1. What made you decide to write When God Made the Dakotas?

Tim Kessler: There was no decision, it was more like a compelling urge that struck me while I was flying back to North Dakota from a history-drenched visit to Boston. It may be best described as inspiration because I had no preconceived notions of a story when I took out my paper and pen on that airplane and began to write.

However, the event that pushed me to try to get When God Made the Dakotas published took place in the summer of 1999. In a two-week period, from July 1st to July 14th, I drove 5700 miles crisscrossing North Dakota in an attempt to reach every town on the official state highway map before my retiring from the North Dakota Air National Guard on the 15th of July. I was struck, over and over again, with the wide-open beauty of the prairies, but I was also deeply saddened by what I saw. And that was because so many of our smaller rural communities were passing away before my eyes. Out-migration has taken a toll on my native state, and even those who remain in the state have moved to the larger cities. As I drove, I remembered the story and decided I would try to get it published so that I could share the special beauty of the Dakotas with my fellow Dakotans and with those who have not had a chance to live in this unique landscape.

2. What kind of research did you do before you wrote When God Made the Dakotas?

Tim Kessler: I grew up, like other kids in the 50s, loving Indian legends. But my real interest in Native America began more than thirty-five years ago when my older sister roomed with a Lakota student at the University of North Dakota. Like much of white America, most of what I thought I knew about Indians and their history was wrong or terribly one-sided. Through my sister, who went on to live and work on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation, and through my own dealings with minority recruiting in the Air Guard, I have continued to learn about the cultures of the Great Plains that preceded our own. The only specific research I did relative to When God Made the Dakotas was to insure that the Dakota words I used were legit. Fortunately, I happen to have a rare, original copy of John P. Williamson's 1902 "English-Dakota Dictionary." That dictionary, reprinted in 1994 by the Minnesota Historical Society, is still used in Dakota language courses.

3. Did you write many drafts?

Tim Kessler: I'm probably better described as a re-writer than a writer, so the answer is almost always yes. In the case of When God Made the Dakotas, I was forced into re-writing it because I lost the original when we lost our home to the Fargo flood of 1997.

4. Is the story true?

Tim Kessler: No, it is not an authentic Dakota legend.

5. Do you have any advice for would-be writers?

Tim Kessler: Read. Read a lot, read widely, and, especially, read Peter Elbow's "Writing with Power." Then write. Write a lot, write widely, and keep writing until your own style develops.

6. What characteristics do writers need most?

Tim Kessler: Writers need discipline, the ability to heal quickly, and respect for readers.

7. Can you tell us one thing people may not know about you?

Tim Kessler: I grew up sharing a small bedroom with five siblings (three sets of bunk beds) while the baby slept with Mom and Dad and, meanwhile, the Gibneys with their five children rented the upstairs. This may explain why I value my privacy so much.

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