Tell us about yourself.
Tamikio L. Dooley is a multi-award-winning author. She is the author of 150 titles and 109 published books. The author writes fiction and nonfiction of crime, thriller, mystery, fantasy, historical, western, romance, zombie apocalypse, and paranormal. In her spare time, she writes short stories, poetry, articles, essays, health books, and children’s books, diaries, journals, inspiring books, culture, African American, and history books. She is also a blogger and an artist.
Where did you grow up, and how did this influence your writing?
I grew up in Detroit, Michigan. Where I grew up had a tremendous influence on my writing. I started writing at 16-years-old. I wrote my stories by hand of over one hundred to two hundred pages per story. My favorite genre to write at the time was horror and paranormal.
What was your journey to getting published like?
When I first started writing and publishing books for the public audience in January 2015, I first became a self-published author, and then a traditional publisher became interested in publishing my books. I gave it try. But at the end of 2023, I decided to remove my books from the traditional publisher, by choice, and return to self-publish. Why? Because I love the freedom of being in control and ownership of my books. It's one of the best decisions I've ever made. I'm happy self-publishing at moment.
What’s the best piece of feedback you’ve ever received?
The best piece of feedback I've received is to write for myself just as much as the readers, accept constructive criticism to improve my work, engage in sharing and publishing my work on various high profile platforms. Most importantly… not to look at my errors and mistakes in writing and publishing as failure, but rather view them as corrected learning experiences.
What advice would you give to aspiring writers?
Advice I would give to inspire writers is the same advice other mentors gave me when I first started my writing journey. Never give up! No matter how many times a publisher rejects their work, or how lesser understand of self-publishing they know, and most importantly, never allow a negative book review to discourage them. We as writers, as well as readers, learn something new everyday and face obstacles about the literature world. Historical literature is the solid foundation of modern literature. It will never fade, but continues to become further inspring creating new opportunites and journeys.
What’s a fun fact about you that your readers might not know?
A fun fact my readers might not know about me is that I love to write! I also love to create visual art such as books covers, banners, videos, paintings, and anything connected with the artistic world. That is how I feel about writing, too. I feel that writing is another form or artistic creation. The same as an artist choosing to place colors, styles, and textures on a canvase or sketch paper. I'd like to mention I'm an artist, too! Writers must craft their words in their writing to not only please the writers but themselves as well.
What’s your guilty pleasure book or genre?
I have no guilty pleasure in books or genres. If anyone thinks that descriminating against a certain book or genre is wrong… that is wrong! As writers and readers we all have the right to our preferences regarding what we want to read or write. It's our choice, not a right or wrong decision.
What’s your favorite quote about writing?
{My favorite quote, which is my personal quote, "Never allow a blossoming idea to slip your mind. As a flower nourish it, bring it forth, and make it happen."
When you’re not writing, how do you like to spend your time?
When I'm not writing, I love to spend my free time with my family, my husand and son, and very much enjoy alone-time. During alone-time I love to read, collect books and candles, body care, and mugs. I love to meditate, eat healthy, and exercise. Just enjoy the aspects of life!
Do you remember the first story you ever read, and the impact it had on you?
Unfortunately, I don't remember the first story I read. I started reading almost 40-years-ago.
What has inspired you and your writing style?
What inspires my writing style, which inspires quite often, is books, movies, images, and dreams. My first horror and zombie series entilted The Warhead Hunters Series was inspired by a dream. I dreamed I was being chased by zombies! I woke up the next the morning and the dream became reality. It started out as a six-part book series, but I cut it down to a three-part book series, which became a bestseller in 2019.
How do you deal with negative reviews?
The first negative review I received was in 2015 on intital first book entitled Ghost and the Supernatural, and The New Jersey Stalkers Series. I will admit being a first time writer and hopping into it… yes, the books were bad. But, hey, we all travel through a learning process everyday, don't we? Although the bad reviews hurt and discourage me as a new writer, I unpublished the books, and made them better than ever! I rewrote them with fresh ideas, renamed them, creating new covers. Now, I became a mult-award-winning author writing fiction, nonfiction, and poetry.
How do you connect with your readers?
I connect with readers using Facebook, Instagram, Linkedln, and other social media platforms. I also connect with reader through my personal platforms such as my author website, promoting website( I am also a publisher and promoter for authors and poets) and my blogs.
What’s next for you as a writer?
What is next for me as a writer is composing my 110th and 111th book. I'm currenly writing a paranormal series, and a royal historical fiction book released in October 2025.
Are there any Easter eggs or hidden messages in your work?
No, there's nothing hidden when it comes to writing and publishing for the public audience. I guess people can say "I'm an open book".
How do you approach writing dialogue for your characters?
I've heard fellow writers and readers tell me that I am excellent when it come to "character dialog" in my stories. I must say I am. How? I become my characters. Yes, people heard me correctly. I become every character in all of my books. I can relate to their energy. The feel, their personalites, their character (good or bad), the way they look, dress, smell, and what they eat! Therefore, by capturing the ability to writer great dialog, I clearly become the character I am write about. I am able to keep the same personalities of all of my characters when it's there turn to talk under my pen. There is nothing better than becoming the person you're writing about as an author. Feeling is everything.
If you could share one thing with your fans, what would that be?
If I could share one thing with my fans, I wish they could travel deeper within me and feel what I feel when I'm writing. I wish each fan would love every book I write, feel what I feel when I create and project my characters, the time, place, and everything about my stories. They are sure to enjoy reading my books just as much I enjoy writing them.
Tamikio L. Dooley’s Author Websites and Profiles
Website
Amazon Profile
Tamikio L. Dooley’s Social Media Links
Facebook Page
Instagram
LinkedIn
All information in this post is presented “as is” supplied by the author. We don’t edit to allow you the reader to hear the author in their own voice.