I’m Tim Seefeldt, a former newspaper reporter and TV news producer now trying to get my novel(s) on book shelves – 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 literally re-learn the 3Rs, 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 to a long, successful career as a novelist. But I was so caught up in 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 with my stories.
I didn’t waste it.
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.
Some bad news there, though. It was due out this fall – then my publisher went broke. Work is underway trying to finalize a deal with a newer, better publisher. Stay tuned, as we used to say in the news biz.
Notable work
Unpublished books aside, I’ve contributed to literary and journalistic platforms such as Esoterica and Litbreak Magazine, where I have published short fiction like The Gunman Who Forgot Who to Shoot and Whatever Happened to American Standard?. A story about my stroke and recovery – which inspired my non-fiction book – ran in the Edmonton Journal and several other newspapers across Canada. The long road back
Not quite as notable, I’ve done a bit of stand-up comedy and a little more is coming soon.
brain food cafe 
Hi Tim – I’m a speech lang pathologist down in Minnesota. I’m so grateful for stumbling upon your blog. It is extremely interesting to hear about things from an insider’s perspective. I’ll be recommending your blog to my patients who have survived a stroke or a traumatic brain injury, if you don’t mind. Thanks for creating such a valuable resource- it’s helpful to therapists as well!
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My pleasure, Molly. Your Canadian counterparts are why I’m able to do what I’m doing (see previous blogs and Edmonton Journal story from a few weeks back)! Please recommend to patients, fellow professionals or anybody you think would find it of value. I’m sorry that you had to stumble onto the blog. I’m finding I have a lot to learn about spreading the blog’s reach. Any sharing or advice is valued. BTW, I have loads of distant cousins in Minnesota and the Dakotas, where my grandfather and two of his brothers moved to Canada from.
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