Dear Reader Column 05-26-2020

Dear Reader,

Today's guest author, Tonya "T. I." Lowe, is a native of coastal South Carolina. She attended Coastal Carolina University and the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, where she majored in psychology but excelled in creative writing. In 2014, Tonya independently published her first novel, Lulu's Cafe, which quickly became a bestseller. Now the author of twelve published novels with hundreds of thousands of copies sold, she knows she's just getting started and has many more stories to tell. She resides near Myrtle Beach with her family. Her brand new book is Driftwood Dreams.

Please welcome Tonya to the book club: Email: ti.lowe@yahoo.com

Peeking inside a Crumpled Bag and Finding More than I Bargained For

Have you ever had an aha moment? So out of the blue, it makes you take a long pause to ponder it? I've had plenty of these moments over the years, but I'd like to share one in particular with you. A simple writing prompt in middle school turned into an aha moment for me.

'You find a paper bag on the side of the road. Describe what you find inside.'

Now keep in mind I'm an '80s kid from the South. We were still allowed outside to roam, usually barefoot, until the porch lights came on. So this writing prompt made sense at the time.

Once the papers were complete, all of the students had to share their stories. One student described finding a bag full of Sugar Babies candy, and the class thought that was the best thing ever. I agreed too, because those creamy caramel bites are so good! Another student found cold, hard cash in his bag--nothing wrong with that, either. Food, toys, and money were the fun yet practical route my classmates took. Everyone, that is, but me. My story in a nutshell:

The aroma of cotton candy and popcorn wafted from my bag at first, and that sounded similar enough to the others' stories, but that is where the similarities ended. I opened the bag, and jovial music escaped as I peeked inside. The lively scene before my eleven-year-old eyes unfolded and revealed a circus! Not a picture or plastic figurines, but a real-life circus filled with trapeze performances, clown parades led by giant elephants, and a ringleader directing it all.

You can imagine my embarrassment, thinking I'd really missed the mark on this. But then our teacher praised me for my creativity of thinking outside the "bag," and other students agreed it was pretty cool.

Their encouragement unleashed a dream that day, and that dream haunted me most of my life. See, I'm as country as corn bread and tend to talk in double negatives peppered with a good bit of Southern slang, so the idea of pursuing my dream of writing didn't seem attainable. Even with encouragement from most of my English teachers, the problem resided solely with me. Someone else could believe in me all day long, but it did me no good unless I believed in myself.

I was close to forty when I lost my mother after a difficult battle with cancer. This devastating event pushed me to hang up my insecurities and believe in myself, knowing full well I wasn't guaranteed a tomorrow to do it.

It's taken a lot of hard work to find my way into this epic book world, but I wouldn't give up the journey for anything and will continue to give it my all. Life is a gift, yet it has an expiration date. I've chosen not to waste any more time.

I encourage you to do the same--to find your own unique adventure in a "crumpled paper bag."

-- T. I. Lowe

Drop T.I. a note at ti.lowe@yahoo.com

Thanks for reading with me. It's so good to read with friends.

Suzanne Beecher
Suzanne@DearReader.com

AUTHORBUZZ: Click here to discover new books, "meet" the authors and enter to win.

QUEEN MOVE (Fiction) by Kennedy Ryan

The promise of romance is that, by the end, they'll live happily ever after. I'm profoundly interested in, not just how love ends, but how it's tried. I grew up in a rural community where everyone knew everyone and we looked out for each other. It was "found family" before I had a name for it. My novel weaves together the themes of love against all odds and found family into a tale that, I hope, will prove entirely unique and deeply familiar.

Go to: AUTHORBUZZ click on QUEEN MOVE to read more and to email author Kennedy Ryan, you'll get a reply.

KIDSBUZZ: Click here to discover new books, "meet" the authors and enter to win.

* This month's Penguin Classics book is BLACK SHACK ALLEY, by Joseph Zobel. I have a copy of the book to share with a lucky reader, so start reading and enter for your chance to win.

Comments

[TI Lowe]

thank you!