New York Times Best Selling Author
http://www.terriblackstock.com
By: Kelvin Oliver
T4JYM: How long have you been a Christian?
TB: I’ve been a Christian since I was fourteen.
T4JYM: Can you share a short testimony with our readers?
TB: I was saved as the result of a boy from my school getting killed in a car accident on the way home from school. He was a Christian, and his family turned their grief into victory as they began ministering to the kids at our school. I started attending his church. Two weeks before his death, he had preached on youth night at that church, and I could see what confidence he had in Christ and in his salvation. I wanted what he had, and soon I gave my life to Christ.
T4JYM: When and how did you accept Christ into your heart?
TB: At that church when I was fourteen, I repented of my sins and asked Christ to change me. He did.
T4JYM: As a child what was your dream career? Now, as an adult, are you focusing in on what you wanted to be when you was a little girl?
TB: I’ve been writing since I was a child. I got my first piece published when I was eleven, and I realized then that I was going to be a professional writer when I grew up.
T4JYM: What is generally your target audience?
TB: I guess I target Christian people who need to be challenged in their faith, unbelievers who like suspense, and anyone who likes a good story.
T4JYM: Have you written any other books? Do you have any ideas for books you would like to write?
TB: I’ve published around 60 books in my career, so far. I do have ideas for many more. I already have contracts with my publisher to write several more. When I get a new idea, I usually run it by my publisher, and if they like it, they’ll usually give me a contract to write it.
T4JYM: How do you find time to write all of those books?
TB: I make time, because this is my main job. I usually write during school hours, since those seem to be my most creative hours. It’s also when my house is the quietest! I usually write in my office, but I often will take my laptop into other rooms, or in my car. Sometimes I’ll go park somewhere in my car and work there, especially when I feel distracted at home.
T4JYM: What kind of relationship do you maintain with your audiences? Do you fellowship with them?
TB: I meet them sometimes at book signings, and I get lots of letters from them. It’s great to get their encouragement. I think God often uses them as instruments of blessing for me. When I get down or feel like no one is reading what I’m working so hard on, He reminds me that I do have readers, and He’s able to work in their lives through my books.
T4JYM: What advice would you give to someone who wants to pursue a career in writing?
TB: “Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and your plans will succeed.” Proverbs 16:3. Also, someone very wise once told me, “Don’t get it right, get it written.” Before that, I would rewrite the first three chapters over and over until I finally lost interest in the rest of the book. I never finished anything. Once I heard that advice, it set me free to move past those first chapters and write the whole book without judgment. After I get the story down, I go back and rewrite, rewrite, rewrite, sometimes up to fifteen times before I think it’s ready to be published. Not everyone writes that way, but it works for me.
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