By FRED KRONER
Amy Markstahler is a small-town girl with big-time aspirations and ambitions.
She is confident that folks who live in large metropolitan areas don’t have a monopoly on elaborate dreams.
“I’ve dreamt of writing a book since I can remember,” said the former Amy Rothermel, a 1994 Heritage High School graduate. “Creative writing classes in high school and college were my favorite.
“I would always joke about writing the next great American novel.”
She has taken the first step. Markstahler has a novel published. Two others are finished or waiting for her to add two more words: The End.
In truth, the story of this wife and mother is just beginning as Markstahler is gradually checking items off of her bucket list.
“I still dream of being a New York Times bestseller,” Markstahler said, “and I won’t give up until I achieve that dream.”
She embraced her passion for writing while at Heritage, a high school based in Broadlands.
“I had a great creative writing class my junior year, and to this day, one of my classmates (Kerrie Pruitt Turner) and I help each other with our stories, whether it’s a critique or proofreading,” Markstahler said. “She has been a huge inspiration to keep me motivated and encouraged.”
A Heritage faculty member also helped to make the process seem realistic when she was a teen-ager.
“Our English teacher, Mrs. (Carol) Moore, was a huge influence for me in high school, especially with creative writing,” Markstahler said.
Before she began work on her debut novel, Markstahler enjoyed some life experiences that helped confirm the direction she wanted to take.
While living in Indianapolis, she held a variety of jobs.
“I decorated cakes at Kroger and worked at a garden center,” Markstahler said. “Surprisingly, decorating cakes sparked my creative side and is partially why I went into graphic design (when she subsequently enrolled at Parkland College).”
She ultimately earned her associate’s degree in desktop publishing and graphic design.
“When I went to college, I had a teacher who really encouraged me to write more,” Markstahler said. “He gave me the first ‘stream-of-conciseness’ assignment and I fell in love with the process.
“But I think the biggest influence was my mom (Barbara Rothermel). She’s always encouraged me to try and has given me the support I needed along the way.”
Markstahler’s first novel the 431-page “Life Happens on the Stairs,” (published Sept. 1, 2018) showcased her creative side, but featured subject matter with which she was abundantly familiar.
“The story is loosely based on my family,” Markstahler said. “It isn’t a memoir, and is 100 percent fiction. However, there are elements, like the location – we did live there – and the father dying of a brain tumor that ring true to my childhood.
“All the characters are fictional, though. I suppose it was therapy for me; a way to talk about some of the experiences I went through as my dad (Hank Rothermel) suffered from the brain tumor and seizures; a way to express how hard my mom worked and how it affected us overall.
“I was a little girl when my parents were going through this, and my dad passed when I was 12. The main characters are in their late teens and their love story was a way to ease the heaviness of the family subject.”
Markstahler started the writing of the book in 2013. It was a time-consuming process as she worked to become fluent in all phases of the endeavor.
“From 2013-2015 were the first drafts,” she said. “I didn’t have a clue of what I was doing.
“I bought Strunk and White’s ‘The Elements of Style,’ and many other books to polish up on grammar.”
Her desire helped her to persevere.
“I was absolutely obsessed with writing it,” Markstahler said. “Every second I could sit and work on the story, I did.
“Nowadays, my writing comes in spurts. I think it’s the difference between the books, but when I started my first one, it was all I could think about.”
Her hardest challenge came from the necessary rewrites.
“The revisions for my first novel were tough, long and painful,” Markstahler said. “You get attached to scenes, characters and dialogue.
“That’s why a critique partner is so important. They look at the work objectively and they don’t have that emotional attachment. What’s hard for writers is we will mess with the manuscript over and over, and we must get to a point where we stop.
“Like painting, you can mess the whole image up if you keep trying to correct it.”
Even though she has a finished product – one which has been for sale for almost three years – Markstahler is not ready to say it is done.
“To be honest, I’d still go back and work on ‘Life Happens on the Stairs’ again,” he said. “It’s so near to my heart, I want to be sure every little detail is there.”
The synopsis of her first novel (which was originally entitled, ‘The Housekeeper’s Daughter’):
“Elsie Richardson’s world crumbles when her dad drops from a seizure at the 4th of July festival. The reality that his brain tumor is back with a vengeance, slams the 17-year-old aspiring artist and her family into intense hardship. When her mom needs help to make ends meet, it forces Elsie into adulting overnight. On top of that, Elsie’s caustic, grudge-holding brother is on his way home and she fears he will only make matters worse.
“Feeling alone and hopeless, Elsie does as she’s told and goes to work with her mom. That’s when she meets Tyler again. He’s the grandson of her mom’s wealthiest client and he hasn’t stopped thinking about her since he first saw her at the festival when her dad was rushed to the hospital.
“After he invites her to go jogging at the historical Shiloh National Military Park, Elsie is warned by her mom to stay away from the wealthy young man. Elsie gets the notice a bit too late, and so she lies about who she’s meeting each morning.
“Over the next few weeks, Tyler becomes her secret solace amid the uncertainty she’s facing. But when reality strikes and her private world crashes, she’s forced to find her inner strength.”
Finalizing the manuscript was not the end of Markstahler’s work for her first book.
“I thought, ‘okay, it’s written,’” she said. “Now, an agent or publisher is going to love it, and I’ll be on my way.”
The stark reality was a forceful slap in the face.
“I can’t tell you how many rejection letters I’ve received,” Markstahler said. “I would say, maybe 40 or more.
“This was the most daunting, painful part. I had no idea what I was getting into. Landing an agent – which is the big dream – is very difficult.”
Markstahler had the good fortune to receive valuable tips from a local writer when she attended a 2014 talk at the Urbana Free Library.
“She advised me to enter ‘Life Happens on the Stairs’ into Romance Writers of America contests since its target market is young adults, so that’s where I started,” Markstahler said.
That route didn’t provide a quick ticket to success either, but the process was beneficial for the novice writer.
“They give you feedback on your manuscript if you don’t go to the final round,” Markstahler said. “That process was brutal.
“For two years, I did get feedback and in a sense it’s just another rejection process. However, I learned a lot, so contest after contest, I kept trying.”
In 2016, she caught a break, placing third in the Linda Howard Award of Excellence competition.
In 2018, the contest that changed everything for Markstahler was The Breakthrough Novel Awards.
“This contest was judged by Indie writers, people I knew through social media, but I really didn’t know how huge it was for me,” she said. “I’d signed with a hybrid publisher in the meantime, and after winning this contest, I actually backed out of the publisher’s contract.
“The Book Khaleesi promotion firm, Eeva Lancaster, did everything to make ‘Life Happens on the Stairs’ what it is today.”
From the cover, to the website, to promotional banners, a release trailer, formatting, editing and getting the book on Amazon, the package Markstahler received for winning was valued at nearly $3,000.
“Self-publishing done right isn’t cheap,” Markstahler said. “I’ll forever be grateful for what she and her staff did for me.”
More recognition came her way, she said, because, “I was still addicted to entering contests,” so in 2019, Markstahler submitted her book to the Georgia Romance Writers of America.
When the results were to be announced, she and her husband (Jerrod) traveled to Atlanta, where she won a Maggie Award for young adult romance.
“It was the best weekend my husband and I have had since our honeymoon,” Markstahler said.
***
To make the jump from wanna-be writer to a productive one was a multi-step process.
As a new mother in 2001, Markstahler wasn’t always expressing her thoughts with words.
“When we had our daughter (Emily), I became a stay-at-home mom,” she said. “I started focusing on fine art, teaching myself to paint and draw while I raised my kids. We had our son (Joey) in 2005.”
Once she set her mind to becoming a novelist, Markstahler went into the venture full-speed. She didn’t wait for the reviews of her debut book before she undertook an encore (with a different set of characters).
“I had already written ‘A Precarious Lead’ when ‘Life Happens on the Stairs’ was published,” she said. “It did help that LHOTS was out there and done.
“Today, I still struggle with fighting the writer’s demons who like to tell us, ‘it’s awful and it won’t ever sell a copy.’”
She has helped in her battle with the mental barriers.
“I found a writing community via social media in the past eight years,” Markstahler said. “I can’t even begin to say how much the people I’ve met have kept me going.
“We share stories and encouragement, frustrations and experiences. They have helped me see that I’m not alone and we’ve helped each other along the way.”
Markstahler’s second novel, the 352-page ‘A Precarious Lead’ (yes, the baseball reference is intentional) was picked up by Melange Publishing in 2020 and was released earlier this year (March, 2021).
Diehard Cubs fans are used to hearing (at least in past years) the phrase, ‘A precarious lead.’
“I was inspired to name ‘A Precarious Lead’ by Pat Hughes, the Cubs’ veteran announcer,” Markstahler said. “It’s what he says when the Cubs had better guard their lead.”
Following the book’s publication, Markstahler sent Hughes a copy in care of Wrigley Field. He was also included in the acknowledgments.
“I wasn’t sure if he would ever see it,” she said.
Confirmation that the package made it into Hughes’ hands was received by Markstahler on Saturday (Aug. 21).
The 26th-year broadcaster responded by mailing Markstahler a signed copy of his scorecard from Game 7 of the 2016 World Series.
Before signing his name, Hughes wrote in blue on the scorecard, “To Amy, Good luck with ‘A Precarious Lead!’”
Markstahler was as happy – well, almost – as when she first became a published author.
“Honest tears of joy,” she said.
As for the book itself, Markstahler said, “It’s a very different type of story, but I do love my characters, Ryan and Cappi.
“I still struggle to give an elevator pitch for ‘Life Happens on the Stairs’ but ‘A Precarious Lead’ is Sons of Anarchy meets the Boys of Summer.
“When I started ‘A Precarious Lead,’ I had my pitch, my blurb and tag line written before I even started the book. Tag line: ‘Brotherhood is thicker than blood.’ I didn’t even know what those were before I started my first book.”
The synopsis of her second novel, ‘A Precarious Lead:’
“Ryan McDowell and Austin Bradshaw dream of playing baseball in college and they’re good enough to have offers from the likes of LSU. But when the two best friends lose their parents in a triple hit-and-run motorcycle accident, they have little or no choice but to drop their dreams and go live with Skratch, Ryan’s uncle.
“Jimmie Santoro, aka Skratch, is also notorious for being the President of the outlaw motorcycle club, Asylum Brotherhood, the same club who’s suspected in the homicides of their parents. Devastated, the boys walk away from everything they love and move into the MC clubhouse full of bikers. As Ryan becomes suspicious of Skratch’s involvement in the accident, he turns to his girlfriend Cappi, whose dad is the Assistant State’s Attorney and is also indicting the case. When Ryan and Cappi dive deeper into his parents’ past, they find that his and Austin’s dad weren’t the men they’d claimed to be.
“Can they escape the sins of their fathers, all while finding the person responsible for killing their parents?”
Unlike Markstahler’s first novel, there were no real-life experiences for her to draw on in her second book.
“‘A Precarious Lead’ is completely fiction,” she said. “It was inspired by the idea of being stuck with a group of people or organization/situation, and trying to get away from them and live your own life.”
The characters from her second book are still prominently fixed in her mind.
“I’m currently finishing my third book and the writing comes more slowly,” Markstahler said. “I think it’s because it’s a sequel to ‘A Precarious Lead’ and I’m very ready to move on to another story.”
She is about to scrap her original goal that she established when she gave life to the characters, Ryan, Austin and Cappi.
“I’d planned on this to be a three-book series, but I’m thinking it will just be a duology,” Markstahler said. “I’m not sure what’s next.
“I have a lot of ideas and need to find one that I can dive into with passion. I learned a lot with the second book’s release.”
If her fans have any input, Markstahler may return to where her published writing career began.
“‘A Precarious Lead’ hasn’t been received badly,” she said. “It’s just very different from my first one.
“People really want more of ‘Life Happens on the Stairs’ Tyler and Elsie, so I’m considering how I can continue their story also.
“It was received beautifully. Everyone was amazing, locally, family, friends, I couldn’t ask for more from our community and support around me.
“When I released my first book, I had several friends from high school comment that they weren’t surprised at all. That honestly warmed my heart,”
As Markstahler prepares to start a new day job at Hartke Engineering, in Ogden, she is not totally uncertain about future writing projects.
“So far, I’ve written to the teenage market, even though many of my readers are 40-and-older,” she said. “I would like to go further and write more women’s fiction. Think Kristen Hannah (The Four Winds) or even a little lighter, like Colleen Hoover.
“I love the writing process and if I don’t write for a while, I get very restless. Characters take on a life of their own and demand to be heard – at least in my mind – and I use it as therapy at times.”
Personal experiences can continue to be fertile ground for ideas.
“I had a friend lose a child to drugs and that birthed a story about Carter Winslow,” Markstahler said. “I’m not done with Carter yet.
“I don’t really want to be stuck in one genre. I do steer away from sex at this point, but I’m not offended or turned off by those who write it. I guess I’m saying nothing’s off the table for me.”
Long-term, Markstahler would like to spend her days in front of the keyboard, creating and sharing stories.
“I do not consider this a hobby,” she said. “I hope to be able to be a full-time writer in the future. It’s just not in the stars at the moment.
“There is nothing more rewarding than when the words are flowing, and I lose hours in the worlds I create. I’ve been reading a lot of fantasy novels the past year, and I would love to write something epic
“But more so, I just want to write beautiful prose. Words that hit the heart and pull emotions. I don’t know that I’ve accomplished that yet, but I will continue to try.”
Anyone interested in purchasing Markstahler’s books can do so at these links:
Life Happens on the Stairs:
A Precarious Lead
And, once the books have been read, she has one request.
“Leaving a review on Amazon or Goodreads is like giving writers a bonus for their work,” Markstahler said. “It helps us more than we can ever say.
“Whether it’s just knowing how the reader felt about the book or giving us insight to how we can improve, those star ratings and a quick review is like gold.”
