Wendy Jo Tetzlaff is following the timeless advice “Write what you know.”

Her new book is “A Girl Named Frannie.”

“The characters/children in the book are real life,” Tetzlaff said, who is a former resident of Austin. “I believe it will captivate audiences of younger children as well as families with loved ones overseas. Grandparents and others as well.”

The book is Tetzlaff’s first. “It took me over a year between writing it and getting up enough courage to get it published,” she said.

She chose PublishAmerica. Not every author has agents and book publishers seek them out. Thus, the role a self-publishing house such as PublishAmerica pays; particularly, when the author is “writing what they know.”

Tetzlaff is a native of Stanley, Wis., who moved to Blue Earth, Minn. when she was 5 years old.

“I was a stay-at-home mom for many years until just recently,” she said. “My children motivate me to write.”

Those children include Samantha Jean, 18; Kaitlyn, 17; and Francesca (Frannie), 12.

She also has a son, Jamie, who is in the U.S. Army.

Tetzlaff is not the first writer in her family.

“My grandmother was born in Albert Lea,” she said. “She was adopted after her parents died and then moved to Wisconsin.

“She once wrote a story about her life, but no one knows what happened to it,” Tetzlaff said.

Her first book was published Dec. 20, 2008 and is now making its way to book store shelves in the region. It is also available by contacting www.publishamerica.com

The self-publishing author is left to marketing her book by herself.

“I have contacted many of the Minnesota book stores about book signings, but have not heard back from any of them yet,” she said.

“It’s just a fun, heart-warming story about life,” said Tetzlaff, who followed the “Write what you know” advice in her book “A Girl Named Frannie.”

For more information about the book, contact the author at tetzmom4 @yahoo.com.