Meet Ashley Te’Arra | Budding Author

We had the good fortune of connecting with Ashley Te’Arra and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Ashley, any advice for those thinking about whether to keep going or to give up?
I try to remember why I started. I’m a strong believer in everything happening for a reason. God puts us in certain positions because He knows that we’re qualified for the job. Self-doubt and fear often try to trick us into thinking that we aren’t. But if you weren’t, you wouldn’t find this sense of unknown strength to continue doing it… even on those days that you really don’t want to.

I’ll be honest; there are a lot of times where I feel defeated and start to question whether writing is for me anymore, but I find comfort and joy in knowing that I’ve been blessed with the gift that keeps on giving. The gift of creating is something that will never leave you.

I remind myself that turning your passion into your paycheck can be painful, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that it isn’t your purpose. I look at it like, if the road to success didn’t have obstacles, reaching the destination wouldn’t be as exciting. Embrace the journey. Appreciate the good and the bad. At the end of the day, it’s in those moments that you really grow.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I’m proud of the fact that I didn’t even think that I could write one book, yet I’ve been blessed to write five. They may not be perfect, but they’re mine. Two of those books were bestsellers on Amazon. Three years later, people are still talking about them. I’m excited to create more characters like that, that readers will remember and hold on to.

I still have a long way to go and many milestones that I would like to reach in the near future, but I never even thought that I would get to this point, having my work on Amazon, for hundreds of people to read. I literally started out on Wattpad! If you don’t know what Wattpad is, it’s an online writing community for aspiring authors. It’s sort of like Kindle Unlimited, but you don’t get paid for your words. You’re able to grow a following, attract an audience, and put out as many stories as you’d like. My first book, “Fallin’ for a NOLA Hoodlum: A Houston Love Tale,” was nearly one hundred thousand words, and I wrote it on my phone! I had so much fun writing that book. It was a passion project, to see if I could write the type of book I’d always liked reading. Chapter by chapter, I would upload it to Wattpad, and loads of comments and likes would pour in, telling me how good it was.

In Wattpad world, it was a hit, and, at that time, that was enough for me. Until… I received a message from this woman who’d been reading my story on Wattpad. It was from Ariel Carter, the angel that I mentioned earlier! She was asking me if I’d ever considered publishing it, and I immediately gave her all of these reasons as to why I felt it wasn’t written well enough to publish. She wasn’t letting my work die on that hill! Next thing I knew, I was being offered a contract from her publisher at the time. My career sort of went from there.

I landed my debut publishing deal, with another company, and during that time, I was able to publish five titles. My series, “If These Pews Could Talk,” went number one in Amazon’s African American Christian Fiction category and stayed in the Top 100 for months.

After being signed to a publisher for two years, in 2020, I decided that I wanted to spread my wings and see if I could do this on my own. I officially embarked on my self-publishing journey earlier this year, and I’ve been re-releasing all of my books under myself.

Writing books isn’t easy, but being your own boss in this business isn’t the easiest either! Going independent is a grow-as-you-go type of thing, but it’s worth it. Any artist, of any kind, would tell you that having creative freedom is worth any blood, sweat, and tears that you may have to put into this.

I’m still learning, but the most important lessons I’ve gotten thus far are: never sell yourself short, and everyone’s journey doesn’t look the same, but that’s okay. Throughout my writing career, I’ve been known for underestimating my abilities, which has, as a result, held me back in a lot of ways. And I got so caught up in what everyone else was doing that, at one point, I just stopped doing anything. I felt like, “Why should I? I’ll never be as good as they are.” I still struggle with realizing the value in the things that I’ve been able to accomplish, but lately, I’ve been in this space of retraining my mind. I’m teaching myself to be kinder to myself, to practice patience with myself, and to also give myself the celebration and validation that I had become so comfortable with seeking from others. My biggest difficulty has been trying to instill in myself that I deserve a seat at the table, and if there isn’t a seat, be bold enough to make my own.

When people read my work, I want them to be able to feel the dedication that I’ve put into writing every sentence. I want them to laugh, cry, shout… maybe even fuss at the amount of good, bad, glad, or sad emotions in the story. That’s my main goal for my brand, to create characters and storylines that resonate with others!

I also want them to know that, although finding my place in the literary field has faced its adversities, I’m still here, still pushing, and not giving up. This big head of mine has a lot more it needs to say on the pages, honey!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Everything I’ve ever done, I owe it to the woman who’s always made me feel like I could literally do anything: my mother, Beverly. It’s because of her that I’ve been able to nurture my talent.

As a child, my mother was so big on instilling the love of reading in my sister and me. If you walked into our home, you’d probably think it was a library! We had so many books, stacked in shelves, boxes–any place we could keep them. She had us enrolled in a number of kid-oriented book clubs through the mail, and every year, we’d enter the summer reading program that our local library held. My fondest memories also include her coming to grab my sister and me from our classrooms to attend the school’s Scholastic Book Fair! We would be like kids in a candy store. That’s where it all started for me. That’s what sparked my interest in the art of storytelling.

As I came into teenagehood, my older sister, Brianna, played an important role in my journey as well. Brianna introduced me to urban fiction! That opened up a whole new world for me and my outlook on creative writing. I went from reading R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps and the Junie B. Jones franchise to Wahida Clark and Zane! I’ll forever thank her for that because it broadened my horizons creatively. Eventually, I started to explore other authors, outside of the “street” fiction spectrum, but who still told stories about people who looked like me: Mary Monroe, Mary B. Morrison, Terry McMillan, Eric Jerome Dickey–to name a few.

My road to becoming a novelist didn’t happen overnight, though. I like to think of each and everything in my career as a stepping stone. While my love for creative writing progressed, it really wasn’t until I got into Journalism that I was able to hone my craft. Through Journalism, I’ve been able to tell the stories of real people with real backgrounds. I’m so grateful to Kevin Benoit, who took me under his wing when I began working for his publication, Parlé Magazine, back in 2016. Five years later, I’m still on the team, and I’ve learned so much. The opportunities I’ve had, the experiences I’ve had–I’ll never forget any of it.

Just like I could never forget my girl, my fellow author friend, Ariel Carter. She was one of the first people to read my debut novel, and she urged me to publish it. Had it not been for her encouragement, I wouldn’t have even thought about turning my longtime dream into a reality, especially in the capacity of pursuing a full-time authoring career. She made me believe that I could do it, and for that, she deserves all of her flowers!

Website: www.authoressashleytearra.info

Instagram: www.instagram.com/authoressashleytearra / www.instagram.com/ashleytearra

Twitter: www.twitter.com/ashleytearra

Facebook: www.facebook.com/ashleytearra

Other: Amazon Page – https://amzn.to/3G156p6