About Tim
I’m Tim Seefeldt, a former newspaper reporter and TV news producer now trying to get my novel(s) onto bookshelves, both literal and virtual.
In 2010, as a youngish man, I was attacked by a rare stroke that zapped away my ability to read and write. Arithmetic was also part of the zap, but it was never a strong suit anyway. Once I figured out who I was again, I had to rebuild those skills from the ground up, like a child starting school.
As you may have guessed by reading this, it worked. Since then, I’ve made my living in communications and government relations and blogged about my recovery journey.
Ironically cruel, I got into journalism as a first step toward what I intended to be a long, successful career as a novelist. But I was so caught up writing news stories, I never quite did the novel thing. If you dive into the blogs, you’ll read about my battle to earn a second chance at that dream.
I didn’t waste it.
Jump to:
Becoming a novelist
My journalistic background informed my upcoming debut novel, Second Chances, written under the pen name TJ Seefeldt.
There’s another novel ready to go, as well. And a non-fiction book about my stroke recovery. That one was actually well received by some big-time publishers. But they thought it would be a better sell if I was famous.
That should be helped a bit with the release of Second Chances.
Published work
Unpublished books aside, I’ve contributed to literary and journalistic platforms such as Esoterica and Litbreak Magazine, where I have published short fiction including:
A story about my stroke and recovery, The long road back, which inspired my non-fiction book, ran in the Edmonton Journal and several other newspapers across Canada.
Not quite as notable, I’ve done a bit of stand-up comedy and a little more is coming soon.
Family, loss, and second chances
My own life story—recovering from that debilitating stroke and rebuilding my life and career—parallels the themes of resilience and reinvention in my writing.
It seems all those writers and teachers who told me “write what you know” knew what they were talking about. Starting with John Rollins, my high school English and Journalism teacher. Not just some bookish fella who lived in the clouds, he was a former touring musician who kept a Fender Telecaster in the classroom to inspire those of us who needed inspiring.
He warned me about wasting time, advice I ignored on the book-writing front until it was almost too late. He also talked about drawing on emotions and pain.
I learned to do that after life threw me a few vicious body blows.
The first real gut shot came when my mom died at 58. Cancer. A few months of optimism followed by hell. Watching her lose hope, and how her plunge crushed my dad, changed everything.
That was followed almost immediately by the unexpected joy of becoming a father. I didn’t plan the timing, but, damn, how amazing my two daughters have made my life. And the mystical man I met at a reggae bar—who guessed my wife was pregnant before we did—was right: there’s a strong piece of my mom in both of those young women.
Life kept moving. My dad faced his own battle with cancer. There were professional successes, personal joys, and eventually my stroke of horrible luck and year-long recovery. You can read all about it in my blog, but damn, it is crazy to have your brain betray you.
Along with my recovery came the realization that I still hadn’t written the books I always intended to write. I completed the stroke manuscript and began submitting it to publishers.
At the same time, another cancer diagnosis: this time, my wife. She fought through surgery, chemo and radiation, rang the bell at the Cross Cancer Institute, and for a while life felt normal again.
Until seven years later, when that damn cancer came back and took her from us all in just a month.
I really wanted the stroke book to get picked up while she was still with us. I did manage to publish a short story and newspaper feature—with international coverage—about my recovery. But I couldn’t get the book she helped me write onto bookshelves before she passed. That was gut wrenching.
It’s a strange thing to go from a family of four in the suburbs to a single guy and a dog figuring out life together.
But I learned to lean into the hurt and let the joy find its way back. I wrote the first version of Second Chances, dove into friendships, travelled, and reconnected with an amazing woman from my past.
Blind squirrels do get nuts once in a while. Just gotta keep your nose to the ground and your feet moving.
What’s next
So, with Dobby (my dog and roommate) staring at me, wondering when the next walk is coming, I will keep tapping away to make the book even better, track down that publisher, find publishers for my other two books and get to work on the next one.
I’ll also hit the stand-up stage again and keep folks posted on where and when my work will be coming out.
Stay tuned, as we used to say in the news biz.
