Life & Work with Tim Tolka

Today we’d like to introduce you to Tim Tolka. 

Hi Tim, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My writing career has been a story of hitchhiking and entering through the windows. Before working as an entrepreneur, a teacher, and a business intelligence researcher, I was a traveler, raised on the road by evangelists. Once old enough to drive, I explored on my own. It began with weekend road trips across 5 or more states with only enough money for gas. My high school classmates referred to me, with a mix of derision and admiration, as a romantic. 

Then, I graduated to 5 or more countries with barely enough to pay for room and board. I got into plenty of scrapes with danger and more than a few with the law. I have been escorted by police or public officials out of two countries, but in Canada of all places, the authorities actually called my dad and were like, what is your son doing? He just showed up at 10 pm at night, without enough money to pay for dinner and no contacts. That was basically the story of my 20s, leaping without a plan but always landing on my feet. 

Before the pandemic arrived, I quit my teaching job in San Francisco and moved to Mexico City to take my writing full-time. It was a lucky choice because the pandemic actually supercharged my writing business. I remained in Mexico through the pandemic and only decamped to Argentina, returning to LA when the film industry got back into gear. 

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I spent years not knowing where I was actually going. I worked for companies that I didn’t like with missions that didn’t speak to me. I didn’t know what I was supposed to do or pursue as a purpose. I’d leave for a trip to another country, going to Brazil or Italy for the fifth time, but I didn’t understand why I was doing it. 

What I didn’t realize was that I was gathering experience that would later inform my writing and help me identify with clients – no matter where someone is from, I’ve either been there or know something about the place. 

Now that I’ve found my purpose and I am living my proverbial dream, one of my ongoing struggles is writing from the heart and not just going through the motions of creativity. 

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I wanted to be a writer with experience, knowledge, and analytical prowess behind my words, so I spent six years abroad, learning four languages, and I got a master’s degree in international political economy, which helped me become a professional researcher. 

In my travels abroad, I realized that the citizens of each country live in an information bubble created by local authorities and confirmation bias, so I wanted to escape from that and get exposure to different perspectives, especially on the USA and American activities abroad. Sufficient to say, my eyes were opened. 

After visiting 40 countries, I became very jaded, not just about the USA, but about humanity in general. The more I dug into history, the more I realized that the awful truth is always covered up. After finishing my Master’s, I intended to work overseas as a humanitarian do-gooder, but I changed my mind, realizing that most aid workers are actually reinforcing current power dynamics and participating in a big racket that generally doesn’t help the global poor at all. 

So, I decided to be a muckraker and troublemaker in my own country. I spent six years investigating police brutality and I wrote a scorched earth account of a civil rights lawyer’s 20-year battle against two corrupt, racist police departments in Ohio. Again, my eyes were opened, and I became even more jaded than before. 

Then, I started writing true crime and memoirs for victims of injustice, which finally led me to screenwriting. It was a long detour, almost 20 years of research and experience, but I’m a much better writer because of all that wandering and investigation. 

Now, I have written about criminals, cops, criminal cops, soldiers, entrepreneurs, dreamers, journalists, and victims from all walks of life. I have inhabited the voices of women of color, adapting novels to scripts and scripts to novels. I’ve also vicariously lived the life of a mobster, carrying out orders and later languishing behind bars. 

When I must relate to someone who grew up in a different setting with another set of circumstances, I dig into their lived experience, using my research skills, which helps me achieve authenticity. 

For me, a writer must have an open passport, and by now, mine has a ton of stamps. 

Can you talk to us a bit about the role of luck?
Luck definitely played a role, and I think that’s part of the reason I loved hitchhiking so much. Each day of travel, you didn’t know where you would end up or who you’d meet. It was like betting on Blackjack, but with people, as you’re playing cards. 

Now, that luck of the draw is played out in my client list. After hearing my name or stumbling upon my website, people contact me with a story begging to be told, and I get to discover new, exciting stories in search of an outlet, and I have the sacred opportunity to give them a voice. That makes me feel lucky. 

Contact Info:

• Website: https://timtolka.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/timtolka/

Image Credits
Cecilia Cartasegna