Ms. Lockhart is author of the novel....Ten Houses Filled With Leaves.
Summary of the novel: ("Part of a child's maturation is forming a personal identity and, after deciding what kind of person they want to be, coming to grips with reality both from within and without as they make their way in the world. Meet Maisi Waverly, a young Black girl who is lighter skinned than most of her counterparts as well as exotically attractive, garnering the attention of both adults and her peers, although sometimes this attention is unwarrantedly negative. Nevertheless, Maisi seems to form friendships with the most unlikely of people, primarily because she is quite secure with herself and her identity. She refuses to be a party to society's forms of suppression and flaunts her independent and free spirit as she sticks to her morals and takes care of business. From the lives of babes, we can learn so much about ourselves and becoming comfortable in the skin in which we were born.")
MLAC: How has your childhood influenced your work?
TML: I've seen a lot of things in my life! I had a strict upbringing...my parents wouldn't let me go anywhere without supervision. But when I was older, and on my own, I had a lot of life experiences that made me grow into the person I am now. Sometimes when you're sheltered, you're scared to show your true self and you keep things private. This book is a way to express my true feelings. It made me become more outspoken. I've been writing since I was 5 or 6 years old...telling stories and writing poetry. I wrote Cheers for the Cheer Leading Squad. Many of my works that I have produced were kept secret because I didn't want people to figure out anything about me. But now I have become much stronger through some of the tragedies I've encountered and want to express myself through my work. And maybe these can inspire, entertain and educate people.
MLAC: Who are the authors that have inspired you?
TML: There were some children's books that have inspired me, such as the Funny Guy ...A different period in time that my grandmother would speak about. The main character was an outcast who had hardly any friends. I related to this character because when we were growing up, we moved around a lot and we weren't able to hold onto friendships for a long period of time.
MLAC: Can you tell us what drove you to write a book?
TML: I wanted to write a book because I wanted to educate myself through the process of becoming an author...and I had a story to tell.
MLAC: What are some of your previous works?
TML: I wrote a play for the Newark, NJ School System and the South Jersey School System. My play is about a son who is on drugs...how parents are in denial...and are enablers. The parents actually need to go to counseling, too. I know people who have experienced this ordeal and how it affects the whole family.
MLAC: What are you currently working on?
TML: I am writing a documentary about my father's life and his medical conditions and how it changed everything. It made me look at hospitals differently. To write this piece, I had to learn all about medical procedures and the outcomes. This documentary is a closure to what happened to my father when he entered the hospital. I had waited 5 years before I really started to think about it and put words on paper. I went through so many emotions, such as anger, sadness, disappointment and hurt.
MLAC: Please explain some of the challenges and the process for self publishing a book.
TML: I thought about the discriminatory situations and language...and should I include this in the book? I realized that the story could not be told without some of the graphic material because of the type of situations that the main character lived through. When I was writing the book, I had to become all of the characters to decipher the outcomes of the situations. The first step toward publishing was to send my work to the Library of Congress for a copyright. For publishing the book, I reviewed several companies and decided on Dorrance Publishing Company which is located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They had several payment options and ways to advertise. Dorrance had hands on assistance for production, promotion and distribution.
To purchase the novel Ten Houses Filled With Leaves written by Tina Marie Lockhart go to www.amazon.com or www.barnes and noble.com.
No comments:
Post a Comment