Ahhhh! After three years (pushing four) you all are still reading Spirit Lake! As I sit here signing and preparing to ship out more books, I am filled to the brim with gratitude. I am so incredibly thankful for all of your support and words of encouragement. As writers, we put our hearts on the inked line and hope for the best. It’s not always easy or rewarding but you guys have taken tremendous care of mine.
Read MoreEarlier this month, I had the absolute pleasure (and I don’t type that word lightly) of meeting Zadie Smith at an event at Arizona State University. Zadie Smith, who is a novelist (best selling author), essayist, short story writer, and a professor at New York University is also a writer whose work I’ve never had the pleasure of reading (I’m ashamed to even admit that).
Read MoreIf anyone were to ask me about my childhood, I’d tell them that is was like no other, the best there ever was. Reminiscent of 80s and 90s childhood movies. The ones that made you feel good, when kids were just being kids, looking for adventure, running into a challenge here and there but always coming out victorious. The Goonies, The Sandlot, etc. What kid didn’t want that life? But it wasn’t always fun and adventure. Sometimes it resembled a scene from a different kind of movie…a horror movie.
Read MoreThrowback to Halloween when I recreated Ms. Angelou’s iconic photo. I had so much fun with this and to top it off, my 8 yr old was the photographer! Round of applause for my little man.
For as long as I can remember, I’ve enjoyed reading. Library time was my favorite at school. Even when my teachers would have story time, I was eager to listen to them read whatever book they had chosen, especially my 5th grade teacher, Mrs. Martin. She stuttered but that didn’t stop her from being animated and bringing all the characters to life with her dramatic voice changes. To this day, I have yet to encounter a better storyteller. Well done, Mrs. Martin! (Wherever you are)
Read MoreThe last tour I shared with you guys was of my home library where I would get the majority of my writing done. It’s still one of my favorite rooms in the house, but not necessarily the most convenient place when it comes to writing, mainly because its an open space so I literally hear everything that’s going on throughout the house, and secondly, the kids come and go as they please which tends to drive me up a wall. I was constantly asking them to quiet down or give me some space so that I can actually write a sentence in peace. That got old quick.
Read More"Just As I Am is my truth. It is me, plain and unvarnished, with the glitter and garland set aside. In these pages, I am indeed Cicely, the actress who has been blessed to grace the stage and screen for six decades. Yet I am also the church girl who once rarely spoke a word. I am the teenager who sought solace in the verses of the old hymn for which this book is named. I am a daughter and mother, a sister, and a friend. I am an observer of human nature and the dreamer of audacious dreams. I am a woman who has hurt as immeasurably as I have loved, a child of God divinely guided by His hand. And here in my ninth decade, I am a woman who, at long last, has something meaningful to say.” –Cicely Tyson
Read MoreThe latest novel is complete. Release date? Who knows? Seriously, I don’t. For this particular novel, I’m taking the road I was never sure I wanted to travel…traditional publishing. I’m currently querying agents, which has been a challenge in itself. My confidence and my joy for writing has suffered a little from reading constant rejections about how agents aren’t particularly interested in this story—a story that I spent a year and a half researching and writing. One that I've given a lot of myself to…but I digress.
Read MoreFor as long as I can remember I've been obsessed with books. I loved when it was time for the book fair at school because I couldn’t wait to stalk the shelves in the school’s library to see what new read awaited me. Whenever the teachers handed out the scholastic book order forms, I’d spend hours going through every item and circling what I wanted so I could beg my mom and dad to purchase them all.
Read MoreToday marks one year since Spirit Lake first released. I felt so many emotions while writing this novel and I still feel so many as I reflect on the past year. This was my baby, my first born, one that will forever hold a special place in my heart. I am still very much in love with the characters, the storyline, and the town of Spirit Lake, and as I gather new ideas for the second book in the series, in light of this special occasion, I decided to give a little BTS on what it took to bring this love story to life.
Read MoreTamarria Denga is a Christian, wife, mother, poet, and writer living in Arizona with her husband and three children. Having a passion for writing and poetry since she was a child, she is releasing her first novel.
Debut novel, Spirit Lake, now available.
WELCOME TO SPIRIT LAKE... A small town in northern Arizona where the people are as charming and beautiful as the town itself.
Meet Teylor and Jamie; Teylor and Jamie have been inseparable since eighth grade, when Jamie defended her from the school's bully. Now, seventeen years later, they still remain the best of friends; that is, until Jamie returns home from a two week stay in Paris bearing the news that he'd recently proposed to Carrie; his girlfriend of six months! In the wake of that revelation, Teylor's world is shattered, and what was supposed to be the most exciting time in Jamie's life thus far, has become a turbulent roller coaster for the two best friends. And to add to the chaos, Teylor has been hiding a secret of her own.
Will the two find their way out of this emotional maze before it ruins their friendship? Or, will their bond die once she reveals the hidden truth she's kept from him for seventeen years? Fall in love with Spirit Lake as the author takes you on a romantic adventure to a town filled with tests, trials, and most importantly, love...
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