ALL THAT AND THEN SOME...

Various

BET/Arabesque

Previous Rising Stars

Cindi Louis

Tracee Lydia Garner is a fabulous new vibrant author. Her first written work can be found in the September release of the BET anthology ALL THAT AND THEN SOME... . In order for you to get a true feel for this author’s wonderful personality and great sense of humor, I have left her interview in it’s original format. I hope that you find her and her writing as refreshing and energetic as I do.

Garner at a Glance

Name: Tracee Lydia Garner

Occupation: Student/writer/tons of volunteer work

Full Time/Part Time: PT/PT/Over Time

Dream Job: Public Relations Specialist, novelist and Assistive Technology designer

Where do you live: Sterling, VA

Where’s Home: Springfield, VA

The most romantic song ever: If Only For One Night, Luther Vandross

Getting to know Tracee

How did you decide to enter the BET writing contest?

Honestly, I saw it on the net and said this is for me! There was no question whether or not I was going to enter it it was just “Oh my God, do I have enough time to enter it?”

What was it like to win? How did you find out about it?

I found out that I was first a finalist, and I was like ‘oh Wow’, and then I got a call saying that I won. I was waiting in agony because I was told I would know by a certain date and then when that date came and went, I called and said, ‘well hi, um, can you tell me what’s going on with the contest?’ They assured me that plans were being finalized, and of course I was like finalized where in Zimbabwe? Then a week or two later they called and said that I had won. I could hardly contain myself while she was talking but I managed and as soon as I hung up started hollering.

Did you always want to write?

Writing is/was an outlet, but yes I always wanted to write and see my name on some list with the title of my book next to it. I only recently started pursuing it avidly however. When my academics had suffered over and over again, I asked God to give me something else in case the whole degree thing didn’t work out.

When did the writing bug bite you?

I’ve written since elementary school and I’ve written poetry for quite some time. Only after I found out that I was a finalist in the contest, did I begin to feel a more confident about my ability to succeed and thus I started writing more.

Did you ever think that you would write a book?

YES!

Why romance novels?

Writing a romance came just because I was sucked into reading them about two to three years ago. I must read about 3-5 a week. I absolutely love that genre even though I read others. But the happy ending parts are what I find the most enjoyable and feel the fondest about creating. I like giving my characters obstacles, tragedies just like we all face in real life and then to see how they get through them. But as I read myself, I’m fortified by the fact that things will end happily.

Tell me about your writing journey:

My writing began with poetry. I liked to describe my feelings of isolation though having a disability in the abstract. And I like explicating a poem as we do in many of my writing classes when we take apart the work and try to decipher what the author is saying. Poetry allowed me the most freedom ‘free verse’. I didn’t have to worry about grammar, or punctuation with free verse. I could just go at it. Writing something longer I feel, was always there, I just never thought about it enough to sit and say lets’ see, let’s start here and see where we end up. Now that I have, (taken time to sit and write) the characters are like pestering people that won’t leave me alone and I honestly love it, I just wish they’d be quiet at times (when I’m doing my math for instance) because more often than not I just don’t have the time to get with them. I tell them they’ll have to make an appointment or could they please call back later. Laugh!

How did you come up with the idea for your first novel?

I thought about what it would be like to escape from the hospital. While that part of the story is very small, that’s how things come to me, smack dab in the middle. I have to think hard to find some way to lead up to things (create a background and such) and then I have to think harder to come to a resolution. But nothing that comes (to my mind) has a beginning or end. The parts of the story appear in scenes. Secondly, I absolutely love children. I used to work at a daycare center and I miss the kids the most! But for me, even though she’s not mentioned much on the synopsis and excerpts, Lijah (Faye’s daughter) really propels and adds the humorous element to this story. She’s unforgettable as are all of the children that will appear in my future stories.

How much of you is in the personalities of your characters?

I’d like to think a lot of me abides in them. Faye loves fried shrimp and so do I... But the characters come from me so it’s hard not to put me in them, so about ¼. Subconsciously I think more of me goes into them then I intended to put.

Do you identify with their story or is it fiction and fantasy for you?

I do identify always with the heroines emotional “search” part of their character, whether it is family, love, stability or independence. Those kinds of emotional supplements elude many of us as human beings. In all other instances, it is fantasy, for me simply to go away and play make up. I like to leave reality for a couple hours when I pick up a book and I want others to do the same when they pick up mine: leaving their hectic everyday lives for some happiness, strong hero’s/heroines and of course a good love scene that might make them want to ravish their spouse.

What would you like your readers to take away from your story?

If they say ‘that was good’, I’m happy. Otherwise, there’s not much on ‘deep thought provoking material’ I think in Family Affairs. Like I said it’s escapism, and I want people to come away with having a little time to themselves and say ‘I really enjoyed that’ and that there was nothing they felt that went unresolved in the end. I hate that! Other than that if they are really found with an ‘a ha’ moment, or there’s something that really strikes them, that’s a bonus.

What’s next for you as a writer?

I actually have the loveliest editor who’s looking at something right now though I don’t have any takers yet. I want to finish that and while it might not seem like it pertains to writing, if I can get through Math 151 and 152, I’ll certainly be a more productive and HAPPY writer. Otherwise I have three projects on hold, each vastly different about 3/4 of the way finished.

How can readers contact you?

I don’t have a P.O. Box yet but I’m working on it. Otherwise send me tons of e-mail at Teegarner@aol.com.

Advice for aspiring authors:

Believe in your abilities as a writer. You are your own worse critic and soon you begin to buy into the negative feelings you have about what you are producing. Even if you don’t write daily as I don’t or keep a journal, as I don’t, I believe that that’s okay, (I know, I know, everyone says write everyday, keep a journal, be disciplined, but face it some just aren’t into that as I’m not). When I do sit down, however, I output ten to fifteen pages and that’s because I’ve been thinking about it a lot. Soooo, think about your story often, about the direction, about the characters and possibly just write little notes to yourself (as I do) about it and then when you do finally sit down, you may write more than if you pushed yourself to write everyday. Stop reading handbooks on how to write. Many people, prepare, prepare, prepare by reading tons of books on plot, character development, climax, setting, resolutions and denouements, and that’s fine, but there’s a time when you sit down and write and all of that knowledge is useless if you don’t begin to apply what you’ve learned.