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Reisterstown
Author Pens Children's Books From Experiences
The Community Times, Sept 23, 2003, by Susan C. Ingram
TJ Perkins
has already gotten two of her children's books published.
One, a
ghost story, draws on experiences she had growing up in an
1880s farmhouse. The other is an adventure about a group of
friends on vacation in Maine who uncover a lost treasure and
a pirate's curse.
With two
books under her belt, Perkins' story is familiar. Author gets
ideas. Author writes books. Author gets them published. Nothing
new there.
But then
her direction veered.
She embarked
on a mystery series about two black teens growing up in Colorado
that's reminiscent of the Nancy Drew or Hardy Boys classics.
Nothing
unusual about that for an author - except that Perkins is
white.
The 41-year-old
Reisterstown resident expects to encounter questions about
what gives a white person sufficient insight to write about
black girls.
The answer,
she said, lies in her interracial marriage, her two biracial
children, and the ordeal she had in finding the right kind
of books for them.
After
perusing book store after bookstore, Perkins said she found
books where "nothing ever centered around a character
that's not white."
When she
did find black books the main characters were usually slaves
or poor children. So she began "The Kim & Kelly Mystery
Series," which she said is reminiscent of the Nancy Drew
series she grew up with.
The series
is aimed at children in their early teens. So far, she has
written four in the series and is looking for a publisher.
Taking
the road less traveled is not new for Perkins.
Born in
Gettysburg, she moved back and forth across the Pennsylvania-Maryland
line during childhood with her family, eventually settling
in New Windsor.
The 1880s
farmhouse the family moved into became the fodder for Perkins'
2002 book, "Mystery of the Attic."
"The
whole time I was there all kinds of weird things happened,"
she said.
Geared
toward children from 8 to 13 years old, "Mystery of the
Attic" tells the story of 13-year-old Melissa and her
discovery of two ghosts in the family's old farmhouse.
"My
cousins thought I was nuts," Perkins said about her active
childhood imagination. It came in handy when she began writing
children's stories.
"A
big chunk of it is real," Perkins said about "Mystery
of the Attic."
"Of
course, I built this fiction story around it," she added.
Perkins'
first book, "Wound Too Tight," is about lost treasure
and a pirate's curse.
Perkins
began writing at age 14. "In ninth grade was when I discovered
myself," she said.
A gift
of a typewriter started her on her writing life. It was a
perfect outlet for her active imagination.
"I
was always the kid that got to finish up the scary stories
at all the sleepovers," she said. "I love keeping
people on the edge of their seats."
But writing
was not Perkins' first love.
She was
an avid dancer and drama enthusiast, who dreamed of one day
attending the New York School of Ballet. But her mother counseled
pursuing a more practical career, and Perkins ended up joining
the Navy at age 18.
After
finishing her Navy career at the ripe old age of 23, she returned
"home to Mom," eventually married and settled down.
This time
it was a word processor that inspired her to get serious about
writing, and she has been cranking out material ever since.
After
having no luck finding a publisher for two children's picture
storybooks, Perkins began writing mystery and suspense stories.
Besides
the Kim and Kelly series, Perkins is working on a sequel to
"Mystery of the Attic."
For now,
she makes the rounds at writers' conferences, book festivals
and books signings and is making forays into the film world
by sending samples to Disney and other children's film producers.
Her 8-year-old
son Nick is her first set of ears while writing drafts.
"My
son loves my stuff. He tells me what he likes and what he
doesn't like," she said.
She, her
husband and two children moved from Owings Mills to Reisterstown
last year, where Perkins has an airy writing room with hardwood
floors and French doors that open on to the backyard.
She's
looking forward to the day when her almost 30 years of scribbling
pays off in more than personal enjoyment.
"I
keep at it," she said. "I honestly feel deep inside
this is what I should be doing."
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