Minnesota Prairie Roots

Writing and photography by Audrey Kletscher Helbling

Why everyone ought to read “Theo of Golden” September 10, 2026

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Book cover sourced online

WHEN I RESERVED Theo of Golden through my regional library system, I ranked as number 300 on the waiting list for this New York Times bestseller by Allen Levi. I don’t think I’ve ever been on a longer reserve list.

But within about two months I had the book, recommended by my dear friend Valerie, in hand. She read it in four days. I finished this fictional story in 10 days, primarily because I took notes to write this review.

One would not necessarily expect a novel published in 2023 to still be so popular. But, after reading Theo of Golden, I understand its ongoing appeal. This is one of those books everyone needs to read. Let me repeat. Every. Single. Person. It’s that good.

Ever since my friend Sue gifted me with this kindness button in the summer of 2025, I’ve displayed it on my clothes or purse. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo)

EVERYONE HAS A STORY

Goodness, kindness and generosity center the story of octogenarian Theo who arrives in Golden, Georgia, from New York City. He soon settles in, slowly connecting, building friendships, bestowing blessings. He does that by purchasing portraits of locals displayed in a coffee shop and then arranging to meet the subjects beside a central fountain.

And that is where this story takes root. Theo looks into the eyes of the people he meets, draws out their stories, their sadness, their strengths in one-on-one conversations. He listens. He cares. He encourages. He gifts them with their portraits drawn by local artist Asher Glissen.

What’s important to emphasize here is that none of this is about Theo. He intentionally doesn’t reveal his last name. He artfully dodges questions about himself. The focus is always on the individual before him, the face he sees. Theo wants to hear the stories behind each face in every portrait.

This shows part of a quote by Congressman and Civil Rights leader John Lewis displayed several years ago on a residence in Dundas. The complete quote: “Let the spirit of peace and the power of everlasting love be your guide.” (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo)

THE IMPORTANCE OF LISTENING

That is one of the “lessons” that threads through this novel. How often do people try to one-up a story, shift a conversation onto themselves and away from the storyteller? Happens all the time. Theo values every individual, gives them grace, gives them voice. He listens intently, not with the ear of someone waiting to interject his own story.

He listens to Tony, Vietnam veteran and owner of the Verbivore bookshop. He listens to Ellen, who is experiencing homelessness but who is brilliant, artistically-gifted and worthy of hearing. He listens to Simone, a gifted student of the cello. He listens to Minnette with her own secrets and dream of becoming a mother. He listens indirectly to the story of Mateo Mandez, an illegal immigrant from Guatemala. Yes, this book is relevant to today.

Theo tells every person he meets during his bestowals of portraits that they are capable of saintliness. Imagine if you heard that. And when he encounters individuals while out and about and engages in “sidewalk chats,” he listens with genuine, not surface, interest.

A LOVE mural in the heart of downtown Northfield, just off Division Street. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo)

RELATABLE, EMOTIONAL

I cried several times while reading this novel. The book is not without heartache, tragedy, cruelty, violence, meanness, disappointments and suffering. The stories therein are real. Often relatable. But it is a book which, at its core, centers on treating others with respect, kindness, goodness and love.

Encouraging words that once graced a garden area in downtown Faribault. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo)

“DO UNTO OTHERS…”

As I read page after page, story after story in this remarkable first novel by Allen Levi, my mind kept returning to the title, Theo of Golden. Why “Golden?” The answer that repeatedly popped into my thoughts was “The Golden Rule” of “do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” The author quotes Scripture, the influence of Levi’s faith clear in his writing, but not in a preachy sort of way.

Today, more than ever, we need a book like Theo of Golden to remind us to be kind, loving, forgiving. To listen. To encourage. To uplift. To think before we speak or write. To be like Theo, the mysterious stranger who showed up in Golden, Georgia, and forever changed a community with his kindness.

THOUGHTS? I’d like to hear your thoughts on Theo of Golden, whether you’ve read the book or just read my, or another, review.

© Copyright 2026 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

Inside The Land of Plenty under “the king’s” rule January 6, 2026

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Protesters stand along Minnesota State Highway 3 in Northfield at a NO KINGS protest. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo October 2025)

ONCE UPON A TIME in The Land of Plenty, the leader of the land ruled like a king. Not a nice king. Not a kind king. But rather a mean-spirited one.

The leader had never been appointed king. It was a title he claimed for himself with oppressive authority. In truth, he’d been voted into his powerful position, not overwhelmingly as he declared, but rather in a close election. That should have been enough to tamp his crowing, rein in his overuse of superfluous adjectives and adverbs, deflate his super-inflated ego and encourage good behavior. But it was not to be.

ONE JANUARY DAY

Rather the self-proclaimed king, who’d been ousted from The Land of Plenty after his first tenure, determined to make up for lost time. Five years earlier, on an early January day, he attempted to retain power when his supporters stormed the castle. He claimed ignorance. Some believed him; many didn’t. Evidence doesn’t lie.

The king’s anger simmered, then boiled over when he returned to the castle feeling vindicated and empowered. A man of vengeance, he sought to punish any who opposed him. On the flip side, he freed those he considered wrongfully shackled. No one would do harm to him or his legion. No one. He was in charge. His decisions held absolute power. Only his voice mattered.

Threats. Intimidation. Cruel and demeaning words. Imprisonment. Deflection. Manipulation. Gaslighting. Conspiracy theories. All fit his mode of ruling. He would make The Land of Plenty great again, whatever that meant.

BROKEN PROMISES

He promised to end wars and claimed he had. He promised to lower prices. He promised to rid the land of strangers and foreigners. That sounded promising to all who supported him. No conflict, only peace. Fewer coins spent on food purchased in the town square marketplace. A strong land unlike any other, without foreigners roaming the streets, taking away jobs, committing crimes and creating chaos (his words).

Except it was the king creating chaos. Doing whatever he pleased. Causing discord. Divisions arose within the kingdom. World conflict increased. Prices spiked as the king imposed new taxes. The ruler of The Land of Plenty was viewed by millions as uncaring, ruthless, self-centered and far worse. Many felt his wrath.

SNATCHED, BANISHED

The king targeted strangers and foreigners who contributed greatly to the economy and success of the kingdom. They toiled in fields, wagon wheel factories, blacksmith shops, bakeries… Some even emptied his golden commode. But to the king, none of that mattered. “Go back to your homeland!” the king screamed. “We don’t want you here!” He decreed that the unwanted should be snatched, grabbed off the streets by his masked henchmen and banished. And so many were.

As the days, weeks, months and then a year passed since the self-proclaimed king resumed his rule, the situation in The Land of Plenty was far from fine. It was, in fact, rather awful, dire, especially for the lowly peasants who labored long hours for every coin. Many realized they’d been duped, led to believe in fairy tale endings. In happily ever after.

And so the story goes with three chapters unwritten, the ending unknown.

© Copyright 2026 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

1984 Oceania & 2025 America December 31, 2025

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Here’s the early 1970s edition of “1984” which I read. The print was small, difficult to read.(Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo November 2025)

MULTIPLE TIMES I NEARLY STOPPED reading the book. But I was determined to finish, although the process took weeks. Sometimes I could read many pages. Other times I had to stop, set the book aside and not pick it up for several days. Yet, I continued slogging through the pages.

What book caused me to struggle so? The answer: 1984 by George Orwell.

If you’ve never read this dystopian novel and, no, I hadn’t, you should. Written in 1949, it is so relevant to today that the book could easily be titled 2025. And that’s not a good thing.

I jotted four full-sized pages of notes while reading. And what emerged was downright scary, because the fiction Orwell penned 76 years ago strongly resembles the United States of America under our current administration.

PLOT SUMMARY

But first, a summary of 1984. Main character Winston Smith lives in Oceania, a country ruled by The Party and the unseen Big Brother, who is watching, always watching. Smith is a writer, working for The Ministry of Truth, which is anything but. Workers there are tasked with rewriting history, basically erasing the past. Censorship. Smith, however, secretly disagrees with The Party’s work and ideology. But he, like others of the same mind, must be careful, oh, so careful. No one can be trusted, as Smith eventually learns firsthand.

People are disappeared from the streets, snatched. Vaporized, as if they never existed.

Troubling words like hatred, Thought Police, thought crime and control emerge in this novel. All are connected to The Party, a party focused on absolute power, world domination, acquiring more territory, on shaping narrative, on eliminating art, literature and science.

If The Party told you that 2+2=5, you better believe that. Smith didn’t.

The Party aims for absolute dominance—authoritarian rule under a dictatorship that opposes individual freedom and seeks to control every facet of life and the mind. Children are indoctrinated, blindly following and adoring The Party, becoming little spies who will turn on anyone suspected of defying Big Brother’s ideology. A woman calls Big Brother “My Savior.” Big Brother’s image is imprinted upon a coin. The eyes are watching, always watching.

HOW WILL IT END?

As I turned page after page, I tried to hold hope that 1984 would end well, although I knew it wouldn’t. I can only hope that the fiction George Orwell wrote does not fully become our reality in America. Whether it does or doesn’t is on all of us.

We can choose love over hatred. We can choose to exercise our personal liberties by speaking up, voting, contacting our elected officials, protesting, standing strong in and for freedom. We can advocate for others, calling out wrongs, working for the marginalized, the “snatched,” those struggling emotionally, financially and otherwise. We can help, encourage, uplift. We can listen. We can remember and learn from the past, not some rewritten version of the past. We can stand up for art, science, literature, truth. We can support freedom of the press, turn to trusted and reliable media sources. We can declare that we, the people, hold the power. Not Big Brother. Not a single man or his followers. Not The Party. But, we, the people.

WE THE PEOPLE

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America. —Preamble to the United States Constitution

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TELL ME: Have you read 1984? If yes, what are your thoughts in the context of today, specifically in America? Do you see similarities, relevancy? What concerns you, if anything?

© Copyright 2025 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

“The Laughing Dead,” more than just a thriller October 29, 2025

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(Book cover sourced online)

NEARLY TWO YEARS AGO, Minnesota writer Jess Lourey participated in an author talk at my local library. She said then that she wants readers to take away the importance of community from her books. “Find your people and tell your truth,” Lourey said.

I like that statement. It’s empowering. Tell. Your. Truth.

In her newest book, The Laughing Dead, the third in her fictional “A Steinbeck and Reed Thriller” series, Lourey writes about three cold case murders of young women and two current-day murders. Bureau of Criminal Apprehension Agent Evangeline “Van” Reed and forensic scientist Harry Steinbeck once again team up to work the cases, one that becomes deeply personal for Reed.

In typical Lourey writing, the plot twists and turns and screams and scares as the story unfolds. At times I truly did not understand what was real and what wasn’t. That comes as no surprise given secrets theme many of Lourey’s books. The Laughing Dead is no exception.

But what stuck with me throughout the book was the strength of Van Reed, born into a cult led by abusive, controlling and narcissistic Frank Roth. When he was arrested, the “Mothers” and “Sisters” scattered, some remaining devotedly loyal while others like Reed escaped and severed ties. She then went into law enforcement. In The Laughing Dead, Reed confronts her past, the secrets she keeps and the trauma she’s endured.

Yet, this book goes beyond a fictional character in a thriller. This story is, more broadly, about domestic abuse and violence, a reality for too many women (and, yes, some men also). It was absolutely fitting that I should read The Laughing Dead during National Domestic Violence Awareness Month in October. Lourey, in her book, writes about the power, manipulation and control used by abusers to entrap and silence their victims. Abusers, just like the fictional Frank Roth, will act loving and doting then turn into oppressive, abusive, overpowering, violent and controlling individuals. Sort of like a nightmarish chameleon.

Lourey, through her writing, is doing more than entertaining readers who appreciate a good thriller. She is raising awareness about domestic abuse and violence. And she is showing, via main character Van Reed, that it is possible to escape domestic abuse and violence, to rise above trauma. To tell your truth. And survive.

© Copyright 2025 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

Commentary: 100 days in & he’s talking dolls May 2, 2025

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Dolls with appropriate eye-rolling and blank staring. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo)

ONCE UPON A TIME in The Land of Plenty there lived a ruler who, once he took office, commenced to ruthlessly flaunt his authority (which fits, given his self-proclaimed ruler status). He really didn’t care what he said or did as long as it fit his agenda to make his kingdom—more precisely himself—great. The forceful leader promised that the “golden age” of Acirema would start on the day he assumed power. Perhaps he was referencing the opulent gold décor in his redecorated palace office.

The ruler gathered his team of loyalists and followers, assuring them that as long as they followed his plans, his instructions, his actions, his orders, he would reward them, or at least keep them out of the dungeon. Threats and intimidation have a way of instilling self-preservation and obedience.

But not everyone much cared for the self-centered leader or his policies. They never fell under his spell, his control. They were willing to stand up to him, question him, even at the risk of raising his ire. Or worse. They began to rise up and challenge him and his underlings. That didn’t sit well with the ruler. I mean, how would you like the courts calling you out, gray-haired ladies protesting, students criticizing you in schoolyards? Nope, can’t have that happening in Acirema. Never mind that The Land of Plenty was a land of freedom, of laws, of due process, of balanced powers. Or at least it was before the authoritarian ruler took over.

Disheveled dolls. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo)

A JOB REVIEW 100 DAYS IN

And so, 100 days into his reign, the ruler underwent a job review of sorts. Job reviews held no sway with him, although he should have understood their importance based on his previous experiences as a land baron who banished many a worker. Whatever. He was above everyone. All of them. He didn’t believe multiple reports of his declining popularity. He was doing a great job, he proclaimed. Great! And that was that. Don’t tell him otherwise for fear of being branded a liar. Or worse, banished from the kingdom. Just nod and agree that everything is going great and the ruler would call you a friend rather than a foe.

But you can only push people so far before they break and stop believing you, if they ever did in the first place. And many in the kingdom never did take this man at his word. He had a habit of distorting the truth, in other words lying. Now name-calling is not nice. But truth is truth.

One windfall apple, that will eventually rot. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo)

BULLYING AND BLAMING

Many in the kingdom were weary of the bullying coming from the palace. No one likes a bully. No one likes decrees that harm, rather than help, the kingdom. When the ruler levied new taxes on goods, promising to enrich his subjects, many did not believe him. (It should be noted that some—too many—still believed him.) He urged patience and calm as anger rose both inside and outside the kingdom. The ruler had upset the marketplace apple cart. Yet, he would hear none of the verbal resistance. As was his usual reaction, he blamed the previous overseer of The Land of Plenty for the rising costs of food and for marketplace shortages. “It was him, not me!” the ruler shouted. He used that blame tactic often.

Dolls, dolls and more dolls. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo)

2 DOLLS, 30 DOLLS, 900 DOLLS

But then he said something that deeply upset his subjects. “Well, maybe the children will have two dolls instead of 30 dolls,” the ruler responded when asked about rising prices and marketplace shortages. Outrage ensued. Thirty dolls? It was then that the people of the kingdom realized how disconnected the leader was from reality. Many of them now lived in poverty due to his policies. Their children had no dolls, unless you counted those crafted from corn cobs. The ruler’s grandchildren, however, had an entire playroom filled with imported dolls. Lovely dolls. Thirty times thirty. That’s 900 if you’re counting.

By this time the citizens of The Land of Plenty were counting only one thing—the number of days until they could vote in a new leader of Acirema. If that would even be an option. If they weren’t all banished. If they still had a country.

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NOTE: While this is a fictional story, it is rooted in truth. Feel free to leave a comment, understanding that I moderate all comments on this, my personal blog.

© Copyright 2025 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

From Wisconsin: A book about food, friendship, family, love, trauma & place April 2, 2025

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(Book cover sourced online)

I FOUND THE BOOK in the new fiction section of my local public library, the place where I discover reading materials that grow me, stretch me, teach me, and, yes, entertain me. The Funeral Ladies of Ellerie County by Claire Swinarski fits all four of those categories. I love this book. Underline love.

I did not expect this reaction when I randomly pulled the novel from the shelf, drawn by its catchy title printed in a colorful font, drawn by the simple cover art of a lakeside Northwoods cabin. I do, indeed, judge a book by its covers, front and then back synopsis. These covers hit all the marks for me, someone who appreciates stories rooted in rural. Stories that are simple, yet complex. Stories that make me think, that tap into my empathy, that move me. Stories that are strong in place.

(Book cover sourced online)

In some ways, this book reminds me of the writing of Minnesotan Lorna Landvik, author of the popular Patty Jane’s House of Curls, The Tall Pine Polka, Once in a Blue Moon Lodge and more, most of which I have read. But the author of The Funeral Ladies of Ellerie County hails from neighboring Wisconsin, which is similar to Minnesota, but different.

These are what we call bars (the kind you eat) in Minnesota and Wisconsin. Maybe elsewhere. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo)

At the heart of this story are the funeral ladies, a group of long-time friends who prepare meals for mourners at St. Anne’s Catholic Church. Casseroles—not hotdish as we call casseroles in Minnesota—concocted with canned cream soups. Shredded beef. Peanut butter bars. Pies made with Door County cherries. Food for the body and soul. This reminded me of the Reception Committee in my childhood home church on the southwestern Minnesota prairie. That group of Lutheran women prepared funeral hotdishes comprised of hamburger, pasta, a vegetable and assorted canned cream soups with salt and pepper for seasoning. The recipes are published in the 1985 St. John’s Anniversary Cookbook. The covers of that cookbook have fallen off my tattered copy. A cookbook is central to Swinarski’s novel.

The point here is that The Funeral Ladies of Ellerie County is absolutely relatable for me. I felt comfortably at home with the story initially, even when I learned of a heartbreaking scam involving main character Esther Larson. That shapes the story. Then the story-line focus shifts from friendship, faith and family to tough topics after a Food Network star and his children arrive to bury his estranged wife in her hometown.

Mental health gets attention in this book. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo)

Without revealing too much of the plot, know that family relationships, love and trauma weave into this novel. That trauma is post traumatic stress disorder, experienced by paramedic Cooper Welsh after participating in a holiday parade interrupted by a deadly shooting. In real-life, six people died in November 2021 when a driver plowed his SUV into a Christmas parade in Waukesha, Wisconsin, killing six and injuring many others. I expect Swinarski patterned her fictional tragedy loosely after this event or the many other mass shootings this country experiences.

I appreciate that the author, even in this fictional account of such violence and its personal aftermath, writes with authenticity. As a reader, I felt emotionally invested. I was rooting for Cooper and for those who love him. Swinarski doesn’t just touch on PTSD. She dives into it head on, writing in her acknowledgments that she talked to individuals dealing with PTSD to craft Cooper’s life story. That research shows.

A sign along the interstate advertises Ishnala Supper Club in Lake Delton near the Wisconsin Dells. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo)

She writes, too, in an authentic Wisconsin voice with a strong sense of place. Noodles in chili (yes, it’s a thing in Wisconsin). Beer not wine. Brandy old-fashioneds, Wisconsin’s signature drink. Supper clubs. And eating at the popular Wisconsin-based fast food chain, Culver’s.

There are so many reasons to love The Funeral Ladies of Ellerie County. Even if you’re a Lutheran from Minnesota who eats hotdishes, not casseroles.

© Copyright 2025 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

An April 1 commentary about candy, but not really April 1, 2025

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Lots of jelly beans and other candy were sold in a Minnesota shop I visited years ago. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo used for illustration only)

ONCE UPON A TIME in The Land of Plenty, there lived a ruler who, before he took office, declared that he would be king for a day, or some such wordage. He relished power and absolute control with the zeal of a kid unleashed in a candy store. Except even kids in a candy shop realize they can’t devour every piece of sticky taffy, every morsel of chocolate, every jelly bean in sight. Their stomachs would hurt. And they would soon be barfing all over the kingdom.

But the narcissistic leader, who promised to make the country the best it had ever been (because he craved praise and power), apparently did not understand this about consuming too much candy. Or he didn’t care. Once in office, the-man-who-would-be-king gathered his team, granting unfettered powers to one of them in particular. He pulled out his guidebook and magical pen and scrawled his signature across endless pieces of paper imprinted with orders to create an even more wonderful and efficient Land of Plenty, at least in his eyes. Such was his insatiable desire for adoration, domination and control. His plan to become king for a day extended well beyond a day into mindless infinity.

Candy galore in another Minnesota candy shop. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo used for illustration only)

He proposed acquiring more land to add to his empire, focusing his efforts on the countries of Adanac and Dnalneerg, both of which wanted nothing to do with him, understandably so. But that didn’t stop the ruler from obsessing on the topic, for he was a determined man. Do this. Do that. Say this. Say that. Toss out an endless stream of threats and vitriol and perhaps some of it would stick like gum to the bottom of a shoe.

On and on it went. Each day something new. More taxes, which he called “tariffs” and a good thing for his subjects. He advised those who farmed the land to “have fun.” He fooled no one (OK, maybe some too many) with his spin on tariffs. Mass firings, deportations, funding cuts, closures and more (too many actions to count really) happened daily under the ruler’s authoritarian hand.

If anyone protested, spoke up or voiced opposition, the ruthless leader worked to quiet them. There were street snatchings and threats. Intimidation. Disrespect. Denial. Deflection. Distraction. Lies. Verbal attacks. He used all sorts of tactics to create fear, to suppress anyone who disagreed with him, his team and his/their words and actions. That included bullying the printers, lawyers and judges of the land, calling them all sorts of derogatory names. He threatened to come after them, to silence them, to show them who held the power. Sometimes he succeeded, sometimes not.

In this fictional story, chocolates are banned from candy shops. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo used for illustration only)

Yet, one plan appealed to the unsuspecting masses. And that was the opening of more candy stores, with promises to give away millions, perhaps even billions, of pounds of candy. To qualify, subjects needed only to sign an irrevocable loyalty pledge, which seemed reasonable on the surface. But there’s always the fine print. They would need to agree with the mighty ruler’s ideology and actions or risk losing four years of a free candy supply or, worse yet, be locked up for rebellious attitudes or other so-called subversive acts. If the subjects looked even closer at the fine print, they would see that candy shops were forbidden from carrying chocolate. Surely that would be the deal breaker for most because, well, who doesn’t love chocolate? All candy, in fact, was to be colorless.

Nearly endless flavors of taffy and candy are sold in this mega Minnesota candy shop. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo used for illustration only)

But most failed to read the fine print, so focused were they on a four-year supply of free candy. Such a sweet deal. They trusted that the ruler had their best interests in mind. He didn’t. Even kids understand that too much candy can cause a tummy ache that leaves them regretting their selfish gluttony.

This, my friends, is no April Fool’s Day joke.

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FYI: While this short story is written as fiction, it is (as is most fiction) rooted in truth. It is also a commentary, a way for me to use my voice. Whether you agree or disagree with the content is your prerogative and right. Just note, though, that this is my personal blog and that I moderate all comments and have the final say in those I choose to publish or not.

© Copyright 2025 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

The craft of writing creatively, from idea to story February 11, 2025

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My fiction, creative nonfiction and poetry has published in all these volumes of The Talking Stick, plus volumes 32 and 33 not pictured here. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo)

WITH ONLY WEEKS until the deadline for an annual writing contest, I am stretching my mind to come up with short stories and poetry that will please not only me, but also the editors of a Minnesota-based literary anthology. It’s not easy, this creative writing. Yet, I enjoy the challenge.

I can’t always explain from whence my fictional stories spring. I’ve written some really dark stuff that has landed me publication and sometimes prizes. Stories with undertones of darkness and violence. Nothing like I’ve experienced in real life, although certainly I’ve faced plenty of dark and trying days.

When I read my second place winning fictional story, “Dear Mother,” at last fall’s Talking Stick 33—Earth Signs book launch party in northern Minnesota, I qualified my reading with “I don’t know where this dark story came from.” It was implied that the main character killed her abusive mother. The writer who followed me as the first place winner in fiction also wrote a dark story. I don’t recall if Tara or some other writer explained that, in order to reach the light, we need to go through darkness. That resonated with me.

The beginning of “Barbershop Prompt,” published in Talking Stick 31–Escapes. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo)

I’ve completed the initial draft of my first piece of fiction for this year’s contest. It, too, includes some dark elements. The community calendar in my local newspaper prompted the story, which I realize may seem rather odd. But, hey, inspiration can strike in the most unlikely of places. A previous work prompted by a sign at Bridge Square Barbers in Northfield earned me a second place in creative nonfiction in 2022.

Now three years later, with the printed community calendar of events lying on my office desk, I glanced from newspaper to computer screen as the idea of a story began to take shape. Once I finished the intro, words began to fly (OK, admittedly not always) from my brain to the keyboard to the screen. The draft is saved, awaiting a second look in a few days.

This sharing library in Pine River is inspiring my next creative work. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo July 2024)

Now I’m on to my next piece of writing. A photo I took of a sharing library (like a Little Free Library) in Pine River is serving as my inspiration for a story that has yet to unfold. But I see the possibilities in the many love-themed/titled books shelved inside that library adorned with a Peace/Love/Books sticker.

Romeo and Juliet by Shakespeare. Lunkers Love Nightcrawlers, author unknown to me. Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom, packed with life lessons, including that of love. Sin Killer by Larry McMurtry, a book of adventure, humor and romance on the American frontier. And then Absolute Power by David Baldacci, about a President “caught” with a billionaire’s wife. That title seems so relatable to today. Absolute power. But writing contest rules call for no political or religious rants, meaning I will need to steer clear of politics.

And so I’ll see where this idea goes. If a plot develops in my mind, if a story flows into something that may, or may not, be dark.

© Copyright 2025 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

A few book suggestions related to yesterday’s post January 8, 2025

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Inspiring messages on a house in small town Dundas, Minnesota. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo August 2020)

I’M FOLLOWING UP on yesterday’s post focusing on the book Our Hidden Conversations—What Americans Really Think About Race and Identity by Michele Norris to recommend four related books. But before I get to those books, I must share that Norris will be in Minnesota on Monday, January 20, as the keynote speaker for the Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday Breakfast at the Minneapolis Convention Center (Exhibit Hall A). The event begins with networking and mingling from 7-7:30 a.m., breakfast from 7:30-8 a.m. and a program from 8-9:30 a.m. The celebration also includes music by Grammy award-winning Sounds of Blackness and a special collaborative performance by Threads Dance Project and Vocalessence. For more information about this 35th annual MLK breakfast, click here.

Now the books:

Book cover sourced online.

1959 (reprinted) Edition of The Negro Travelers’ Green Book—Guide for Travel and Vacations

I checked this facsimile of The Negro Travelers’ Green Book out from my local library. This guidebook lists, state by state (and in Canada), the hotels, motels, restaurants, tourist homes and vacation resorts where Blacks were welcome in 1959. This list is revealing and sometimes surprising. And clearly, it’s unsettling to read, understanding the discrimination against Blacks that existed not all that long ago.

Book cover sourced online.

The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom

This New York Times bestseller published in 2010 tells the fictional story of life on a tobacco plantation beginning in the late 1700s from the perspectives of a slave (the daughter of a White master and his slave) and an indentured servant (an orphan from Ireland). Although a work of fiction, The Kitchen House is historical fiction, thus rooted in truth. This is a difficult read. But it’s also an inspiring book that speaks to the strength of the human spirit, the love of family and resilience.

Book cover sourced online.

So you want to talk about race by Ijeoma Oluo

Another New York Times bestseller, this one published in 2019, is in my reading stack. The title, So you want to talk about race, pretty much explains the content. The book was gifted to me by someone who left it in my church mailbox. I am grateful. I expect I will gain new insights from reading this book about race.

Book cover sourced online

Winter counts by David Heska Wanbli Weiden

This award-winning book published in 2020 has been in my reading stack for some time. I am half way through reading Winter Counts and already know I need to recommend this fictional book. Why? The storyline takes the reader onto the Indian Reservations of South Dakota. But what stands out for me is the authenticity of the writing. Author David Heska Wanbli Weiden, an enrolled citizen of the Sicangu Lakota Nation, knows of what he writes.

I am not only reading an intriguing novel about a vigilante set on justice for the Lakota community in dealing with illegal drugs and other issues. But I am learning about Lakota culture, beliefs, language and challenges, and a reclaiming of Native identity. This book has proven both educational and eye-opening.

TELL ME: Have you read similar books that you recommend I read? Please feel free to share with a brief summary of the book (s). I’m interested in any genre and in books for children to middle and high schoolers to adults.

© Copyright 2025 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

Even scarier than Halloween October 31, 2024

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 5:00 AM
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A Halloween mask and costumes for sale at Something for All, a thrift shop in Lonsdale, MN. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2024)

OCTOBER 31. Halloween, the one day when scary is celebrated in a big way. But October 31 also marks another notable day, the final day in Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Domestic violence is far scarier than any ghoulish, frightening, unsettling costume or event. Domestic violence and abuse are real. Real scary.

Warning signs of relationship abuse from an event held in Faribault many years ago.

Abuse can be physical, psychological/mental and/or emotional. Death, injuries, scars, trauma and so much more result from abuse which is, at its core, all about manipulation, power and control. Those can be insidious or blatant.

My fictional story, “Evidence,” is published in this anthology.

With that brief background, I am sharing a fictional story printed in Talking Stick 32—Twist in the Road, a literary anthology published by northern Minnesota based Jackpine Writers’ Bloc. I wrote “Evidence,” which won an honorable mention in the 2023 Talking Stick writing competition. Please read my story and then my comments following.

Some victims of domestic abuse/violence flee with minimal belongings in a single bag or suitcase. Some leave with nothing at all. Leaving marks the most dangerous time period when exiting an abusive relationship. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo)

Evidence

She waited inside the bus station, body molded into a hard plastic chair, battered suitcase at her feet nudging shoes that needed a good polishing. Beverly felt restless, lost, as if at any moment she would awaken from her nightmare of a life. She pressed her right thumb into her sweaty left palm, a soothing habit that sometimes helped calm her. But not today.

Only hours earlier she’d fled to this place after tossing several changes of clothing alongside her diary in the bag now resting on the sticky, worn floor soiled by a thousand feet, a thousand stories. Today her story.

Her mind drifted to those first years when she wrote in flowery script, embellishing her writing with hearts. Love, so much love. He cherished her, loved her, embraced her with words and flowers and praise. Until he didn’t.

It was all so subtle, how Thomas, not Tom, chose to slip hurtful words into conversations, wearing her down. Day by day. Complaints of undone laundry and cold dinner and dirty dishes. And then the accusations flew. Where were you? Why were you speaking to him? Why can’t you ever do anything right? Then he slapped her. Repeatedly. Often.

She felt beaten. Weak. Exhausted. Trapped. Her writing reflected that, emotional words looping across the lined paper. Uneven and running together and sometimes nearly unreadable. Tears traced through the ink and wrinkled the pages.

For the longest time, she endured, pulled inside herself, determined she could do better, be better, love him more. Yet, it was never enough. Thomas continued to berate her, to find fault in everything she said and did. And she recorded it all in the journal zippered inside the suitcase stuffed in the back of their closet, the suitcase now at her feet. Evidence.

Beverly pulled herself back to reality, checked the time on the massive clock inside the bus station. Soon the Greyhound would roll in. She grabbed the worn handle of the battered bag, rose from the uncomfortable chair, and headed toward the boarding area. The momentum of hurrying passengers, their shoes slapping against the speckled linoleum, carried her. The bus doors pulsed open. Beverly stepped inside, handing her ticket to the driver. Her mood shifted, lightened with each step down the aisle until she saw him through the window, face flashing anger, fists clenched at his sides.

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This text was published in a book, “She Stays,” by Eric Staab-Absher, director of HOPE Center in Faribault. (Text copyright of Erica Staab-Absher)

COMMENTS: If you recognize yourself or someone you love in my fictional story, first know that you are not alone. Help is available through organizations that will support you and/or your family. That may be a shelter or an advocacy/outreach organization focused on preventing domestic violence, providing education and resources, and simply being there for you. If you’re not ready for that step, talk to a trusted friend or family member. Seek help.

Leaving an abuser is not easy. It’s scary and difficult. Even dangerous. But you (or someone you love) are so worth living a life free from manipulation, control, abuse and/or violence.

VIOLENCE FREE MINNESOTA has released its “2023 Homicide Report: Relationship Abuse in Minnesota.” In 2023, there were 40 confirmed victims of intimate partner and domestic violence-related homicides in the state. That’s the highest number since tracking began in 1989. Gunshot is the leading cause of deaths. This report honors victims across Minnesota with photos and information. It’s packed with statistics and other valuable information and is well worth your read. Click here to read the full report or a summary of it.

To learn more, start by clicking here to reach the National Domestic Violence Hotline.

© Copyright 2024 Audrey Kletscher Helbling