Le Sueur woman's life is for the birds

Nestled in everyone's heart is a dream waiting to be fulfilled. Nestled in a Le Sueur woman's heart is her love for birds.

So why not put the two together?

Well, with a little determination and a lot of hard work, Wendy Mueller is making her dreams come true: She has designed, published and is marketing her own book. But getting there meant sacrificing time, energy, money and even her job.

"I was working at jobs that I was unhappy at," Mueller said. "I just needed to do something challenging and rewarding and fulfilling. So I quit my jobs and I took a risk.'

That was seven months ago.

A week after Mueller walked away from her job, following a few years of doing informal research, she began the process of designing "The Birder's Book," a journal for bird lovers.

"I looked in bookstores for the type of book that I wanted to do and didn't find anything quite like it," Mueller said. "I wanted a book for your backyard birder."

Reading two books on self-publishing was Mueller's first task after leaving her job. The books taught her where to start and what to do along the way to getting her book on store shelves. She chose to self-publish in order to avoid the hassle of publication houses, which, when and if they accept book proposals, can take an additional six months to a year before they actually begin publishing.

The whole process of writing, designing and publishing her book took six months for this ambitious mother of two.

Mueller said that as a child and even as a young adult she had never really paid attention to birds, though as she became older, her appreciation for birds began to grow.

Living in Phoenix for eight years, Mueller would watch hummingbirds and roadrunners from time to time. But it was after moving back to Minnesota from Phoenix in the early 90s that she really started to notice birds, watching her parents feed their flying visitors on a regular basis at their home near the Sand Prairie area

The highlight to Mueller's book project occurred in mid-May at the Fourth Annual Festival of the Birds in Detroit Lakes. There, Mueller said, world-renowned birders Don and Lillian Stokes, who have written more than 20 field guides to birds, bought one of her books from her booth.

"The most exciting thing was Don and Lillian Stokes," Mueller said.

She credits much of her success to her long-time boyfriend, Scott, a web-developer, who helped her with the layout and design of the book. He is now working on developing her web site.

"He's been my biggest support and my biggest help." Mueller said. "He's been working on the project with me since the very beginning. I couldn't have done it without him."

And for future plans?

For the time being, Mueller wants to concentrate on marketing "The Birder's Book," which she says, has endless possibilities. But after this book takes off she may explore some of her other ideas for journal books.

Mueller's book is being sold at independent bookstores and gift shops around the state including the Next Chapter bookstore in Montgomery and Miranda Floral and Gifts in Le Sueur. The book can also be purchased by calling Mueller directly at (507) 655-2281