Written by Maddi Roman|

On Friday, March 28th, the author of “Safe and Sound” who goes by the pen name of T.S. Krupa came to visit The Morgan School. A graduate of the class of 2000, her given name is Tara Krystyna Pietraszuk. As a newly published creative fiction author, T.S. Krupa, shared her experiences with Mrs. Chausse’s creative writing class. She has accomplished an undergraduate degree in psychology with a minor in biology and chemistry. She also earned a masters and doctorate degree in Higher Education Administration. Tara never studied writing; she thought she would no longer enjoy the process if it became work. She has always preferred to keep creative writing as a hobby.

Photo via tskrupa.com

Tara commented that she would often read books that had been published and find herself thinking that she could do a better job. Tara conceived the idea for the plot of her novel when she and her husband were writing their wills. She would often over-think: what if her husband were to die young? If she moved, who would visit his grave? Would she be buried next to him, or would she be buried next to her new husband? This over-thinking flooded her brain causing many sleepless nights. She needed to get her thoughts down onto paper. In a mere six weeks,she completed her novel Safe and Sound.

Photo via http://bookswithtien.blogspot.com/

Throughout the course of the crafting of the novel, the only person aware of the work in progress was her husband. She did not tell anyone else for fear that the novel would be unsatisfactory. Writing is not a full time job for this new author. She works in regards to disciplinary issues at High Point University in North Carolina. During the brief six-week period in which the novel was created, she devoted her weekends and weeknights (often until two or three am) to writing and editing. Before bringing her novel to a publisher, Tara had two of her close friends read the book and offer feedback. One friend was brutally honest; the other did not read often, so Tara figured that if this friend could be interested in the story, then the general public could be as well.

According to Tara, the simplest part of the entire process was the writing of the story. The difficulty lied in the process of getting the novel published. Tara had a friend who knew a publisher. She signed an intellectual rights contract, which means that the publishing company does not have a right to alter her story in any way. When choosing the cover, most options were the classic “beach scene.” Tara did not feel that these common covers would match the mood of her book, so she chose a picture of a white bed with a journal and a cup of coffee on a bedside table; she felt that this picture matched and complimented the story. Most interesting is the name of the book; Safe and Sound are the last three words in the last sentence of the entire novel. Tara chose this for the title of the entire work because it speaks to the story.

T.S. Krupa has spoken at libraries including The Henry Carter Hull Library here in Clinton. She has plans to speak at the library on the small beach town of Oak Island, North Carolina where her novel takes place.

The novel Safe and Sound  has been accepted as a fantastic piece of literature to the audiences that it has reached; it has been given many great reviews. Its popularity is sure to become even greater as it is a quality read. We are thankful to have had the opportunity to listen and learn about Tara’s experience throughout the writing of her first novel. The Morgan School is proud of the success of T.S. Krupa. We hope to see more of her novels in the future!