Category: About Toi

Most of these posts are purely biographical in nature, but can shed light on what inspires Toi’s writing and tend to be quite entertaining. As of October 2015, these posts have all been combined under the About Me label.

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About Toi

#IWSG & Blog Update

I want to say thank you to any and all who have stopped by my blog this month. I also want to apologize for not replying to comments or visiting other blogs yet. I do plan to start replying and commenting tomorrow, but I have been struggling with health issues and trying to balance my day job and all my creative interests and goals. It saddens me that I’m not able to do everything I want to do and often end up falling short in one way or another, sometimes in several ways.

I was supposed to attend a live event today, but it was canceled due to the virus. In all honesty, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to attend the event anyway, given my current condition. In some ways, this cancelation was a blessing. Since I had planned to offer a t-shirt sale at the event, I decided to simply share the sale online (https://litcarnivale.sellmytees.com).

So, in closing, I just want to say, thanks for stopping by and sorry if I’ve dropped the ball so much.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords

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About Toi Videos

Here’s What’s New & Some Videos

It’s been a while since I’ve posted an update outside of an IWSG post but I thought I should so I don’t crowd my next post too much.

  1. I’m making an effort to do more promoting, networking, and advocating in my local area. I’ll be adding my appearances and other events to my contact page for those interested, but this information will also be listed on my Facebook page.
  2. I have short fiction and nonfiction featured in anthologies that are free to the public. Links to these can be found on my page Toi’s Shorts or on the side panel of this blog.
  3. I’m really trying to do better with social media, but it’s a struggle. While I have presences on Twitter, LinkedIn, Tumblr, and Pinterest, I’ve decided to mostly dedicate my time to
    1. Instagram @CarnieTheBookworm
    2. Facebook @ToiThomasAuthor, and
    3. YouTube Toi Thomas & Carnie the Bookworm.
    4. I’m also active on Goodreads but I’m not sure if that really counts. I’d love to follow and or be friends with anyone willing on any of these platforms.
  4. Now, here are two videos I’ve posted recently.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords

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About Toi Holiday

2020 Means Clear Vision

Happy New Years Around the World

Every time I hear someone say 2020, instead of two thousand twenty, I think of eyesight. I haven’t had 20:20 vision for quite a while, but I do feel like I have a pretty clear vision of what I want in the coming year.

First, let’s look back a bit. Yesterday (still going today) I spent most of the day catching up on the last WEP challenge entries. I went out of town for the holiday and wasn’t able to get good Internet service. I was able to access a few things on my iPad, but even that had limitations. So, the rest of this week is catch-up time and next week my New Year will truly begin.

In 2019, I really started to make strides in my efforts to host a book fair by getting my name and idea out there. I attended 3 author/vendor events and narrowed down my ideal venue to two locations. I will spend all of 2020 fundraising so that the 2021 event will be all that I hope.

Below is a breakdown of all that I read in 2019. Click here to see the Goodreads page that displays all the lovely book images and links or visit my Lit Carnivale blog to view it without going through Goodreads.

  • Novel length books = 28
    • Adult Fiction = 11
    • YA Fiction = 3
    • Middle grade = 8
    • Novella/Short Stories = 2
    • Nonfiction = 5
    • Anthology/Collections = 3
  • Graphic Novels = 18
    • Fiction = 15
    • Nonfiction = 3
    • Anthology/Collections = 2
  • Children’s/Picture Books = 25
    • Fiction = 23
    • Nonfiction = 2

In 2019, I also watched a lot a TV and Movies that I should have shared on my YouTube channel. In 2020, I’m going to do better about sharing things and not letting my lack of production value keep me from doing so.

Writing goals for 2020 include publishing a picture book about my dog, at least one short story collection, and hopefully a collaboration. I plan to keep submitting to anthologies and collecting rejection messages. I hope to complete the rewrite of my original paranormal series, though I seem to have hit a wall with it. Even if I complete the rewrite in 2020, the publication will still be a ways off.

Reading goals for 2020, 75 titles (includes nonfiction and fiction: novels, picture books, and graphic novels). I plan to share more of my book reviews than ever before. I also plan to read books written by authors from my local area as well as books by bloggers I’ve followed for some time. I will be sharing much of that experience over at my Lit Carnivale blog.

The last thing I plan to do in 2020, starting today, is going back to revive an old blog series called, Count My Blessings.

I don’t have the new graphic ready yet, but it’s coming. Today I am blessed to see a brand new year filled with new possibilities.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords