The
Fetus Chronicles: Podcasts from My Miseducated Self” (A mostly true memoir)
Eleanor
Tomczyk is a memoirist and humorist blogger whose work features the musings of
an engagingly funny ex-Evangelical Conservative Christian, African-American
Baby Boomer. Not many authors can begin
a book with words such as “I was born in a toilet,” literally mean it, and live
to tell about it with such grace and humor.
At the age of 60, the wife, mother, singer, actress, motivational
speaker, and award-winning voice-over artist set out to establish a new career
in retirement as a storyteller, using her life as fodder. Currently in her late 60s, the mother,
grandmother, and wife of 38 years has published three books: Monsters'
Throwdown (2013), Fleeing Oz (2015),
and The Fetus Chronicles: Podcasts from
My Miseducated Self (2017). She also
posts a humorous weekly blog: How the Hell Did I End Up Here? Website:
www.eleanortomczyk.com
1. What really inspired you to write your
book, to force you from taking an idea or experience and conveying it into a book?
Growing
old—that is what prompted The Fetus
Chronicles, which is the third book of a trilogy about my life. Before I wrote TFC, I saw a picture of myself stuck on a zip line 200 feet above a
rain forest, twirling around in the air like a random leaf stuck in an errant
cobweb string. I couldn’t move forward
and I couldn’t move backwards. In my
panic, all I could think about was the Internet meme that was going to headline
that picture being uploaded by all the cameras taking pictures of my
misfortune: “Old Fat Black Woman Didn’t
Get the Message to ‘Stay Home’!” For years that photo mortified me until one
day I looked at it again and decided “this shit is funny as all get out!” I soon realized that I had scores of stories
about my life (some horrific, some extremely sad, but many that were hilarious
because they were so embarrassing) that dealt with universal fears from which I
had gained deep insights that might be worth sharing.
2. What is it about and whom do you
believe is your targeted reader?
My
target audience is Baby Boomer women of all ethnicities, races, and religions,
and the men who love them (although the men may need a hazmat suit). As an African-American woman who grew up in
the ghetto of Cleveland, Ohio, got carried on the wings of the Civil Rights Act
into higher education and freedom, and almost squandered that gift of
intellectualism and freedom in White, Evangelical, Right-wing churches for 30
plus years, I felt that I had a lot to say as a woman about the universal
missteps of life and the issues we face just by being born a woman, as well as
the grace needed to overcome those situations.
I wanted to leave the next generation of women a bird’s eye view of what
it means to try and let go of shame (“My rape and sexual abuse does not own or
define me”), laugh at ourselves (“Embarrassment won’t kill me even if it seems
the entire world is watching”), and shake off all those things that try to
thwart women from evolving (“You can’t because…”).
3. What do you hope will be the
everlasting thoughts for readers who finish your book? What should remain with them
long after putting it down?
Everybody
hurts…everybody suffers…nobody is perfect.
At the risk of going all Oprah on you, what I hope would remain with
readers is the strong incentive to try and become their “best selves”—to exit
the stage left of life living their most authentic selves. Do what you
want. Go where you will. Say what you mean—regardless of what others
think. If it’s your truth—live it!
4. What advice or words of wisdom do you
have for fellow writers?
If
you want to write—just do it! Don’t wait
for someone else’s permission. I had 235
rejections from literary agents for my first memoir Monsters’ Throwdown, and I realized (after reading that 16-year-old
Justin Bieber got a book deal for his memoir) that I’d be dead for a hundred
years before anyone gave me the green light to write, simply because I didn’t
bring to the table a platform of several million followers on social media. I
knew I had something to say, and nobody had the right to tell me I couldn’t say
it.
5. What trends in the book world do you
see and where do you think the book publishing industry is heading?
Where
the book publishing industry is headed is already here and it is fast becoming
the trend: independent book publishing
and author-generated promotions. The
five major publishing houses don’t have the inclination nor the desire to
“waste their time” or budgets on writers who don’t bring them a built-in audience
who will bring the publishers immediate guaranteed sales. Thus the book deal for the memoir of a 16
year old who was still wet behind the ears as opposed to someone who brought
gravitas but no hysterical teenage fan base to the table. Even if an unknown author is “lucky” enough
to garner a book deal, there are no glory days of book advances anymore, no
sitting back while publishing houses create publicity for the unknown writer, and
most times, once the publishing house is paid, the author rarely sees a cent—not
to mention that the final result of the product may not be what the writer
intended. At least when an author
independently publishes, he or she has total control over the work and stands
to receive a good portion of the returns to invest in future books and
promotions. If writers have to do all
the leg work, why pay a middle man?
6. What great challenges did you have in
writing your book?
My
idol is Maya Angelou, and she once said: “There are teachers who write and
writers who teach.” I am a teacher who
writes. I am always trying to point the
reader to hope, truth, light, grace, and mercy through my life stories. My challenge is to do so without preaching.
7. If people can only buy one book this
month, why should it be yours?
My
book (actually all three of my books) is made for such a time as this. We (especially women) are really hurting as a
culture and as a nation. I personally
think that our hope is not in a leader or a political party but in ourselves
portraying authentic lives filled with truth, love, forgiveness, mercy, and
grace that we want to see played out in our relationships, communities,
government, religious centers, and activism.
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Brian Feinblum’s
insightful views, provocative opinions, and interesting ideas expressed in this
terrific blog are his alone and not that of his employer or anyone else. You
can – and should -- follow him on Twitter @theprexpert and email him
at brianfeinblum@gmail.com. He feels much more important when discussed in
the third-person. This is copyrighted by BookMarketingBuzzBlog © 2018. Born and
raised in Brooklyn, he now resides in Westchester. His writings are often
featured in The Writer and IBPA’s Independent.
This was named one of the best book marketing blogs by Book Baby http://blog.bookbaby.com/2013/09/the-best-book-marketing-blogs and recognized by Feedspot in 2018 as one of the
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