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Happy 2nd Blog Anniversary! – An Interview, Part 5, Finale

anniversayGreetings readers, bloggers, geeks, and authors. It’s my anniversary and I thought I’d interview myself and share it with you. I’ve come a long way as a writer, blogger, reviewer, and interviewer and I’d thought it would be nice to share some of the things I’ve learned and tell you a little about myself, in case you don’t already know.

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What’s the most fun experience I’ve ever had, to date?

I have so many fond memories with friends and family that it’s nearly impossible to focus in on just one, but I’ll do my best. When I think long and hard about it, I’d have to say that my most fun experiences are of times spent on short little trips with my husband.

One year we got away from it all: our jobs, our friends, and our families just to spend a private Thanksgiving together. It was really nice and a lot of fun, especially since our getaway destination was Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA or as I like to call it “Little Vegas”.

The whole experience was weird, fun, nice, and exciting in a way that’s just too complicated to describe here. I sincerely hope we get the chance to recreate that moment again down the road.

Not that I can see into the future, but in my opinion, what does the future hold?

I’m going to go against my very nature and try to be positive here. I’m a realist, but I feel a need to look on the bright side, or at least search for one. I hope that the US figures out that what it’s doing isn’t working and realizes it may be time to let some non-politicians come up with some ideas for how to fix things. I hope that at some point the rich will stop trying to keep all the rich people rich and the poor people poor and start focusing on how to manage their wealth in a way that allows them to keep wealth without keeping it from others.

As for me, if by some miracle I’m able to step away from a day-job and write full-time, I’ll be happy, but if not I’ll still be right here sharing with all of you. I’ll be doing that anyway…but hopefully in the future there will be a lot more of you to share with.

Is there a message or cause that I want to share with the world?

I could stand on my soap box and talk all day about all kinds of issues that I feel are important, but I won’t go against the nature of this blog, which is to be lighthearted. If you really want to know how I feel, get to know me. Aside from my author page, Toi Thomas, on Facebook, I have a personal profile as Toinette Thomas. You don’t have become my friend to see what I’m doing, thinking, and sharing. Follow me for a while and see for yourself.

Aside from that, I’ve posted, in several places on this blog, some of the causes that I’m actively promoting and giving to, including The American Cancer Society. Please feel free to seek them out and learn more.

 

Any last words to offer these readers after visiting here at the ToiBox of Words?

In case you haven’t picked up on it by now, this is a very diverse blog and I am a diverse person. I don’t have a lot of extremes about me and I don’t fit neatly into any specific category. In truth, I think that most people are like this whether they realize it or not. I think that we are all more alike than we are different and I welcome all to experience what the ToiBox of Words has to offer.

My blog motto: “I promote books and authors because I think authors should be just as important to the world of entertainment as music groups and movie stars.”

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Okay readers, bloggers, geeks, and authors, that’s all for today…unless you have a question you’d like to ask me. 😉

Thank you for sticking with me these past two years and these past five days. I hope you have enjoyed at least some of the things I’ve shared. I do so humbly look forward to seeing you around the ToiBox of Words in the future.

This has been a

interviewpic-toibox

 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 Other

Happy 2nd Blog Anniversary! – An Interview, Part 4

anniversayGreetings readers, bloggers, geeks, and authors. It’s my anniversary and I thought I’d interview myself and share it with you. I’ve come a long way as a writer, blogger, reviewer, and interviewer and I’d thought it would be nice to share some of the things I’ve learned and tell you a little about myself, in case you don’t already know.

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What is my favorite food or meal and why?

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Food is an issue with me. I enjoy cooking and baking and experiencing new food sensations, even when I turn out not to like them. Food, like music, is one of those things that I believe can bring people together across racial, national, and religious barriers.

My favorite food is rice. I can eat it almost any kind of way and with anything, but most of all I can eat it plain.

My favorite meal changes, right now I’m going through an Indian cuisine phase, but I’ll never be tired of my mother’s vegetable stew with cornbread. It’s the one thing she makes that’s better than everything else.

If I could only watch one movie for the rest of my life, what would it be?

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This is not a fair question to ask, but since I put other authors through this torture, I’ll give it a go.

I’d first like to acknowledge that this answer may be different at another time on another day. For now, I’d say the one movie I’d watch over and over, if it was the only movie I could have, would be Love Actually.

When the soundtrack of my life is playing in my head, what songs express my glee and what songs bring out my rage?

I adore this question but never stopped to realize just hard it would be to answer it. The problem I’m currently having is that I do actually hear a soundtrack running through my head all the time and there’s no way I can describe it all to you. Plus, I’m a music lover; there are few forms of music I can’t at least appreciate.

Popular or Pop music is what it is. I like it, but it’s not what brings me glee; it takes several musical forms to do that. When I’m down, listening to Harlem Renaissance jazz, opera, oldies Do Wop and beach music, and even some Reggae brings a smile to my face.

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When I’m raging, because I can admit that I do that sometimes, listening to punk, rap, and even some alternative music (that’s not too hard-core) lets me get it all out of my system.

I have other songs that serve other purposes, but I won’t mention them all.

Currently my favorite album to sit back, relax, and enjoy an evening with my husband is Talking Book, by Stevie Wonder.  Oh, and of course I listen to it on vinyl.

Let’s play zombie urban survivor.What 3 things would I need to survive a black-out in Central Park the day zombies attack?

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Why am I in Central Park? …This is actually more like three and a half things since one thing goes with the other. I’d need at least one pair of night vision goggles, a Swiss Army Knife, and a semi-automatic weapon with lots of ammo. Too bad I only asked for three items; this list could get very interesting.

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Okay readers, bloggers, geeks, and authors, that’s all for today…unless you have a question you’d like to ask me. 😉

Thank you for sticking with me these past two years. Don’t forget to come back tomorrow for part five of this interview and hopefully enjoy some more of my insights.

This has been a

interviewpic-toibox

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 Other

Happy 2nd Blog Anniversary! – An Interview, Part 3

anniversayGreetings readers, bloggers, geeks, and authors. It’s my anniversary and I thought I’d interview myself and share it with you. I’ve come a long way as a writer, blogger, reviewer, and interviewer and I’d thought it would be nice to share some of the things I’ve learned and tell you a little about myself, in case you don’t already know. Today’s the day; it’s official!

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So what do I have to share today?

c2a7b-nocoverWhile I’m constantly trying to promote my shorts (40 Days and Nights of Eternal Curse, The Legend of the Boy, and Unexplained), my first novel Eternal Curse, and my blog, I realize that I can’t stop there. I’m currently working to release my second novel, a contemporary romance completely independent of my Eternal Curse Series, entitled It’s Like the Full Moon. I’m also working on the sequel to Eternal Curse and another fantasy novel independent of that series. I’m really hoping to have something else released by the end of 2014 or at least at the beginning of 2015.

So here’s who’s starring is my 2 dimensional script read of
It’s Like the Full Moon:

nofemaleThere are four main characters and a whole bunch of other characters that are worth mentioning, but I will stick to the main four.

The protagonist of this book is Rebecca. Rebecca has just turned thirty and is living a comfortably boring life, and will probably marry her longtime boyfriend Virgil, if he ever asks her. Luckily for her, Rebecca has friends and family who aren’t so content with the current state of her life.

Teddy is Rebecca’s handsome and fun-loving younger brother. He’s recently passed the Bar and will be graduating with a degree in business and law. Teddy has many interests outside of law and the great outdoors is just one of them.

Lisa is Rebecca’s almost perfect opposite and also her best friend in the whole world. She’s a successful business woman who travels the world, but never forgets about the people she leaves behind.nomale

And then there’s Paul. He’s new to this trio of friend/siblings, but he’ll fit right in. A recent graduate with a degree in journalism and working as a freelance writer, Paul has his whole life ahead of him, but these three people are about to shake up his future.

What’s so special about this story that’s going to reel in the readers?

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This story is simple and sweet, but also complicated…Wait, does that even make sense?

I’ve tried to pretend that I don’t care much for drama, but what I realize now is that I like certain kinds of drama. This story, It’s Like the Full Moon, will be my debut into the world of what I call “sweet drama”.  This story isn’t going to pull in those readers who crave infidelity, substance abuse, black market deals, and divas behaving badly, but it does have something for a different crowd.

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This is a relationship book that tells a story instead of trying to teach a lesson. There’s a character whose been let down by a negligent father. There’s a character who’s lost his/her mother at very young age. There are characters who constantly make bad romantic decisions because looks are so hard to ignore, and there’s a love triangle, but it’s not what you’d image.

I admit and proclaim from the mountain tops that this story has been inspired by the films “Moon Struck”, “How to Make an American Quilt” and “A room with a View”, but this is something else altogether different at the end of the day.

Past, present, future, is there a rhyme or reason to my writing?

I overthink things all the time. In some cases that really helps my writing process, but if I didn’t work on organization and time management, I’d never get anything done.

I’m an outliner. When I get an idea I write it down. I don’t believe in writer’s block. When I get stumped on one idea, I open up my vault of ideas and work on something else. I always eventually come back to the other thing I was stumped on.

Back to outlining; nothing that I write is spontaneous. The ideas may come to me like lightning, but the stories are developed from beginning to end through the development of outlines, timeline, and charts. I’m flexible on changes as the story develops, but I always know ahead of time, what I want the outcome to be. In the few rare instances where I don’t know the ending, I at least know every detail leading up to that point when a decision finally has to be made.

The development and writing process is a thrill, it’s everything that comes after that that becomes a chore, but I won’t bore you with all that right now.

What author(s) has most influenced my writing? Why or how?

I am influence by everything around me: blogs, movies, music, art, life. Every book I’ve ever read has left some kind of impact on my way, methods, and motives for writing. J.M. Barrie inspired me to want to create worlds and adventures when he made me fall in love with Peter Pan and Neverland, but he’s not my only inspiration. Unfortunately there are just too many to mention them all. I do however find that reading from modern, up-and-coming authors, as well as, those who are already established, is a good way to keep your skills sharp. That’s not to say that there isn’t still loads to learn from authors who’ve made their marks and have now passed on.

While everything I read is a potential learning experience, I find that when I let go and read for pleasure, I am more motivated to create and determined to be professional and accurate. Right now I’m enjoying the works of Stacey Rourke, Alex J, Cavanagh, Neil Gaiman, and George Mann.

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Okay readers, bloggers, geeks, and authors, that’s all for today…unless you have a question you’d like to ask me. 😉

Thank you for sticking with me these past two years. Don’t forget to come back tomorrow for part four of this interview and hopefully enjoy some more of my insights.

This has been a

interviewpic-toibox

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