Tiffany A. Flowers is a native of Chicago, Illinois. Born the child of an artist, she spent the majority of her childhood attending poetry readings, festivals, and art shows with her mother. This is where her love for art began. After graduating from Virginia Commonwealth University with a Bachelors of Science degree in Psychology and a Masters of Arts degree in Early Childhood Education, she went on to complete another Masters of Arts degree in Education from the University of Iowa. After completing her degree, she began her teaching career in both public schools and colleges. Tiffany has taught at several universities and colleges across the United States as an instructor, lecturer, and clinical professor. Those institutions include West Chester University in Pennsylvania, Saint Leo University in Florida, and Clemson University in South
Carolina. During this time she was inspired to tell her students stories about her life. Her students encouraged her to write down her original stories and publish them. So, she began writing her stories in journals for the next seven years. She spent many nights and weekends crafting her books, writing academic papers, and working toward completing her Ph.D. in Literacy. Tiffany considers herself to be an educator, writer, reviewer, literacy advocate, philanthropist, and consultant.
Carolina. During this time she was inspired to tell her students stories about her life. Her students encouraged her to write down her original stories and publish them. So, she began writing her stories in journals for the next seven years. She spent many nights and weekends crafting her books, writing academic papers, and working toward completing her Ph.D. in Literacy. Tiffany considers herself to be an educator, writer, reviewer, literacy advocate, philanthropist, and consultant.
As a writer, Tiffany is the author and co-author of various academic articles, book chapters, and children’s books. Her academic articles focus on the area(s) of literacy, education, and literature. Her academic work can be found in the Journal for the Liberal Arts and Sciences, Urban Education, and The High School Journal. The titles of her published children’s book releases include I am a Sigma Gamma Rho Legacy, For those who stare at the moon, and Patterns are Everywhere: An Upside Down Pattern Book. She has been featured on radio shows such as the Reading Circle, The Living Hope, Word Thirst Literary Journal, Virtuous Woman, Blogatique with Ananda Leake, and The Cover to Cover Show. She has been interviewed and featured on All the Literary Buzz Reviews, the examiner.com, the Written Voices Blog, the Booktown blog, The Author’s Hideaway, and Black Authors Books.
As a reviewer, Tiffany has reviewed for several academic journals such as The Journal of School Leadership, The International Journal of Multicultural Education, and Equity & Excellence in Education. Tiffany’s professional reviews have been featured in various academic journals such as Teacher’s College Record, The Education Review, and The Journal of African American History. Additionally, she is currently the Literary Director of onixlink.com, and maintains the Golden Butterfly Reviews blog to showcase authors of children’s and young adult books to children, parents, teachers, and librarians.
As a Literacy Advocate, Tiffany has written and received over $40,000 in grants to fund various research-based literacy projects in schools, community centers, correctional facilities, and preschools. Those projects are aimed at pre-K through adult populations and include but are not limited to the African American Read-in Project, The Buddy Reading Project, The Kindergarten Reading Readiness Project, The Kindergarten Mult-ethnic Literature Project, and the Tolerance Project.
As a philanthropist, Tiffany support several charities through monetary donations from the sale of her children’s books. Those charities include The New Orleans Public Library Foundation, The Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc. National Education Fund, and The L.E.A.D. Foundation. Additionally, she supports other organizations such as schools, community centers, international charities, and prisons through one time in-kind book donations.
As a lecturer and consultant, Tiffany has presented at various local, regional, and national conferences such as the South Carolina Association for School Libraries, The National Reading Conference, and the Georgia Reading Association Conference. Some of her professional presentation topics for educators include Using Diverse Literature in the Classroom, Reading Strategies for Reluctant Readers, and Writing Diverse Experiences. Additionally, she has presented her work as a children’s author to elementary schools, colleges, churches, and preschools in the United States.
Some of Tiffany’s accomplishments include being listed in Who’s Who among American College Students and Universities. Tiffany was inducted into the Order of Omega Greek Leadership Honor Society. She is a Frederick Douglass Teaching Fellow, and an Indiana University Faculty Fellow. She has appeared in the Easley Progress newspaper, The Advocate Newspaper, and the International Aurora Magazine. In 2010, Poetic Monthly Magazine listed her second book release, For those who stare at the moon as one of the best reads of 2010. Tiffany is also a member of various civic, community, and professional organizations that focus on literacy, diverse histories, and education.
The majority of Tiffany’s children’s stories reflect a culmination of all of her experiences from childhood to adult. However, the ultimate goal of her work is to promote hope and creativity, and to bring joy into the lives of children. Currently, Tiffany is working on her fourth picture book release. Also, she is penning a series book for children in the intermediate grades about growing up in the city. The first book in this series is slated to be released in August 2011.
I am inspired to write by the experiences that I have in life. I often write about places I travel, things I witness, experience, and dream about.
2. When did you have that ah ha moment when you knew you were a writer?
I was sitting in my classroom while my students were in P.E. I started day dreaming about some time that I spent with my grandmother. I started writing down a story. I thought that I was only writing for a few minutes. I looked up and realized that I had been writing for thirty minutes. I had to run to pick up my kids on time. I realized as I was running down the hall to get my kids that I am a writer.
3. What is your writing process?
I get up early in the morning, listen to old school hip-hop music, make myself a bowl of fruit and I write for two to three hours each day. I spend other moments throughout the day editing and revising my pieces. I workshop my stories before I send them out to an editor with different groups of people. I normally work on a story for a few months. Then I send out to an editor to proof for errors and clarity. Then I begin the publication process when the manuscript is returned to me.
4. Tell us about your favorite character and why you chose to write about them?
My favorite character is my Grandma Barbara. She is the character in a few of my unpublished stories. I chose to write about her, because she was an instrumental person in my life.
5. What are you currently working on?
I am currently working on a few stories about my grandmother, a silly story, my first scary story, my first chapter book, and a series book.
6. Any upcoming events?
I am one of the headline authors for the 3rd Annual Market Street Book Fair in Wilmington, Delaware in July. I am looking forward to that event.
7. Do you have any advice for new writers and something that a seasoned vet can learn?
My advice for new writers is to continue to put out book releases on a steady basis. Your audience tends to take writers that have multiple releases much more serious than the author with a single release. As a seasoned veteran, I learned from a good friend of mine that is a best-selling author that you need to market your books every day. Also, you need to promote your books at all types of events. Your goal is to get your work out to the general public.
8. Where can your followers find you?
My followers can find me on the following social networking sites:
E-mail: tflowers@goldenbutterflypublishing.com
Publisher’s site: www.goldenbutterflypublishing.com
Twitter: www.twitter.com/publishinggold
Myspace: www.myspace.com/goldenbutterflypublishing
Facebook: www.facebook.com/TiffanyAFlowers
Skype: www.skype.com/goldenbutterflypublishing.com
Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/goldenbutterflypublishing
Youtube Channel: www.youtube.com/goldenbutterflypub
Author’s Blog: http://authortiffanyaflowers.wordpress.com/
Reviewers Blog: http://thegoldenbutterfly.blogspot.com/
Amazon.com: The Golden Butterfly Reviews
9. Any last words?
If you want to listen to book trailers, read reviews, and learn about upcoming book signings, you can log on to www.goldenbutterflypublishing.com.
Thank you for stopping by Tiffany. Please leave a comment and visit Tiffany on June 18 for Fiction Addiction to have a copy of your book signed.
