Marie Bartlett – Once a Writer

Surprisingly, even many of those who work in healthcare services today are not aware that deep in the heart of the Appalachian Mountain is where the first rural midwife school in America began. The year was 1925 and the woman at the helm of this remarkable nonprofit organization was Mary Breckinridge, a socialite by class; an activist and reformer by nature. In the nonfiction book, The Frontier Nursing Service; Contributions to Southern Appalachian Studies published by McFarland in 2009, the stories of Breckinridge and her merry band of British nurse-midwives is told in very human terms.

From Socialite to Activist – Mary Breckinridge

Born into wealth, Mary Breckinridge could have easily devoted her life to social outings and elitist parties. Instead, she chose to find the highest infant mortality rate in the U.S. and reverse it. With family ties in eastern Kentucky, the Appalachian region seemed a logical place to start. In 1925, Mary Breckinridge set off on horseback to explore the area, one of the poorest parts of America, and it was there, in a dot-on-the-map place called Hyden, KY that she stumbled across what would eventually serve as the headquarters of the Frontier Nursing Service: America’s First Rural Nurse-Midwife Service and School.

What Mary Breckinridge Intended

Mary Breckinridge had no intention of remaining in eastern Kentucky. But once the Frontier Service Nursing was established in 1925, and she had enlisted the help of British nurse-midwives to expand the healthcare organization, there was no turning back.

Breckinridge would end up spending her entire life at the Frontier Nursing Service, living in a two-story log home and directing the work of the trained nurse-midwives. She was active until well into her eighties, and when she died in 1965, her room and the artifacts surrounding the history of the FNS remained. Today, the FNS is a national historic site and a quaint Bed & Breakfast, located in Hyden, Kentucky, population 300.

The book: The Frontier Nursing Service Nursing (McFarland, 2009)

Told through the amazing personal accounts of the women who rode on horseback throughout a 700-mile region between 1928 and 1965, the Frontier Nursing book is full of human interest stories about the healthcare provided to women and their families in a time and a place when most could not afford even a trip to the doctor. Most of the recollections were based on more than 185 oral histories made available to the author by the University of Kentucky Library Special Archives Collection in Lexington, Kentucky.

Among the many true stories:

• Why children believed that nurses brought the babies on horseback; hence the term “Saddlebag Babies.”
• How the FNS struggled to gain acceptance and credibility in a region that was well-known for its mistrust of “outsiders.”
• How proper British midwives were enticed to come to the poorest part of America, ride a horse, and learn the language and customs of a people they could barely comprehend.
• The critical role that horses played in getting the nurse-midwives to their destination – literally saving lives in the process
• Why Mary Breckinridge loved animals almost as she loved people
• How and why couriers played such an important part in the success of the FNS
• Overcoming financial hardships and wartime deprivation as needs rose and resources fell
• How natural disasters affected not just the region, but the work of the Frontier Nursing Service
• How, in the end, progress wrought changes – both good and bad – to the Frontier Nursing Service

When I began my writing career more than 25 years ago, I would have given anything to have a mentor, a bit of free advice, a few sound tips for writers, even a shoulder to cry on when the going got tough. And it will get tough. There will be days and moments when you’ll look up from your computer and realize, ‘what the hell was I thinking, trying to make a living at this stuff?’

Writing is only half the battle. The other half is figuring out what to do with all those little gems. And I don’t just mean getting them published. I mean actually earning a living, breathing wage from all that brain-drain that has led up to the hard-earned title of “freelance writer”.

Here’s a sampling of what I hope will help you in your quest for the writing life. These are tips for writers I wish someone had shared with me:

• Tips for Selling Your Story – do you want to write for magazines and trade journals? With print on decline and cuts in editorial staff, it’s a hard nut to crack these days, but there are ways and means. You’ve got to do some homework first, and be willing to try, try again. I have some tips and shortcuts for writers that might make your ride a little smoother. I am still in learning mode with social media, but we can cover that too.
• Truth or Consequences Tip? Fiction or non? Just what type of writer are you anyway? Do you like to make up stories or does research get you excited? Are you a generalist or a specialist? One clue is to take a look at what you gravitate to when you read. I’ve been a nonfiction reader all my life, even love the smell of a library (except for that dude in the corner), and think research is right up there with chocolate and red wine (both of which I really love). So, duh, nonfiction writing is my thing. Doesn’t mean I don’t or won’t give fiction a run, but so far everything I’ve produced and published has been fact, not fiction. Go figure.
• Tips for Getting Your Book Published – admit it, you have a book in you, possibly dozens. But how to get from point A (your great idea) to point Z (your name on the slick shiny cover). Lots to do in-between, and if you don’t know the steps you can waste a ton of blood, sweat, and tears not to mention talent. I have a number of tips for writers interested in the book publishing process.
• How to Write a Book Proposal – ditto all of the above about getting your book published. If it’s nonfiction, you sell your IDEA first, not your entire book. And you do that through a tried- and-true formula with a book proposal. Not as bad as it sounds, once you learn a few tips, such as what to leave in and leave out and, oh, that other little thing – how to beat the competition. Selling your fiction book is a little bit hard. But like all things that come with time, patience, and practice, it can be done.
• Tips for Making a Living as a Freelance Writer – Are you nuts? All right already. Writers write – right? I can tell you what worked for me; what didn’t; the joys, the heartaches, and the major whoppers I made along the way. Plus all the nuts and bolts type things I wish someone had offered me these tips when I started writing. More than likely, I’ll learn something new as well. And that, my friends, is one of many things that continue to make the writing life worthwhile; that, and a little cash in the bank.

Tips, however, are only valuable when they are applied. Through my blogs entries, you’ll find the answers to many of the questions raised, and together, we can figure out what makes the Writing Life work, and what doesn’t.