mom’s recipe, so I turned to Google for some alternatives. I have no idea how it happened—I had two young children at the time who were in constant need of attention—but I went down the proverbial Internet rabbit hole and ended up on several Slovak and Hungarian cultural websites. I then took a trip over to Ancestry.com where I began a months-long binge searching for information about my great-grandparents, who immigrated to America at the turn of the twentieth century.

I found so many fascinating documents on Ancestry.com and quickly became addicted to the site. I located the ship manifesto for my Slovak great-grandparents who traveled to Ellis Island from Austria-Hungary in 1905 as well as a World War II draft registration card for my Lithuanian great-grandfather who was in early fifties at the time he signed it.

I was in awe of his bravery, as his advanced age exempted him from the draft. These discoveries led to a fascinating conversation with my ninety-year-old grandmother, who rarely spoke of her childhood. I asked her several questions about her family and her in-laws, and she responded in the most unexpected way. She presented me with a scrapbook and a shoebox of old family photos I never knew existed.

I’m not sure why Grandma Pearl had never shown me these treasures until the final months of her life, but I am grateful nonetheless. She opened up to me that day about her childhood and showed me pictures of her Lithuanian parents as well as her Slovak in-laws.

She recalled the days of running moonshine for her mother during the Prohibition era and mentioned a young Polish friend of hers who went by the name of Pole. I was fascinated by Grandma Pearl’s stories, but even more captivated by the images of my great-grandparents, who arrived in America at the turn of the twentieth century to work in the steel mills of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. I wondered what they were like and what sort of challenges they might have faced. These imaginings inspired me to recreate their world in a novel and pay tribute to their sacrifices.

Starting a novel was a daunting process, and I have to laugh when I think that I got so much guidance from Writing Fiction for Dummies. I actually spent a whole morning obsessing about whether to write my story in past or present tense. Another comic moment was when I gathered a dozen of my favorite novels, spread them out on my family room floor, and opened them all to the first page. I studied those opening pages like the NLRB investigator I once was in order to determine what made them so magical.

My closest friends and family who make fun of my affinity for organizing might be surprised to know that I am a “pantser” and not a “planner” when it comes to writing. I did not make a detailed outline for my novel and did not create intricate character sketches before I began writing.

The research into the lives of my great-grandparents had given me some story ideas, so I built upon those and let my imagination run wild. I discovered characters along the way and conducted additional historical research whenever I encountered a new setting such as the inside of a steel mill or coal mine. I made revisions whenever plot lines didn’t make sense or a fascinating new character popped into my head. I have to admit that this approach to writing is not the most efficient, but I am certain Edith would never have been part of the story if I’d stuck to a rigid outline.

It took me two and a half years to write the first draft of my novel. I spent another two and a half years querying literary agents and revising my story. It was a long and frustrating process, but a valuable one. Several of the literary agents who read and rejected my manuscript provided helpful feedback, which helped me become a better writer and improve my novel. I now recommend that all writers query agents for at least a year even if they plan to self-publish. In my experience, rejection truly is the best teacher.

By the fall of 2019—five years after I started my novel–I was getting beautiful rejection letters from agents. They contained so much praise, but no offer of a contract. It was quickly becoming clear that my lack of a social media platform was hindering my efforts at traditional publishing. I reluctantly decided to explore options outside the traditional model and signed with She Writes Press in early 2020.

Hybrid publishing was not the path I expected to take, but it has many wonderful advantages. Higher royalties, greater control over the editorial process, and the option for authors to be involved in the cover design process are just a few. I’ve also become part of an amazing community of authors at She Writes Press, who provide so much support and encouragement to one another. I now believe my bumpy journey led me to exactly where I needed to be.

The publishing industry is tough. There are so many barriers to entry—especially for an unknown author—but I didn’t quit trying to find a way in. My book’s release is only a few weeks away, and I’m so excited that readers will soon experience 1910s Pittsburgh where hopeful immigrants risked their lives in the steel mills and coal mines in pursuit of the American dream. The sacrifices of people like my great-grandparents are often overlooked, and I sincerely hope my novel gives readers a new appreciation for the bravery of immigrants, both past and present. As for me, I’m walking away from this project with a new appreciation for the meaning of persistence. And a new purpose.

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A native of Western Pennsylvania, Tammy Pasterick began her career as an investigator with the National Labor Relations Board and later worked as a paralegal and German teacher. She currently lives on Maryland’s Eastern Shore with her husband, two children, and chocolate Labrador retriever. Her debut novel, Beneath the Veil of Smoke and Ash, is being released on September 21st by She Writes Press.

Follow her on Twitter https://twitter.com/tammypasterick

BENEATH THE VEIL OF SMOKE AND ASH

It’s Pittsburgh, 1910—the golden age of steel in the land of opportunity. Eastern European immigrants Janos and Karina Kovac should be prospering, but their American dream is fading faster than the colors on the sun-drenched flag of their adopted country. Janos is exhausted from a decade of twelve-hour shifts, seven days per week, at the local mill. Karina, meanwhile, thinks she has found an escape from their run-down ethnic neighborhood in the modern home of a mill manager—until she discovers she is expected to perform the duties of both housekeeper and mistress. Though she resents her employer’s advances, they are more tolerable than being groped by drunks at the town’s boarding house.

When Janos witnesses a gruesome accident at his furnace on the same day Karina learns she will lose her job, the Kovac family begins to unravel. Janos learns there are people at the mill who pose a greater risk to his life than the work itself, while Karina—panicked by the thought of returning to work at the boarding house—becomes unhinged and wreaks a path of destruction so wide that her children are swept up in the storm. In the aftermath, Janos must rebuild his shattered family with the help of an unlikely ally.

Impeccably researched and deeply human, Beneath the Veil of Smoke and Ash delivers a timeless message about mental illness while paying tribute to the sacrifices America’s immigrant ancestors made.

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