For Lake Orion resident Kay (Roland) Kibbe, a long-time interest in Native American life has spawned the publishing of her first novel and the possibility of a second book to follow.
Kibbe, an Oxford High School graduate, began working on her story The Last Rendezvous four years ago, never dreaming she would someday see it in paperback form.
“It started out as a little hobby,” said Kibbe, a mother of four and grandmother of nine. “I used to read, read, read…I’ve been fascinated for years with Native Americans. I went to the library and depleted everything they had…someone said, ‘Why don’t you write your own book?'”
So Kibbe did just that, bringing to life the story of “Little Squirrel,” the book’s main character. Little Squirrel is a young Lakota Sioux boy who comes of age during the years prior to the great onslaught of the white man. The story follows him and his family and their band of Sioux through two generations.
“It just started with little ideas and names…it took a long time to piece a story out of it,” Kibbe said. “Once I started it, more ideas came.”
Kibbe said it was her first attempt at writing since high school, when she wrote some poems for the school paper. Her interest in Native Americans, however, stems back 15-20 years. The walls of the living room in Kibbe’s Lake Orion home are decorated with numerous Native American artifacts and art work.
“I must have read something back then that stirred my interest,” she said. “But I really don’t have a favorite character (in the book). If I had to pick one, it would have to be Little Squirrel.”
Kibbe said her daughter was the first to read the novel after she finished writing it, but reported to Kibbe that she didn’t like the ending.
“It was kind of a leave-it-up-in-the-air type of thing,” Kibbe said.”Like something leading into a Book Two. I thought maybe she’s right…it took me four years to write this, I don’t know if I’ll do another one.”
Kibbe changed the ending and began the long process of finding a publisher.
“I wrote lots of letters to different publishers, and I couldn’t get one to say they were interested. I got discouraged, and just let it lay.”
One day, Kibbe said she “got tired of blowing dust off” her manuscript, and went on the Internet to search for more publishers.
“I found one that let you publish it yourself,” she said. “But their first price was too expensive. They wanted like $23,000 for 500 books, and that included editing and everything.
“I said ‘No, that’s way out of my means.'”
Then Kibbe got a letter from the publisher, RoseDog Books in Pittsburgh, PA.
“They had a different offer, and it was considerably cheaper.”
Kibbe said the second offer did not include a set amount of books she could publish, and did not include any editing at all of the manuscript.
“But they did all the promotional stuff…it’s supposed to also be an e-book (online book). I get 20 percent of the sales of the paperback and 80 percent of the e-books,” she said.
Kibbe also received three copies of the book for herself, which she said she has been busy lending out to family, friends and co-workers at her place of employment in Birmingham.
“I’m happy to see it in print, and my kids are happy for me,” she said. “I have no regrets about spending that money.”
Kibbe has started on a Book Two, but hasn’t worked on it in a while.
“My main objective in writing (the first book) was to write a story about Native Americans, not the white people. Lots of stories about Native Americans have white people as the main characters,” she said.
To get a copy of The Last Rendezvous, contact RoseDog Books at 1-800-834-1803, or online go to www.rosedogbookstore.com and click on fiction.