Despite the many drawbacks and difficulties of the COVID-19 pandemic this year, a 2020 Bellefontaine High School graduate said having the extra time at home this spring provided her with a little boost toward a longtime goal of getting her first book published.
Taryn Mullins, who is currently studying English at the main campus of The Ohio State University, with plans to attend graduate school and become a lawyer one day, published her book of poetry, Extremities, this fall via Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing. It is available for purchase via Amazon.
She said she wrote the poetry in the collection over a four-year period from 2016 to 2020 while enrolled in high school.
“I really started to get serious about publishing when the pandemic sent us all home,” she said about the statewide closure of schools that began in mid-March. “Of course I had all of my poems by then, but I still needed to make my manuscript and publish.
“In March, I think I finished my manuscript and then began to add drawings to accompany some of the poems. That took about six months, and with some last-minute checking, I then published in September.”
The OSU Scholars Program student said inspiration for her poetry came from all over, including from friends and family members. Other poems in the anthology are written about seemingly simple objects.
“My book title is ‘Extremities,’ named after extreme feelings someone might experience. It is a gripping poetry anthology with a range of themes, from loss, happiness, grief, pain, joy: Extremities has it all,” the daughter of Chad Mullins and Mindy Jerviss said.
“I just wanted a collection that was a little variable, but still worked cohesively. Most of them are written in the free verse poetry style.”
The English major, who also is considering adding a criminology minor as well, said the process of writing her book was both simple and complicated at the same time.
“There’s so many different things to think about, like the types of poems you’ll include, placement of them, typeface, quantity and length of poems, sizing, etc., which makes it a bit complicated.
“However, it was still simple in that I knew a basic layout of what I wanted to include. It was just having all the extra little things to think about that made it complicated.”
The BHS graduate related that she had some help from friends in editing, including asking them which version of a poem sounded better, or what to put in instead of what was already there.
Throughout the writing and publishing process, Mullins said Bellefontaine City Schools staff member Angie Horvath, coordinator of gifted services and Advanced Placement coordinator, provided her with much encouragement and helpful insights.
“She’s always been an amazing teacher who has encouraged me to follow my dreams. I spent lots of time with her throughout the process of writing and in that time, she has done so much. I can’t thank her enough for where she has pushed me and the support she has been there to give.”
While pursuing her studies at OSU and looking to become the first in her family to achieve a bachelor’s degree, she said authoring another book is a milestone she would like to achieve as well.
“As for future goals in writing, I definitely plan to write more. I have started a second poetry book already, but would love to publish both poetry books and novels.”