Her first novel

Tyrone, Okla., author Sherrilyn Polf credits the accomplishment of her fist novel “A Matter of Trust” to her love of writing and old, unwanted letters and drawings from the World War II era.

“I’ve always wanted to do a major book,” said Polf. “It just never seemed like the right time. About two years ago, my son-in-law came home from cleaning out an old estate of an engineer. They were throwing these old letters away and charts ... My son-in-law picked them up and brought them back to me.”

The grandmother of two always wanted to be a published author. Over the years, she wrote poetry, children’s books for her family and feature articles for The Southwest Daily Times from 1983 to 1984. However, she had never written a novel.

She had contemplated characters for a novel and a story, but it was the letters written to aeronautical engineer Carl Baberger of Colorado during World War II that helped Polf create a story. However, Polf revealed Baberger is not be a major character in “A Matter of Trust.”

“A Matter of Trust” was released on Feb. 9. The book centers around Dena, a first-year college student at Stanford University in 1939. Dena travels from rural Colorado to California to study engineering with her uncle. Her uncle, a well-established engineering professor, becomes a part of Howard Hughes' elite aeronautical team.

“It is about the coming age of planes and the coming of age of this young girl,” said Polf. “She finds herself in the exciting world of blueprinting and then she starts getting involved in aeronautical engineering.”

“A Matter of Trust” was a two-year writing assignment for Polf. In order to accomplish the task, Polf forced herself to a rigorous schedule. She devoted six-to-eight hours a day to writing and research. She spoke with the senior residents of Liberal Springs nursing home to find out what it was like during the pre-World War II era. She conducted Internet searches to check fashion, musical hits and dates of 1939.

“You write when your characters tell you to,” said Polf. “I try to write every day. Sometimes I will not start writing until 2 p.m. and write into the night. I always try to get started at 8 a.m. or 9 a.m.”

After two years of writing, research and editing, Polf began to look for a publisher. Again through the Internet, she found Tate Publishing in Mustang, Okla. The company publishes first-time novelists, something Polf found not true of all publishing companies.

Sherrilyn Polf Photos by Jessica Marie

“When I first sent the book in, it was 675 pages,” said Polf. “The young lady sent them back to me and said we cannot accept this. It is too long for a first time author. People will not buy a first time author or a book they don’t know anything about at that size. It was either edit it or cut it into two.”

Polf cut the book into two, developing her story into a series titled "Engineers of Flight.” The first novel was cut to 309 pages. The remaining pages is Polf's draft for her second book. An outline has been crafted for the third novel. A fourth and fifth series novels are still in the thought process, Polf said.

After signing the contract with the publisher, Polf said it took a year to have a finished product. In a year's time, Polf worked with 15 different editors. Each one of the editors specializing in a different aspect ranging from grammar editing to artwork editors.

In November, a package arrived at Polf's doorstep with the finished product.

“I just kept thinking, 'I can’t believe it,'” said Polf. “I just held it close to my chest and was in awe that I did this.”

“A Matter of Trust” is available at Liberal Memorial Library and the Olive Warner Memorial Library in Hooker, Okla. The book can be purchased at Hastings in Liberal or at Barnesandnoble.com, Amazon.com.

Currently, Polf is marketing her first novel and will be conducting library talks and book signings in the area. She plans to explain to others the process she took in writing the novel, explain the series and answer any questions from readers.

Since “A Matter of Trust” was released a month ago, Polf has already received reader feedback. Her 84-year-old mother told her she couldn’t put it down and read it in four-days. A librarian from the Hooker library called Polf and immediately asked when to expect the second novel in the series.

“I am happy they are liking it because I had fun writing it,” said Polf. “I know I’ve done my job.”

No release dates have been set for Polf’s second novel, “If In Doubt...Believe.”
Since accomplishing the novel, Polf has looked into Baberger's life and found he passed away in 1990 and has no living relatives. Polf said she has neither seen a photo of Baberger, nor found letters he wrote. It was her creativity alone that developed him into a character and a storyline that centered around him.

Polf is excited to have accomplished her dreams of being a published novelist. She encourages any aspiring writer to just write.

For full story please see Friday's newspaper

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