Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Pamela Terry. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Pamela, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Do you think your parents have had a meaningful impact on you and your journey?
My mother started reading to me before I could sit up good. I could read before I ever started school and even now, a bookshop is far more tantalizing to me than a jewelry store. I remember on Saturdays when I was little, we’d go to the huge Carnegie Library on Forsyth Street in downtown Atlanta. That building looked like a palace, marble walls and high ceilings; the architecture itself seems to revere literature, which was the intention, I suppose. The idea that I could choose as many books as I wanted and be allowed to take them home for three whole weeks was staggering to me. Of course, I didn’t need three weeks – we were back the next Saturday for more.
I do a lot of my writing in our local library now. Dreaming up my own stories while being surrounded by so many others is both comforting and challenging. I’ll always be grateful to my parent’s for sparking, and indulging, my love of books. Literature teaches us empathy, understanding, and if we’re lucky, just a bit of wisdom.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I’m the author of two novels, THE SWEET TASTE of MUSCADINES, and WHEN the MOON TURNS BLUE. I’m considered, I think, to be a “Southern novelist”, and when I consider the authors who’ve worn that label through the years, I can only think of it as an honor. There are so many stories here in the South. We are a complicated region, and we writers sit in the nexus of those complications always, trying to make sense of it all. The best part of writing is the connection I experience with readers and the best compliments I’ve received have been from those fellow Southerners who’ve written me to say, “You got it right! I knew everybody in that book!” That makes me happy.
How did you build your audience on social media?
I’m one of those rare people who’ve never had a Facebook account. I only participate in Instagram, which I started as nothing more than a pictorial diary for myself, a way to keep track of what I was thinking, seeing, and feeling during the years. I follow a lot of knitters and shepherds. To have as many followers as I do is bewildering to me, but I’ve been fortunate to have really lovely ones. I’ve never wanted my account to be an advertisement for my books, or my face, so I keep those images to a minimum. I think people can tell when the main purpose of someone’s social media is to sell something, and that’s just not what mine is about.
It’s stunning to me to see the way social media has altered our reality and I often wonder whether or not it has done so for the better. To rush pass such divergent images, from puppies to war in the flick of a finger, and have them all flood in on an equal level, must be doing something strange to our senses. I’m not sure what we can do about that now, the horse is so far out of the barn, he can’t be seen anymore. But for me, I do try to participate thoughtfully as best as I can. Much like my writing, I don’t shy away from the unpleasant things, but I try to lift up as much beauty and kindness as possible, holding it all in my hands as best as I can.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
Flannery O’Connor once said, “I write because I don’t know what I think until I read what I say”. I’m not sure I understood what she meant until I started writing novels myself. Every book is a journey and I’m never the same person when I finish as I was when I started. I get to live different lives through my characters. For instance, their opinions and feelings may not always match up with my own, and because I have to understand them, this forces me to consider things I wouldn’t have done otherwise, and in turn, opens my mind and my heart a little bit more. Writing keeps me curious, and curiosity keeps us all alive.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://www.pamelaterry.net/
- Instagram: pamelaandedward