Roberts: Self-Published, Self-Made

by Phillip Hudson, Student Reporter

The last document was uploaded to Kindle Direct Publishing. Baleigh Roberts looked over the document, moving it from place to place until she liked how it looked. It was a simple process, but it still took some time to get it all set up in her book, “The Moon Can Take His Time.”

“When I’m writing poetry it allows me to work through things I’m going through or anything that might be bothering me at the time,” Roberts said.

Roberts does not recall what initially go her into writing, just that it gave her the chance to escape into her own world. Over the years, she has created many worlds through not only poetry, but also her young adult novel with the working title, “The Most Important Thing.”

Roberts has always been interested with young people and how their minds work. She hoped that by writing for and about them that perhaps she would be able to help them in some way.

Kate Lane, the English department chair, helped Roberts work on her young adult novel in an independent study.

Writers sometimes need another person to observe their work in case there is something that does not exactly work: character development, some words not encapsulating what that writer wants or if scenes slow the story down.

“Like most new writers, she has an image in her head and assumes everyone can see it. She is getting better,” Lane said.

“Dr. Lane helped me with content and figuring out some things in terms of the direction of the novel. She was also a really good second set of eyes for me in terms of grammar and spelling issues,” Roberts said.

Besides the independent study with Lane, Roberts worked with a writers workshop with another professor’s two independent studies.

Dawn Allen said people take independent studies when they need another credit hour, usually a humanities.

“Bale is a dark writer,” Allen said, “Young adult dark is edgy. Talks about HIVs and teen pregnancies; stuff parents like to pretend teens don’t talk about.”
Roberts is not shy, but is very critical of her own work. She will not come up and ask you to read her work, but she does put it on social media for people to read.

“I do show my poems. I have an Instagram for them. You can literally search my name on Instagram and find me,” Roberts said.

Allen countered, saying, “Not everybody has an Instagram, Baleigh,”

The poems on Robert’s Instagram are all short, the longest being eight lines, and her longest line with nine words in it. She does not write any particular style like a sonnet or with any rhyme scheme. Roberts says they are like experiments.

“I have no idea what kind of poetry I write. Maybe free verse,” Roberts said.

While her poems are out both in book and on social media to read, there is no mention about her young adult novel, because Roberts hasn’t let many people read it. The few that have read her book enjoyed the literature.

“She is a solid writer, imaginative, and she has a keen eye for observation,” Lane said.

Lane said most of her advice about Roberts’ book about fleshing out the characters. Her main character, the young woman that in her narrative is between childhood and adulthood, needed to be more sarcastic to fit Roberts’ description.

Patricia Pixler, a fellow senior English major and president of Alva’s Writers Roundtable—which Roberts was a part of for a year—is one of the few people who has read parts of the novel.

She described it as very creative, sarcastic and good-natured. Roberts has not let her fully read it, but Pixler describes it as a romantic coming of age story. Pixler prefers fantasy novels but she definitely wants to fully read Roberts’ book when she publishes it.

“She’s such a natural writer,” Pixler said, “very emotive.”

Roberts felt her that her work is emotional too.

“It is thought-provoking and heartfelt,” Roberts said.

Changing your Major
Roberts was not on the path to be a writer as a living. She was a nursing major at first. Bethany Pierce, a junior, took chemistry with Roberts.

“She wrote behind me in class,” Pierce said.

Outside of class, Pierce and Roberts worked one year together in the NWOSU library.

Roberts is still involved with nursing, working as a certified nurse’s aide at The Commons retirement community in Enid.

Roberts still worked at the college library while she attended NWOSU, working there during the week and at the Commons every other weekend.

Pierce is very interested in seeing where Robert’s poetry will take her.

“I could see her getting into the publishing business. Start her own company maybe. Being her own boss,” Pierce said.

Not being a writer herself, Pierce knows Roberts in a different way than Lane and Allen.

“She’s very passionate about being a descendant of English Quakers,” Pierce said, “she has an excellent sense of humor, but somebody said she looked Asian and it bothered her.”

Roberts used to know all the lyrics to the soundtrack of “Hamilton”, the Broadway musical about Alexander Hamilton, loves Gilmore girls (not the new season) and knows a lot about British royalty, according to Pierce.

Part of the reason she knows a lot about British royalty may be to the fact that, according to Pixler, Roberts is a history minor. Pixler also says Roberts loves cats.

“We have bonded over our love for cats, Emily Dickinson and Jane Austin,” Pixler said.

Austin and Dickinson are among a few of the writers that Roberts said have influenced her, but also William Wordsworth, Rupi Kaur, Byron, John Green and Charlotte Bronte. Lane said that she is not surprised by the writers Roberts reports as her influencers.

“There are subtle nuances. It’s difficult to not pick up bits from our favorite authors,” Lane said.

Pierce has not read any of Roberts’ poetry. She did not know she had even published a poetry book. Lane did not know either. Roberts did not come to her for help on her poetry.

“She did that independently,” Lane said.

Roberts may come off shy at first, but her fellow scholars describe her as being very independent. Roberts worked two jobs and published a poetry book on top of graduating college with an English Bachelors in three years in May of 2019.

“I admire how hard she works both school and two jobs,” Pixler said.

Pixler desires to publish some work as well. She is very shy about her work as well.

“It was inspiring that she published a book. I am an introvert and she had the motivation to do it,” Pixler said.

Pixler graduated in 2019 as well. She and Roberts thought about going to graduate school, but they look too forward to not having school work getting in the way of them writing.

After editing, and while she has her school work out of the way, “The Moon Can Take His Time” is just as Roberts wants it.