
Baltimore-born T.M. Brown owes much of her success to her faith, her grandparents’ love, her education, as well as her strength, perseverance and desire to succeed. She considers her book, “A Life Not My Own,” to be a therapeutic leap of faith, allowing her to deal with the many secrets and heart-aches she has held on to since her childhood and young adult life. She lives and writes in Stroudsburg, Pa.
2. When did you first consider yourself a writer?
I’m still not sure I consider myself to be a writer. Instead, I am a person who had a story to tell.
3. What inspired you to write your first book?
I carried the manuscript around in my purse for a very long time. It never seemed to be the right time to pursue publishing it. When the time came. I went for it!
4. What books have influenced your life most?
I love to read, although I don’t read nearly as often as I’d like. I particularly like books about real people, books that encourage, books I can relate to.
5. If you had to choose, which writer would you consider a mentor?
Honestly, no one comes to mind…
6. How have your personal experiences affected your writing?
“A Life Not My Own” is the story of early life – as a child and young adult – focusing on the struggles that I lived through and how they affected her later in life. Some of the issues she touches on include drug addition, love, family, dreams and single, teenage motherhood. I’m sharing my soul with readers about my life in Baltimore, as well as my experiences during her service in the military.
7. What do you like to do when you’re not writing?
I’m a Human factors Engineer by day and a writer by night
8. Where do you get your ideas for your books?
A Life Not My Own is my first book. It’s my memoirs
9. Have you written a book you love that you have not been able to get published? Currently writing book 2
10. If you couldn’t be an author, what would your ideal career be?
Not really sure, I’ve had several very different careers paths and I’ve loved them all.
11. What was your favorite chapter to write and why?
An excerpt from “A Life Not My Own”:
“SSHHH, be quiet boy! You want to eat, don’t you? Just take the stuff on top and let’s go!
“Who dat? Lil Tina and Mack, iz dat you?
“Yes Ma’am”
“What yal doing down dere? What……. Yal come on up here right now!”
“See…I told you to be quiet! Now, we in trouble.”
I like this passage because it grabs my readers’ attention and I try really hard to keep it;)
12. Why do you feel you had to tell this story?
It’s not that my story is unique. But I do hope that readers find inspiration in my story. “Everyone has experienced ups and downs. The ones that make it through are not without scares. While our struggle may be different, we all have hurtles to overcome. We can be whomever we chose to be”
13. Can you tell us about your upcoming book?
Partially fiction, based on bit and pieces of information my grandmother shared with me over the years, mixed with a high dosage of imagination.
14. How do you market your book(s)?
I have a marketing package through AuthorHouse publishers, but I do a lot of social networking as well as hitting the pavements to get the work out.
15. Do you have any advice for aspiring authors?
Write about what you know. Keep it simple. Readers are less interested in eloquence articulation as they are in a really good story that touches them.