Photo: the author Traci Wooden-Carlisle
“Oh, that’s an easy one. You let them loose in a library after being tutored in English during their most impressionable years.” Says Traci Wooden-Carlisle
Traci Wooden-Carlisle, award-winning author and jewelry designer turned publisher, started like most other authors – with a book. Due to a misdiagnosis of myopia (farsighted) condition at six years old, Traci’s poor grades in reading were blamed on a learning condition rather than poor sight. She underwent two years of tutoring in reading before the physical issue was discovered, but by then, she was reading at the ninth-grade level with a thirst for knowledge. During the times she was being disciplined for some childish deed, there were no trips to the library, so she had to make up her own stories. That’s how it started.
It wasn’t a straight shot from reading and writing to herself to a career as a novelist. She took a circuitous route by earning her Bachelor of Arts Degree in Journalism from Humboldt State University and becoming a graphic artist for the L.A. Daily News in Woodland Hills, because creative writing and journalism were further apart in disciplines than she originally thought.
After five years, her relationship with God and gave her a desire to interact with people more than with computers, but she still loved her books. She moved to San Diego in 2004 with the urging of one of her Elders and went to work as an office manager for a church in the inner city. Witnessing the need outweighing the ability to give on a weekly basis made her soul weary and she asked God for something for herself. Something that could feed her soul.
Four months later, she began writing her first published novel, My Beauty for Your Ashes, book one in the Promises to Zion women’s Christian fiction series. After five months and seven chapters, she realized that the book she was writing to herself was meant for more than her eyes. It took two months to coax herself into continuing because the thought of sharing a piece of her soul with others almost paralyzed her with fear. She finished, though and has written fourteen more books in the thirteen years since.
With the constant prompting of her husband and the Holy Spirit, Mrs. Wooden-Carlisle established TAWCarlisle Publishing in 2021 in hopes of helping other writers experience the joy of becoming an author.
You can find Traci Wooden-Carlisle’s book at online stores and on her website at tawcarlisle.com. If you are interested in speaking with her about a book project, you may email her at twooden@tawcpublish.com
