everyone like a proud parent. Then
before you know it there are book
signings, conferences and other engagements. It is like chasing after a
toddler with boundless energy.
How did you start writing?
DT: There was a character that came
to me and started to whisper her story to me. She was so compelling, so
real. I had never written anything and
the thought of becoming an author
was far from my mind. But, she was
persistent. I started jotting down
small notes about the story and
shared them with my sisters who enjoyed my new project. I showed the
skeleton of a story to co-workers who
met me at the door in the mornings
requesting more. The character was
What was your life like before becom- Ida Mae and that was the title of my
ing an Author?
debut novel.
DT: My life was and is a life of work
How personal is your writing?
and service. I retired from the U.S.
Postal Service in 2003 after a thirty DT: My writing is very dear to me and
year career. I starting writing in 1995 the characters are often people I have
started my company, Marguerite known and loved, or at least admired.
Press in 1996 and have since written I have danced when one of my charfour fiction novels, two non-fiction acters received good news and cried
self-help books, two Christian plays, when some of them died. There have
and a thesis titled, “The Role of Com- been times I wanted to rewrite a sad
plaint in the Book of Job” (at Chris- scene but I realize those feelings are
tian Theological Seminary for my what flavor the story for my fans.
G r a d u a t e
D e g r e e ) .
Which comes first? The character's
story or the idea for the novel?
What inspired you to write your
DT: I tend to write in different genres
book?
and I believe all authors should do so
DT: I also say it was divine inspiraas well. When I write fiction I create a
tion that prompted me to write. My
character first then build a story
kids were grown and suddenly I was
around him/her. When I write nonan empty nester. It was a lonely time;
fiction I examine a situation and elabsome said I birthed a character to
orate on my findings. Both of these
nurture and love because my last baapproaches require extensive
by had moved away. In a way that is
what life is like for a new author. You research. I would like Zora to share
are constantly marketing and pro- her sentiments on being one of the
moting; showing the book cover to best black
female writers of the 20th Century.
And then juxtapose that
What are
books?
your
favorite
authors/
DT: Anything by Zora Neale Hurston;
There Eyes Were Watching God,
Dust Tracks on a Road, Mules
& Men.
If you could have dinner with an author, dead or alive, who would it be
and why?
DT: Again it would be Zora Neale
Hurston. I would love to ask her a
million questions and I would like to
give her roses! Zora was really an
American folklorist, anthropologist
and author. I would like to hear her
speak of her years as a college professo r in North Carolina. Being a product of an HBCU (Historically Black
Colleges and Universities) I enjoyed
all the literature from the Harlem Renaissance with becoming dirt poor,
dying alone and burial in an unmarked grave.
What sparked the idea for your novel?
DT: My latest work, Airing Dirty Linen, stemmed from my love of family. I
have over 300 cousins in Indianapolis
alone and we are all extremely close.
The story is about four cousins who
live together in an inn which they
manage in Indianapolis. There’s 27
year-old twins, Philip and Pharis, 17
year-old Eternity and 31 year-old Nairobi Dobson, our POV character. The
Dobson’s parents are now deceased
but family secrets have resurfaced,
yet they are a private group and family matters are not shared with others.
Nairobi prays for strength and does
(Cont’d on page 17)