Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Local author writes Civil War era novel based on mom's genealogical research

Julia M. Dendinger News-Bulletin Staff Writer; jdendinger@news-bulletin.com

Some people are born storytellers. When Ben Steinlage tells the tale of how he met his wife, Sandy, you know he is one of them. After working three weeks of 18-hour shifts without a day off as a manager of a cocktail lounge and restaurant in Las Vegas, Nev., Ben told his boss he needed a rest.

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"I told him I wasn't coming in the next day. I didn't care if the placed burned down," he remembers. When Ben awoke hungry and broke after 12 hours of sleep, he knew exactly what to do.

"I knew if I went to the restaurant, they would feed me for free. So, I'm sitting there having a drink and my boss comes up and tells me he's hired my newest waitress," he said. "Well I thought 'that's just great.' She's probably 15, ugly as sin, with a huge wart and hairs out of it down to her knees."

So Ben went into the restaurant to check out the newest staff member. "She comes bopping over and asks to take my order. I explained who I was and told her I'd start with a cup of coffee," he said. "She comes back with a cup and a pot of coffee. She leans across the table, puts the cup down and then leans over to pour the coffee."

And then it happened. "The button of her blouse popped off, hit me right on the end of the nose and landed in the cup," Ben said. "I looked down for the button and then back up and I'm staring at nothing but cleavage."

As Sandy snatched her blouse shut and ran from the room, Ben said, he realized it was all over. "I thought to myself, 'I'm the weed, and she's the lawnmower.' Shoot, I wasn't even looking for a girlfriend, let alone a wife," he says.

They did indeed get married, but found out that, as each other's second spouses, they were still too young. "We are actually each other's second and fourth spouses," Ben said. "We're much happier the second time around."

Ben, who has been writing since the age of 8, can tell stories other than humorous personal anecdotes. He has recently become a published author, putting out his first book "Want To Go West Lady?" through Tate Publishing and Enterprises, a company out of Mustang, Okla.

The 254-page novel combines his love of writing with his interest in the Civil War period and a bit of family history. The blurb on the back of the book promises that you will laugh and cry along with the three teen protagonists as they see their world change during the Civil War, the subsequent Reconstruction and then follow them into twentieth century Oregon and California.

There's a good reason for that, Ben says. "I was laughing and crying when I wrote this," he said. "People will tell me that they are crying so hard they can barely see the page. And I'll tell them I cried there too."

Although a seasoned writer, Ben never pursued publication. That was where Sandy came in. "In the old days, you wrote everything out longhand or on a typewriter. When you were done, it went into file 13," he said, in reference to the trash can.

Sandy had different ideas. "I thought he was very good, so I kept a lot of what he wrote," she said. Unfortunately, or fortunately, during the 15 years they were apart, Sandy's third husband found and burned most of Ben's manuscripts.

He laughs at that. "I thought, yes, he finally did something right," he said. But Ben finally succumbed to the pressure.

"Sandy kept telling me I should be published. My teachers had told me that. My mother told me that," he said. "Up until now, I'd written mostly poems and short stories around 10,000 to 30,000 words. Novellas, I guess you would call them.

"But publishing houses won't take collections of short stories unless you are well known. And my mother, who's in her late 80s, had been wanting me to write something based on the family history. She's been researching our genealogy for the last 20, 30 years."

A month later, the book was complete. "Since I'm semi-retired, I could write 30 to 40 pages a day if there weren't any interruptions," Ben said. "When I write, I just start typing — there's no outline. I laugh, I cry. Sometimes I have to get up and take a walk.

"When I wrote the ending, I told Sandy, 'I don't like this ending, but that's where it's going, I didn't want to do it, but ...'"

After that difficult ending was written, Sandy spent a year shopping the manuscript around to various publishers. While the digital age has made certain aspects of pitching a book easier, it's still hard work.

"You used to have to submit a hard copy of the manuscript. Now you just e-mail it to them; most places prefer it that way," she said. "We submitted a lot. Sometimes we wouldn't hear anything back, and if we did it was because they weren't looking for anything in that particular genre."

Both offered a word of caution to young authors trying to get book published. "Agents sometimes aren't the best thing to have," Sandy said.

Ben agreed, saying that some of the less scrupulous agents will charge $10,000 to $15,000 to edit a book and then even more money to promote the piece. "Unfortunately, that's not uncommon," he said.

Ben and Sandy agree that the publishing company he ended up with is a good one. "I wasn't hearing back from them, so I hunted up the phone number and called them," Sandy said. "The girl I talked to was so nice. She told me the company didn't accept multiple submissions from authors and Ben had two.

"So, I told her he would submit just the one. I talked to her several times — she was so nice. Eventually they read the book, liked it and wanted to publish it."

There was just one catch. Tate Publishing is a Christian publishing company, and they were concerned about the one time Ben used "damned" in the book. Ben mulled it over and took the word out. "If there is going to be violence, sex and swearing in a book, it should be for a very good reason," he said. "The story doesn't always need it. I'd rather keep the reading on a PG level."

The decision was a wise one, garnering Ben's honest, straightforward writing style accolades and glowing reviews. "Everyone says it's a good book. I don't know; I haven't read it," he said. "I don't go back and read my stuff because you think, 'Oh, I should have said this or that.' Or 'That,s stupid. Why did I put that in?' It's probably best I don't read the book."

One reader's response touched Ben and Sandy deeply. During last year's Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta, they decided to head up to a friend's house in Madrid and to a book signing.

"It wasn't planned. We just did it on a whim," Ben said. "Then late one night in November, we got a call from a lady. She knew I was from New Mexico, so she called directory assistance in every town on I-25 starting in Santa Fe and going south. They live in the Mountainair area.

"She said thanks for writing this story. I told her, 'Thanks for buying the book.' You know, I've read thousands of books. I would love to meet some of the authors, but I've never tracked one down."

The 63-year-old woman finally revealed the significance of her call. Ben said she told him she had a reading disorder and had never read a book cover to cover, until now. "That right there makes it all worth it," Ben said.

And his fans are prodding him to continue writing. A 79-year-old woman from Estancia read the book and loved it. "When she finished it, she told me there was just one problem," Ben said. "She wanted to know 'who's Edgar?' Well, he's the guy who married Ida, but you really don't know much about him. So I said, yes, we do need an introduction to Edgar."

Right now, Ben has seven unpublished manuscripts, three of which are sequels to "Want to go West, Lady?" Sandy is giving them a final edit, before submitting them.

Ben encourages young writers to give it their all in the world. "You look at me. I got a book published. And if I can do it, anyone can," he says with a laugh. "Now I can tell kids that you are only limited by your desire."

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