Creator's Conversations with Tymeka Coney: I Don't Like Covid-19 -a children's picture book!

Hey book-lover! How are you? Today you are going to read a conversation I recently had. She is an actress, producer, director, playwright, poet, songwriter, voice over artist. Her first book was "Words Unspoken: Volume I-Deeper Than Eyes Can See," poetry book released in 2011. She also has a Spoken Word album, "Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Dreams," available on Amazon and her recent extended single "COVID 19- Social Distancing," also on Amazon. Her name is Tymeka Coney. 

Tymeka is also an Entertainment Entrepreneur as she is a woman of many talents. She currently runs an Indie production company- Meek Entertainment & PR for TV, Film, Live Stage Events & other media. She continues to inspire others through her writing/entertainment bringing awareness to social change as she has done as a playwright with several plays that have brought awareness to domestic violence, breast cancer, suicide, menopause etc. Tymeka realizes it is a part of her life’s mission to continue to rally around important causes like racism and other social change and continue to use her platform for the greater good of all mankind and excel the lives of others spiritually, mentally and emotionally through Arts and Entertainment to make an impact in the lives of others throughout the world.

I hope you have got an overall idea about our lovely guest. Let’s not waste time and start our conversation.

Kangkan: A warm welcome to my blog Tymeka! How are you?
Tymeka: I’m blessed and thanks for the warm welcome to your blog.

Kangkan: “Women are the perfect multitaskers” - people in my country (India) believe in that and you have proved it with your actions. How do you manage everything? I am really curious about it.
Tymeka: I am really intentional with my time in regards to socializing and making room for my alone time to create away from the outside world. I am mindful in my creativity to go towards the creative flow. Whatever comes to my mind and spirit that is where I go, whether it’s writing a story, a song, a poem or script. When it is time to Produce or spear head a project or even assist another individual with their creative vision, it is in the stillness and quietness that I hear from the Creator for direction on what to do next creatively.

Kangkan: What’s the best thing about being a multitasker like you and what’s the most challenging?
Tymeka: The best thing about being a multitasker is you open yourself up to so many limitless possibilities and opportunities. When one skill is dormant you can easily shift to your next skill or the next. Being a multitasker can also provide several streams of income. The most challenging aspect is that sometimes you can spread yourself thin multitasking and your energy has to be divided where you can’t consistently give 100 % to any one task at one time which can make you great at many things but maybe not the best at many things as you could be if you had laser beam focus on just one thing. The other challenge is that to some you may appear to be doing too much and risk being misunderstood by many as to what you are working to become or how you can be identified when they can’t often pinpoint just one thing that you do. But I am blessed to be considered a Multi-hyphenate and I enjoy the variety of opportunities and the fact that I don’t have to worry about getting bored because there is always a new project that I can undertake or creative idea that I can submerge myself into.

Kangkan: Since you have a very tight schedule, how do you manage time to write? To be more specific, when do you write?
Tymeka: I’m always working to maintain time management by keeping a calendar and task list/list of things to do daily. I also work hard to maintain work/life/balance so that I show up as a whole and balanced person in every area of life and certainly the word discipline comes up a lot for me. I manage time to write by sacrificing a lot of social time on the phone or invites to gatherings on weekends and at night. While most people my age may be at the club on the weekend etc..I find myself at home in front of my laptop writing. I often write at night before bed and/or on weekends or holidays when I have quiet time alone.

Kangkan: To keep the creative liquids flowing, an author needs to read books. What is the last book you read?
Tymeka: The last book I read is Sis, Don’t Settle by Judge Faith Jenkins. I find that I am always reading books about finance, career, relationships or the arts. I have a thirst for knowledge and a desire to always strive to be a better human being and to inspire others with the knowledge I’ve obtained. I have three bookshelves currently in my home and the library is expanding year after year.

Kangkan: Any contemporary authors you follow?
Tymeka: I enjoy self-help books by T.D. Jakes and Steve Harvey to name a few.

Kangkan: Tell us about your latest release "I Don't Like Covid-19”- a children's book. What inspired you to write this book?

Tymeka: I was inspired to write this book because I wanted to inspire others and I didn’t see any children’s books written by African-American authors that educated kids on the subject of COVID-19. I thought it was especially important to bring more awareness to the effects of this disease to kids and certainly in my community and culture and just the world overall. I also believed that this would cause parents, grandparents and teachers to be reminded of the importance of practicing safety towards COVID-19 and just keep the dialogue going. Also, having experienced COVID-19 first hand and survived it and having a family member that didn’t, I wanted to make it one of my life’s missions to make sure that children and adults and anyone who reads this book …that they would further realize or be reminded of the severity of COVID-19 and just remember everyday to wash their hands, social distance and continue to wear their masks even if they are vaccinated and why it is so essential as it could actually save a life.
I want to also say that I recognize as an author, writer and content creator, that it is my responsibility to use my platform and exposure for the greater good of all mankind.

Kangkan: To write a children’s book, one has to think like a child. To be honest, it is a very tough genre for an author, but you have done amazing work in "I Don't Like Covid-19”. I think somewhere within you, there is a child. How are you keeping her alive?
Tymeka: Thank you. I started writing my first children’s book, “I Don’t Like Racism,” because I wanted to know what it would feel like to tell the story of racism through the eyes of a young African-American girl. I also wanted to explore the same thought process of what it feels like to experience and be affected by COVID-19 through the mind of this young African-American girl with the second book, “I Don’t Like COVID-19.” This was a character I created named DaNyla which now is a part of my “I Don’t Like Series,” so I am continuing on the journey of exploring relevant topics in the world through the mind of this girl in hopes that her journeys of discovery will inspire children of all ages and ethnicities. I am an observer of life and I have a vivid imagination when I’m creating characters and dialogue to tell a story. I can hear every word that they would say in a situation that may present itself and I also studied Psychology, so I apply these skills to keep the characters alive and to properly assign their human behaviors. I have had an amazing time seeing the illustrations partnered with the words of the stories I wanted to tell…so much so that my mind has now went to the next level of what it would be like to have DaNyla come to life through animation. Stay tuned. :)

Kangkan: Your previous release "I Don't Like Racism"- was also a children’s picture book. Is there any specific reason you are writing for children?

Tymeka: There really is no specific reason I am writing for children. I have certainly worked as an Educator with children of all ages, so I definitely can understand the minds of children and the need for them to have exposure and education to relevant topics in our society and world at an early age so that as they grow up and are presented with situations in everyday life, that they are prepared and equipped with the knowledge to survive and succeed. I would say that is one of the roles one takes on being an Educator. I think topics like racism and COVID-19 are world issues and they are subjects you can’t escape at any age and there will come a time in life that you may be faced to experience one or both and I want to enlighten, empower and educate others through writing/entertainment and that is all ages from kids to the elders.

Kangkan: How long does it take to write a children’s book?
Tymeka: I would say it really depends on the individual. The process for me overall including illustrations and editing and book design and publishing typically takes 1-2 months for the completion of the entire book. However, I will say that I wrote both of my children’s books in a day. The stories just downloaded from my mind to the page instantly both times which was a clear indication that writing these books was not just a Good idea.. but a God idea.

Kangkan: What are you currently working on?
Tymeka: I am currently gearing up to shoot a short film I wrote, finishing up the writing for a Stage play to bring to stage later this year. I am also completing the writing of a TV Drama, doing several interviews for the release of the new book,  “I Don’t Like COVID-19,” I am songwriting and working on obtaining funding to produce several feature films.

Kangkan: What is your biggest fear in life?

Tymeka: My biggest fear in life is not reaching all of the goals I have set out to achieve on my vision board.

Kangkan: Now I am going to ask you three questions which are popular among the readers of "kmgreads". I ask these three questions to all the guests of Creator's Conversations.

1. Nikita Gill, a famous poet on social media once said in an interview, "Eight billion people are living their life in eight billion ways."- what is your way of living life?
Tymeka: My way of life is best described by the poet Shakespeare..”To thine ownself be true.” I am living my life by pursuing purpose and doing the things that I believe I was put on earth to do because they are innate talents/skills and abilities and things I love and enjoy. Being in a Pandemic for the last two years has helped me to further realize that the Gift of Life is precious and what we do in this life and how we spend our time utilizing the gifts we possess are a gift to others. There is a greater sense of fulfillment in life when you are doing what you love and on top of that getting paid for it. When you are true to yourself, it is easy to recognize your gifts and the things that make you uniquely you and this allows you to show up in the world authentically and I just believe this resonates Universally and this is how I want to continuously live my life by being true to myself in every area. It’s liberating!

2. Tell us a secret of your life that you have not shared with anybody.
Tymeka: One of the secrets of my life that some may not know is I am very shy. This is really why I believe I enjoy writing as it is a great way for me to share my thoughts and communicate self-expression and strong emotions through various forms of writing.

3 . There are so many readers of my blog who want to become full-time writers. What will be your message to them?
Tymeka: My message to those that want to become full-time writers is to simply just write. It’s like the saying, “Practice makes perfect.”
As Malcolm Gladwell discussed in his bestseller, “Outliers“, to become an expert at something it takes 10,000 hours (or approximately 10 years) of deliberate practice. That being said, it is my belief that everyone has a story to tell and some experience that they can share through writing. I would also say that there are always going to be obstacles in the way but never let anyone or anything detour you from writing if that is something you are passionate about as that is something you can always do at any time. If it is a book that you want to write, don’t concern yourself with the formatting or any of that. Just write! Even if it is with paper and pen in a tablet and as you start the process and began to share your vision with like-minded people, all the people that you need to come along and assist with your vision and help bring your book to completion will align with you on your writing journey. I want to leave you with one of my favourite scriptures of inspiration and to encourage writers and your readers. “Write the vision and make it plain on tablets, so that they who read it will run. For the vision is yet for the (future) appointed time, it hurries toward the goal of fulfilment; it will not fail. Even though it tarries, wait for it; For it will certainly come, it will not delay.” Habakkuk 2:2-3

Kangkan: Thank you so much for your time Tymeka. Your presence graced my blog. I hope you will come again and we will chat more about life and books. All the very best!

Thanks to you too dear reader. Thanks for reading our conversation. I hope you enjoyed it. I will try to bring Tymeka again, and we will explore different sides of her life. You will find her on Instagram @TymekaTymeLashae, Twitter @AuthorTymeka, Facebook @AuthorTymekaConey and YouTube @Tymekaconey. You can also visit her website to know more about her. You will find "I Don't Like Covid-19” there to order. You will find the book on Amazon and all the major retailers. I am coming with a book review very soon. Till then keep reading, keep smiling. Bye!