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First Posted: 7/3/2013 &#8220;WHY MARY BETH WHY&#8221;
Author: Helen Ogrodnick
Publisher: Rebel Ink Press
Available: July 17, at amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com, allromanceebooks.com
When inspiration struck last year, Helen Ogrodnick, a resident of Warrior Run since 1960, started writing down her dreams. With no formal education in crafting works of fiction, the 78-year-old is prepared to release her third e-book through Rebel Ink Press this week.
&#8220;It&#8217;s just something I decided I was going to do. I have had no training or anything at all,&#8221; Ogrodnick gushed in a recent phone interview.
Taking on a new task has had its challenges, but she said a positive, can-do attitude has helped her survive so many things, including the publishing world.
&#8220;I&#8217;ve always said God gave me two hands and two feet, so I can do anything anybody else can do. This day and age, it may take me longer to do it, but I can still do it,&#8221; she said. &#8220;A positive attitude will get you through life without any problems.&#8221;
Ogrodnick&#8217;s two previous novels are available at amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com, and allromanceebooks.com. &#8220;Jami&#8217;s Dilemma,&#8221; released March 17, is $4.99 and &#8220;Dear Elvira,&#8221; released May 17, is $5.99.
She and her husband of 58 years, Walter, have six children, 10 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
Times Leader: How did you come to write your first novel?
Helen Ogrodnick: &#8220;Years and years ago, my husband had a stroke. He lost his peripheral vision and his short-term memory, which was really, really hard to get back. We still do anything we can to keep him memory sharp. My three sons, my husband, Walter, and I were playing poker one evening. After that poker game, my oldest son started to massage my neck and shoulders. I said, &#8216;Walter, I&#8217;m going to have to ask you to stop. I don&#8217;t like to have my neck touched.&#8217; I think in my past life I was probably a prostitute that was strangled by her John.
&#8220;That night, I dreamed about it, and the next night I dreamed about it. It seemed like I kept dreaming that entire book. I wrote down everything I dreamed, and that&#8217;s how my upcoming book, &#8216;Why Mary Beth Why,&#8217; got written.&#8221;
TL: How many novels have you finished?
Ogrodnick: &#8220;I wrote the first four last year&#8230; I&#8217;m struggling with the one I&#8217;m working on now. It&#8217;s not as easy to write as the others were. It&#8217;s a completely different thing from what I&#8217;ve written before. I think I threw myself off track when I started it by going in a different direction.&#8221;
TL: It seems all of your books are released on the 17th. Do you have any connection to that number?
 Ogrodnick: &#8220;Not really. That&#8217;s the number given to me by Rebel Ink Press. But would you believe that&#8217;s my favorite combination. When I go up to the race track, the first thing I&#8217;ll do is head to the window for a 1 and 7 daily double or whatever happens along. You&#8217;d be surprised by how often they do come in.&#8221;
TL: How do you categorize the books? Are they romance novels?
Ogrodnick: &#8220;They&#8217;re basically a light romance. The heat level (doesn&#8217;t) get over 2. I had a strict upbringing. I couldn&#8217;t bring myself to do anything more than that.&#8221;
TL: What challenges have you faced in becoming an author at age 78?
Ogrodnick: &#8220;Trying to learn the computer. I could write on the computer, but trying to learn it and write on it are two different stories. I won&#8217;t lie. I still have to have help with it on occasion. I&#8217;m not ashamed to ask or say I need help. That&#8217;s the only way a person learns, and when you quit learning you may as well be six feet under.&#8221;

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