Teri McGill is one of my fellow Los Angeles RWA chapter members.(LARARWA)
I wanted to know her better and I asked he to visit the blog. Teri, please tell us a little about yourself.
I wanted to know her better and I asked he to visit the blog. Teri, please tell us a little about yourself.
I grew up in Queens, New York and moved to warm and sunny Los Angeles
in 1994, immediately following the Northridge earthquake.
I taught mathematics
to deaf high school students for thirty years, which explains some of the
recurring characters and themes in my stories. I retired from teaching in 2012
and began working for Hot Tree Editing as a beta reader/proofread and started
writing shortly after. When I am not at the computer, I enjoy working out, playing
golf, creating mosaics, math tutoring, and watching sports. I also love road
trips to wineries, especially Paso Robles and Temecula.
As a relatively new author, I was advised to self-publish because of
the fierce competition. I hired an editor, cover designer and formatter. My
cover designer, with a lot of my input, found 3 gorgeous couples for my trilogy’s
covers. My fourth and most recent book, a novella, was my first attempt at
doing it all myself … cover, editing, proofreading, formatting … I did everything!
All the royalties for this book went to charity so I didn’t want to spend any
money. I think self-publishing is great. I would advise everyone to try it, as
long as you accept the reality: self publishing means self promoting.
The first few emails I received from readers who loved my first two
books really was an exciting event for me. I have deaf characters in my books
and when a deaf reader expresses joy at seeing herself in my stories … THAT is
exciting!
Do you wait for inspiration, or write on schedule?
I don’t write on a schedule, so I must wait for inspiration or for the
characters to speak to me. If they are silent, I take one to bed … the male
main character of course, and I become the female. We snuggle, flirt, banter
back and forth, etc. (I’m single, so it’s NOT as kinky as it sounds!)
Conversations develop, dialogue starts to flow and I keep a notebook on the
night stand so nothing is lost.
What's in progress?
I have several WIPs at the moment, including a scarred firefighter with
PTSD and a hearing-impaired dance teacher who performs in a strip club.
My most recent passion is promoting more characters with diverse
abilities in romance. Here is a Facebook Group I have started to promote this
new venture.
#ROMANCE #AUTHORS #READERS Would you like
to see more characters in Romance Novels with diverse abilities? For example:
vision impairment, #DEAF or hard of hearing, physical disabilities, #PTSD,
mental health conditions, intellectual disabilities, autism spectrum disorder,
etc. Join this new group and invite like-minded friends, authors, and readers!
#NoBarriers https://www.facebook.com/groups/1456675944444093
Thanks, I joined. Our fellow LARARWA member, Lynne Marshall has a quadropelegic Hero. Tell her about this group, (In case she misses this blog post.)
Teri had five books and she is offering you, Dear Readers, a giveaway of the book of their choice.
Teri's books are available on all platforms.
Signs of a Quiet Heart (My Heart is
Yours - Book 1)
The link will take you to a page where you choose how you want to download the free book.
When Robbi Bennett, special education teacher
extraordinaire, decided to move from New York to California, it was for reasons
beyond trading snowstorms for sunshine and surfing. Following the tragic death
of her parents, and several doomed relationships, she craved a fresh start; an
opportunity to reinvent herself.
Tyler D’Angelo, bad-boy biker and
self-proclaimed man-whore, equates love with weakness. For decades, he has kept
his heart on silent lockdown, but meeting Robbi turns his solitary life inside
out as they are inexplicably drawn to each other.
Can love be strong enough to overcome a
lifetime of fear?
(Note: Signs of a Quiet Heart ends with
a cliffhanger involving secondary characters, which does not affect the
romance. The mystery is solved in Book 2, Living for Two, with the assistance
of several new characters. Both stories feature deaf and hard-of-hearing
characters.)
Living for Two (My Heart is Yours -
Book 2)
Geneva
St. John was not looking to fall in love; her shattered heart was barely
recovering from her older sister’s death and coming to grips with almost losing
her baby sister as well.
When she first laid eyes on Jayson Delaney, bathed in sunlight and appearing so
ethereal, it was immediately evident that he was destined to change her life.
Unable to converse at first due to a language barrier, they soon discover that
love is the purest form of communication between two souls.
Although Geneva’s sister is recovering
nicely from surgery, she begins to exhibit strange, unsettling behaviors that
only Jayson seems to be able to comprehend.
There are some people in our world who
believe the power of love can transcend death.
What kind of miracle would it take to convince us all?
For over a decade, Tag Coleman has been
struggling to exorcise his demons.
Constantly haunted by his first love’s
death, he aches for a second chance at happiness, but guilt screams one
undeniable fact: he does not deserve it. Can Tag’s shattered soul ever find
forgiveness and allow him to love again?
Emery Lawson’s one and only goal is to
uncover the truth surrounding a tragic accident that took her cousin’s life.
She embarks on a journey to find the one person who could be responsible, with
unexpected, life-altering results.
When your soulmate — the love of your
life — is lost, what are the chances of ever finding another? Is it possible
for a heart to be …
Lost and Found?
(Note: Book 3 can be read as a standalone,
although characters from Books 1 & 2 make guest appearances.)
Light-Years from Hollywood (YA Novella)
LIGHT-YEARS FROM HOLLYWOOD, a YA
romance novella, explores the darker side of high school.
What is life like when you don’t seem
to fit in anywhere? A deaf boy and a homeless girl forge an unusual friendship,
learning that acceptance and ultimately love truly conquers all.
Dylan: High school is supposed to be an
adventurous four years of exploring the joys of youth and unlimited learning
opportunities, right? What a crock! The gifted program is challenging enough
without being the only deaf student on campus. I was content with my
under-the-radar, nearly invisible existence until a beautiful, blue-eyed
freshman sat next to me in Algebra. I had always preferred my loner status
until she forced me to see what else life had to offer.
Nikki: I have kept my embarrassing
secret for as long as I can remember. Dylan was the only person I ever shared
it with, and to my surprise he never judged me. Instead, he was determined to
save me even though unforeseen threats lurked around every corner.
(100% of the author’s royalties from
this eBook will be donated to A Million Drops, which is a Los Angeles, California
based non-profit organization making a difference in the lives of homeless,
at-risk youth, and young adults.)
I know I want to read this one. I'm entering your giveaway. Thanks for being here, Teri You are one amazing lady.
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Teri McGill’s SOCIAL
MEDIA LINKS:
AMAZON AUTHOR PAGE
FACEBOOK BOOK SERIES
PAGE
TWITTER
WEBSITE
GOODREADS AUTHOR PAGE
