4 minute read
Artist Spotlight: Sheila Turnage
AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT
ARTIST SPOTLIGHT:
SHEILA
TURNAGE
Meet best-selling author Sheila Turnage. She hails from Farmville, NC and is the best selling author of the Three Times Lucky children’s series. Her new poetry book, Just Off Half-Moon Road, was just published by Main Street Rag.
Q: Tell us about your family. A: My husband, Rodney, and I live in an old farmhouse on a family farm near Farmville. We have a host of critters, chickens, guineas, a couple of sweet-faced goats, and an overconfident goose named Gus. I almost forgot the dog, Callie! We have a lot of family nearby, too, and that makes life really sweet for us.
Q: Tell readers a little about your writing background/ education? A: By far, Pat O’Leary’s creative writing class at Pitt Community College has been the biggest educational influence on me as a writer. I took her class for years. I learn best by experience and practice, and I learned so much there!
Actually, though, I decided to be a writer in first grade. My first-grade teacher, Miss Agnes Fullilove, read my very first story and said, “This is an excellent story and you are an excellent writer.” Those words sank all the way through me. She let me read to third-graders and I was hooked! I thought, “This is it! I’m a writer!” I’ve written a lot of books and magazine articles since then – both fiction and non-fiction. Just Off Half-Moon Road is my first poetry collection, and I am so excited to see it going out in the world.
Q: Tell us a bit about your popular Mo & Dale book series. A: I’m best known for the mysteries I write for young readers. I’m the author of Three Times Lucky, a mystery I say is for readers age 10 to 100, and the award-winning series of books that sprang from that. Three Times Lucky, which Dial/Penguin Random House publishes, won a Newbery Honor and was a New York Times Bestseller. It’s a fun story, like all the books in that award-winning series, but I’ll tell you a secret: It’s the poetry and the humor in those books that make them come alive.
I use a lot of undercover poetry to give my prose depth and bring it to life. Readers respond to that, whether it’s a young writer emailing me to ask me how I make a metaphor, or a grandfather emailing to tell me a particular image touched his heart. Poetry and humor really connect with people. You’ll see that when you read these poems too. Some of them are flat-out funny, and others will touch your heart.
Q: What are you working on now? A: I’m just finishing a new mystery book for kids. It’s called Island of Spies. It’s set here in North Carolina during World War II, and comes out next year. (Dial/Penguin Random House.)
Q: How long have you been writing poetry? A: Like most authors, I’ve been writing poetry forever, just for the joy of it.
Poems are like dust. They accumulate. And one day you have to do something with them or they take over your house. In this case, I put thirty-some of my favorites together in a collection, and a small press in Charlotte, Main Street Rag Publishing Company, agreed to publish them.
It’s so exciting. I love the cover, love the design. But mostly I love seeing these poems stepping out into a world of laughter and friends.
Q: What inspires you when writing poetry? A: People inspire me, everyday people doing brave, tender, hilarious things. And those moments that touch our hearts and let us know we’re not alone. Half-Moon Road is.)
Q: Where can your book be purchased? A: I’d love to say I have in-person readings and booksignings lined up all over the state, but COVID determines the rhythm of life at the moment, as you know. So I’ll be doing virtual events with bookstores and others, and doing live readings and book-signings when COVID permits.
Still, you can pick up autographed copies of Just Off HalfMoon Road at Barnes & Noble in Greenville, one of my favorite places to sign books. You can also pick up my Mo and Dale books there, autographed. If you want any of my books inscribed for Christmas, please email me at sheila@ sheilaturnage.com or message me on Facebook.
If you want to order online, you can always order directly from the publisher, Main Street Rag Publishing Company (www.MainStreetRag.com). And look for it on Amazon soon. For information on virtual events, poetry seminars, and book club events, visit Sheila Turnage or Sheila Turnage Author on Facebook.
Join Us for Our Holiday Show November 19, 6-8pm
New Paintings, Ceramics, Blown Glass, Sculpture & Original Holiday Gi Ideas in All Price Ranges Shop with us throughout the Season.
www.CityArtGreenville.com
511 Red Banks Rd, Greenville NC art@cityartgreenville.com 252.353.7000
NichePubs www.reflector.com/her Her Magazine — April 2021Her Magazine — November 2021 19 19
