Flashlight Moments in the Dark Presents: Tyora Moody

The last week of the 1st quarter is upon us and all I can say is wow. Where did the time go. I was able to hit my goals for the first quarter. I launched my podcast and started this series which I am extremely proud of. If you have missed the interviews, I really recommend you catch up. Good stuff.

Today I have the pleasure of introducing you to Tyora Moody. I first met Ty(as she is fondly called) on line when I released my first novel. She handled my publicity with so much ease that I didn’t have the stress I know many new authors have. The I got a chance to meet her in person at a book festival here in Atlanta and many other times since then. Read about her flashlight moment in the dark.

Unoma: Who is Tyora Moody?
Ty: She’s a quiet, focused woman who never likes to be bored and enjoys being creative and helping others pursue their goals. She takes life day by day and seeks to always keep growing.
Unoma: In 10 words or less can you create a quote that describes you and your purpose journey?
Ty: I’m going to share my tagline from the last decade. Serving up a creative mix, flavored with FAITH
Unoma: What is the driving force in your life?
Ty: That’s a good question. To be on the path that God has destined for me. I have strayed down a lot of paths in the past that led to painful disappointments and unnecessary stress. God doesn’t promise an easy path, but I do think we can get in the way and make things worse.
Unoma: How do you balance family, faith and your passion/business?
Ty: Not very easily. I have learned the older I get to record my to do lists and goals, but remain flexible because life happens. I don’t have children, but I’m at the age where I’m the one looking after my parents. That’s a different place to be, but I appreciate the adult friendship with my parents. No matter what I’m pursuing, I try to remain conscious of my responsibilities as the oldest child.
Unoma: What was the single most devastating experience/challenge in your life and how did you overcome it?
Ty: The single most devastating experience in my life would probably be my divorce. The past few years I’ve gone through the phases of deep anger to finally forgiveness to that was a phase of my life. LOL! I have the testimony that when you forgive and let go, there is true freedom. I’m approaching being single for almost a decade now. I appreciate the woman I’ve become and continue to pray for growth and to be open to the future.
Unoma: How do you build confident expectations in your dark moments? (Business or Personal)
Ty: To build confident expectations it’s important to connect with God on everything, personal or business. Before I went to God for certain things. A few years ago, I had overwhelmed myself. It I remembered a few times being in tears and really mad with myself. It was during that time I learned it’s okay to pray about the type of clients you want for your business. I have prayed to God to help me narrow down the right types of services that I can deliver and still keep my sanity. And I went back to the basics of making sure I found balance through no working on the weekend, keeping dedicated hours and being able to be creative free-form style without all projects being for a client. I don’t feel the stress I did a few years ago.
Unoma: How does your understanding of the future give you hope for the present?
Ty: I’m a lot closer to 50 now and it’s funny everytime I look at my hair and see the number of gray hairs, I should be cringing, but I don’t. There’s a sense of gratitude. No one knows the future, but I’m grateful for how God takes care of us and how we survive life disappointments and are allowed to have new experiences. I’m also a person who leans towards the positive. That’s not always been the case, but you have to earnestly seek the hope in a situation, because it’s easy to be snatched in another direction.

Unoma: What does it look like practically for you to “turn to the cross” in your business/ministry.
Ty: Don’t be afraid to bring anything to God in prayer. Don’t be selective. He’s given us talents and at times it’s confusing on what direction to go. Ask. Seek wisdom. That’s even more important if you’re a solopreneur and you are trying handle a lot of tasks on your own. I still keep a day job and there have been times when I wondering what would it be like to be that work from home entrepreneur. God answered that by increasing my day job duties and making that work even more interesting than ever. I think we need to turn to the cross constantly because He knows what’s next for us.
Unoma: What advice would you give your younger self?
Ty: Wow! To not listen to all the voices telling you what you SHOULD do. I wish I’d learned earlier to NOT be such a people pleaser, but to learn what was truly my own passion and pursue that first.

Unoma: What can we look forward to from you this year? OR What are you working on?
Ty: I’m looking forward to a year of a lot of writing. I didn’t write as much as I wanted to last year. I have the first of three fiction projects I’m working on now. Relentless Heart is the third book in the Reed Family Series. The first two books are Broken Heart and Troubled Heart.
I also hope to write the third book in the Eugeena Patterson Mysteries and the second book in the Serena Manchester Series. I’m long past due for writing for these series.

I hope you enjoyed Ty’s enlightening interview. Find out how to get in contact with her below. Before we do that however I wanted to remind you of a couple of things.
Don’t forget to tune into  Anchor Talk for the concluding part to the gift series. Get your quick burst of inspiration, motivation and encouragement to help you push past the stagnation of uncertainty. Learn to glow in the dark places of purpose by building confident expectations in God’s promises. Also remember you have a special pre order offer with In the Dark paperback…a free Confident Expectation Prayer Journal(Light Pearls in the Dark)
OK, here is more about Ty

Bio: Tyora Moody is the author of Soul-Searching Suspense books which include the Reed Family Novellas, Eugeena Patterson Mysteries, Serena Manchester Series, and the Victory Gospel Series. She is also the author of the nonfiction book, The Literary Entrepreneur’s Toolkit, and the compilation editor for the Stepping Into Victory Compilations under her company, Tymm Publishing LLC.
As a literary-focused entrepreneur, she has assisted countless authors with developing an online presence via her design and marketing company, Tywebbin Creations LLC. Popular services include virtual event planning, book covers and book trailers. Contact Tyora at TyoraMoody.com.