Write with TLC

  Read an Ebook Week has arrived! All my ebooks on Smashwords are on sale from March 2, 2025-March 8, 2025. Check out most of my titles for 50% off.  My short story, Alone, is free during this Read an Ebook Week. Check out most of my books on Smashwords  or my latest book and short story at Smashwords . (Smashwords and Draft2Digital are merging resulting in me temporarily having 2 pages.) Or individually by clicking on each book below. While you’re there, check out the many other authors participating in the Smashwords Read an Ebook Week promotion! Thank you to everyone who has supported me over the years since I started publishing my books beginning all the way back with All She Ever Wanted in 2001! I am grateful for every reader! I will continue to write about the things that make life worth living, the lessons I learn, and the challenges we face in the world. I have a new book of poetry, Earth in Silhouette, coming soon! Disclosure: This blog contains affiliate links ...

We all experience grief. It is universal and unique all at once. Grief is devastating and grief is a gift. My forthcoming book of poetry, The Gift of Grief , (ebook available for preorder ) explores my journey through various bouts of grief. It took me a long time to embrace grief rather than fight it or ignore it or work to process it seeking an end date. Grief works on its own time. Embracing it brought me to a place where I could see the gift it brought to my life. I discovered that grief is something we learn to live with not something we process as a one-and-done. I really wanted to check off items to show progress like it was some kind of task list.  At times I felt like the waves of grief just couldn't end because as soon as I started feeling settled, I lost someone else, I sometimes felt like the grief was just too much. I began to realize this was probably true for many other people as well. Between 2020-2024, I grieved the deaths of several friends, myriad extended family...

Banning books has always seemed beyond ridiculous to me. What is the point? Ending knowledge? Ending points of view? What if the book you love is the one on the banning block? Does that change things? T he idea behind book bans is to silence those with messages someone doesn't like. I have often wondered what would happen if someone turned the tables on them.  I recently saw that someone decided to challenge the book bans in their state by using the criteria in them to request the Bible be banned from a library. The official who wrote the book banning bill whined that wasn't what he intended, but let's be  clear the criteria fit. I guess that answers the question. And, this wasn't the first time the Bible has been caught up in these kinds of bans... Just  Google it .  The thing is, and this is what they count on, liberal and progressive folks tend to want people to have access to a multitude of books and generally don't try to ban books because we value knowledge an...

Eight of my ebooks are currently 50% off on Google Books. Current sale lasts through August 31, 2022. Buy books here Thank you!

This excerpt from the poem,  Dreams , by Langston Hughes hangs on my office wall. Poets play with perception when they write poetry making reading poetry another play in perception. When we read poetry we bring our own life experiences into play affecting our perception of the world around us. Poetry can shine a light on the world we inhabit in language that is sometimes more palatable than either fiction or nonfiction. Poetry can tease our hearts and minds with possible meanings and interpretations. Poetry can use imagery and emotion to effectively push readers to think about life from a different perspective. Many people have told me they don't read poetry because they don't understand poetry. I struggled to understand this until I started reading some of the "classic" poetry I'd avoided since college. Then I remembered how I used to think poetry was something I couldn't understand, and I got it. It changed the way I engaged with people who don...

I'm always incredulous when someone tells me they don't read books. I don't understand how one exists in the world without reading books - nonfiction, fiction, poetry, etc. - but particularly nonfiction. Nonfiction gives us glimpses into history. It explains scientific research. It helps us better understand medical research. Nonfiction shows us the stories of the people who have changed the world. Nonfiction provides the knowledge to solve problems and navigate the world in which we all live. Nonfiction provokes thought while reminding us there are human beings attached to the events happening in the world currently as well as historical events.  Nonfiction can teach cooking, sewing, crocheting, golfing, programming, marketing, trading, and myriad other things. Nonfiction explores all aspects of life and provides readers with a way to expand their knowledge base. People might think they never read nonfiction, but we all do in one way or another. Any time we try to ...

Last week I wrote about supporting authors without buying their books, so this week I want to talk about a few benefits of buying books. To be honest, there's this little voice in my head going "People need reasons to buy books... They're books. That's reason enough." Of course that's the writer and reader in me. The minimalist and anti-consumerist in me totally gets why many people don't want to buy books. Buying books is a commitment. It's adding another "thing" to your shelves, your home, your life. Let me be clear. I understand that people work hard for their money, and buying a book can feel like a luxury. I totally get it. I've been there. The rent, the mortgage, fuel, food should all be higher priorities than buying books. I remember days when I saved change for a month to buy a book. I'm not, in any way, proposing that people sacrifice necessities to buy books. There are advantages to buying a book. You own the book. ...

Boise, Idaho Downtown Library in 2002 On several occasions over the years since I published my first book, someone has said some version of "I like your work, but I just don't buy books." To be honest, this used to bother me. I pour my heart, soul, and mind into every book I write, so it felt personal when someone told me they didn't buy books.  Over time I've come to realize there are many reasons people opt not to buy books, none of them are a reflection on me or my work. Some people can't afford to buy books. Some people don't buy books because they don't like to keep books for a variety of reasons. Some people are minimalists. Some people don't get joy from seeing books on a bookshelf. Some people see buying books as wasteful. I generally just smile when someone tells me they don't buy books. I'm not interesting in coercing someone into buying one of my books if they don't want it. I want people who do buy my books to feel...

"...I felt that what I wanted that scene to say to the reader was more important than its surface reality or plausibility ." - Richard Wright, transcript of How Bigger Thomas Was Born included in the book, Native Son . When I read the above line in Richard Wright's essay/speech about how he created Bigger Thomas as the main character of Native son , I stopped. I stared. I read it again... Again... Again... Then I  read it  out loud, once, twice, thrice. There's an element in fiction where what's happening must stand a test of whether or not the reader can suspend their disbelief in order to be included; however, I've come to realize this suspension of disbelief depends on many things including the reader's own life experience, or lack thereof. It's easier to get someone who has no experience in a field to believe something because they don't have the background to question it with authority. But we often do this... We often suspe...

I'm giving away 10 copies of my book of poetry, Memory in Silhouette on Goodreads. Enter by January 11, 2018 to win 1 of 10 copies. Goodreads Book Giveaway Memory in Silhouette by T.L. Cooper Giveaway ends January 11, 2018. See the giveaway details at Goodreads. Enter Giveaway

A couple of months ago, a poet friend, Ariel, posted a blog titled Help a Sister Out? in which she inquires whether to continue to submit her work and wait for others to decide if it should be shared with the world or to blog her poems and risk them being ineligible for many traditional publication outlets. She mentioned that she doesn't think she has enough credits to start publishing chapbooks. I started to respond but decided to give it some thought first. Over the intervening weeks, I've given her query quite a bit of thought. In answer to her quandary, I'm going to share a bit about my writing journey. When I decided to take my writing career into my own hands, I knew the risk I was taking. I really did; however, I wanted my career to be my own. My message was more important to me than fame. Staying true to my vision was more important to me than bestseller lists. Frankly, I'd rather share my work with people than struggle to impress the gatekeepers. ...