I first became aware of this writer a few months back when she posted in a thread in Bookrix asking for a swap. I was looking for something to read so I decided to take her up on her offer. I'm very glad I did, because not only has Toi become a friend of mine, her book was very well written and quite intriguing. She is a delightful soul that still has a child like quality to her nature. And I'm please to have had her agree to this feature and showcase her first of many published book.
Baby Girl
“I was the youngest.
I have and, I guess, will always be the baby of the family.”
Toi was born in Waco Texas Dallas County Dallas with her grandmother
or aunt. With a close family Toi found that her parents often had an open door
policy that allowed her many cousins to come and go at will. This provided Toi with
members of her extended family around all the time.
This closeness help to build relationships that would stand
the test of time. Although there were
problems the family had to over come, conflicts within and without, love always
prevailed.
Social Cliques
Toi confessed that her school age years were not normal;
spending that time in the shadow of a sister that was very popular. The type of person that people flock to and
enjoy being around, although she never shun her baby sister that wasn't the
easiest thing for a young Toi. “I wasn't popular, but I also wasn't a social outcast either. I was one of those kids who didn't really fit in anywhere and decided to use that to my advantage.” Because of her none association with any
particular social group, Toi made acquaintances with all the different races
and social cliques within her school. This openness afforded her the
opportunity to glimpse inside the workings of the different
social classes within her high school. It was crazy she said, seeing the stressed
out popular kids who were trying to maintain their social standings. The so called
social outcasts were the ones that had the true friendships while the bullies
were just lonely kids headed down a path to no where. “We were all struggling through something to
make it out of high school. “
Paging Doctor Toi
Thomas
By middle school Toi family moved to Virginia. Her parents always gave her the freedom and the independence to find out who and what she wanted to be. But within her independent spirit, it took Toi a while to find that sense of home in Virginia. For a good part of her young life, Toi had wanted to be a doctor. It wasn't until her tenth grade year that her ambitions changed. “I decided I lacked the people skills the
job would require and didn't need to try to handle all that stress.” So having built her first computer while in
high school, Toi decided that since working on humans was out perhaps working
on computers would be the next logical choice.
After graduating from high school,and finally having a sense of home in Virginia, Toi decided to leave for college. "I wanted to attend a school furthest away from home with an in state tuition.” Toi settled onUniversity of Virginia
After college Toi worked as a researcher/software tester,
then an accounts payable representative and an administrative professional. Equipped with the tools yes, but Toi found that she wasn't happy, even though she had been good at a few of the
jobs. She works now as a Teacher’s
assistant, and said that it’s a fulfilling demanding profession. A teacher is a
person that helps to mold the minds of our future. It’s a very rewarding
profession and yet she confessed. “Even
this job doesn't make me happy.”
After graduating from high school,and finally having a sense of home in Virginia, Toi decided to leave for college. "I wanted to attend a school furthest away from home with an in state tuition.” Toi settled on
Desperation
Toi’s only writing classes were the
ones she was required take in college. She doesn't remember when writing became
an avenue of release for her, though she has always enjoyed writing as a way to
relax and expand her mind.
She recalls writing all the time as a kid, but she never
kept a journal or diary. She would just write down her stories or ideas when
ever and where ever she could. Her first
book came into existence when she was in middle school, having written a
chronicle depicting the daily lives of some kids her age.” I wrote it just to prove to myself that I could.”
Despondent with her work life, Toi began to write more and
more. She wasn't aware that it was a release for her just yet, but then came a
very rough time in her life. During this time, she would go home
every day and write. She would write down her problems, her hopes and dreams
and her ambitions. She would write down her wishes and what inspires her, she
would simple write.” Desperation caused
me to write, because I can’t keep my head straight and clear if I don’t.” If there was something that got in the way of her
writing, Toi would find herself devastated. So, now, she always set some time
aside for her writings to help keep her spirits up.
She loves the idea of creating a
story that entertains people.Writing simply
makes Toi happy, isn't that true for us all.
Toi started her love of reading early, reading all
kinds of books. She recalls being fascinated with the adventure stories like
Peter Pan and Wizard of Oz as a child. Her first novel book was Romana by
Beverly Cleary. Like most of us she doesn't have a favorite author, but she has
those she appreciates; like L. Frank
Baum, J.M. Barrie, Harper Lee, and Robert Frost.
An avid reader Toi enjoyes the experience of taking in a new
story or idea to see how the author works their magic. “I’m not a fast reader, but it is usually
the hassles and struggles of life that slow down my reading progress.” She told me
that she reads on average 2 to 3 books a month as either eBooks or paperbacks while listening to one audio book. “Life is rough when I can’t pick up a good
book to read.” So true, the audio books have
saved a many of us that just don’t have the time in our busy day to seat down
and read a good book. Thank the geek gods for that technology.
“I looked around one day and realized that I had of lot of the same type of stuff lying around.”
Although writing is her passion, Toi has a variety of other interest. She loves all kinds of music and has a vast collection of vinyl records in all genres. Her love of music stemmed from her love of history."I feel like for me to truly understand
something, I must know its history." She truly loves all kinds of music, but struggle with Dead metal and some Blue grass.
Her love of reading sparked a love of comic books and her child like nature which fueled her collection of comic books and toys both DC and Marvel. Batman being her favorite but Wonder Woman is a close second. "I like the idea of super heroes, even the ones who are anti-heroes."
A movie buff, Toi loves watching and studying movies and is really good at movie trivia. Much like her love of music, Toi studied the art of cinema and was never biased of what she watched. "I find cinema to be a magical art, even whenHollywood is producing
mass-marketed crap."She loves to cook and paint and can make balloon animals.
Her love of reading sparked a love of comic books and her child like nature which fueled her collection of comic books and toys both DC and Marvel. Batman being her favorite but Wonder Woman is a close second. "I like the idea of super heroes, even the ones who are anti-heroes."
A movie buff, Toi loves watching and studying movies and is really good at movie trivia. Much like her love of music, Toi studied the art of cinema and was never biased of what she watched. "I find cinema to be a magical art, even when
“I’m a great cook, a pretty good writer, and a lousy painter, but these are the things I enjoy.”
Believe me coming from a big family it’s often hard to keep secrets;
someone always seems to know what you are trying to hide. Toi told me that she
thought no one knew about her writings, but perhaps her older sister had. “My older sister has always been there.” Even as children when they didn’t get
along, Toi said her sister always had her back. Her sister, Tori Jones, has been
very supportive of Toi. She has never hesitated to use her influence in a crowd
to talk up her baby sister or her book. Tori even introduced Toi’s book at one of her
book club meetings. “She has always been very supportive and
encouraging of my writings.” And
with her family now spread out all over the country, with families of there
own, Toi finds solace in the fact that they are still a very close family.
While Toi was attending college she was introduced to a
person that would become a very big part of her life. “I met my husband at college.”
It wasn't love at
first sight, having been introduced to him by mutual friends, but over the
years they became friends themselves. At first she didn't like him that much. “It wasn't because he wasn't a likable
person; I just wasn't in a good place, personally, at the time.” She
added that they still debate over when their first date actually occurred, only
because she was unaware that it was the first date. They have been married for
seven years and are still best friends. They live in Chesapeake Virginia
******** Bonus ********
With the space program being shut down I won’t get to see another
space shuttle landing like I did as a child. I’ve always been fascinated with space, so when
Toi informed me that she worked for NASA for a short while as an intern when
she was in college I was completely blown away. For two summers during her college career, she worked as a
paid intern for N.A.S.A.
Langley Research
Center
“It was a really cool experience.”
Toi is a first time self-published author. She writes
fiction that dabbles in paranormal, romance, mystery, and adventure. Her Imaginings for her book Eternal Curse was sparked by a
reoccurring dream. The dream was about a gray man who turns into an angel, but
she said, “That’s not the story I wrote.”
Her favorite part about writing this story was the planning that went into the
story. The researching and developing of a back story for her characters and an
alternate reality for them to live in, base on the history of our reality. “The
idea just came to me, but once I decided to develop it, that’s when things got
interesting.”
When I asked what’s next for this young author, Toi simply said. “I continue to write.”
Author's Choice
Blurb:
A wealthy doctor in search of a purpose and an isolated outcast searching for acceptance, meet online and discover that they may be just what the other has been looking for. Mira’s a woman who believes in what she knows and Giovanni is a man who knows better than to think he truly knows anything. When Mira decides to meet Giovanni face to face, for the first time, at his secluded country home, their journey truly begins. Now all that left to learn is whether the doctor and the outcast are able to stand strong against all the powers of heaven and hell to pursue their ultimate purpose?
This is a free sample consisting of chapters 1-3. This sample does not contain images
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Reviews:
It was very interesting, and good! I really loved reading
it. Seriously
Bravo!
Amazing job!
Keep writing!
You've penned down quite a charming story. It's the best
modernization of a Beauty and the Best I've ever read.
I think this story is intriguing
From the Author:
My Dreams
My Dreams
Most of what I dreamed about I can’t remember, so I tried to
come up with a story using as many of the elements from the dream that I could.
Somewhere along the way, a new story, an original idea from my consciousness began to develop. I wrote a whole 40-day blog about this, so I don’t know think
I can condense it down to a few sentences now. The main point of the story is
to find one’s true purpose in life; the gray man meets a woman online who helps
him do just that, and the story evolves from there.
Eternal Curse: Giovanni’s Angel is available in three formats, as an eBook at Smashwords.com
in paperback at Thebookpatch.com and in four segments on Bookrix
You can contact Toi Thomas on the links provided on the right hand side of this blog.
Thank you all for reading and please take sometime out of your day and enjoy a good read.
Thank you all for reading and please take sometime out of your day and enjoy a good read.
