Authors Spotlight: Karlyle Tomms

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Authors Bio: Karlyle Tomms.

Karlyle Tomms is a writer who grew up in rural Ozarks poverty. He completed his master’s degree in clinical social work in 1981, and worked most of his career in mental health services and addictions treatment. He has written for different regional magazines and newspapers over the years, and has often been selected to speak at both professional and non-professional events, as well as radio talk shows. However, he had never written or published fiction until completing his first novel in 2012. His general method for fiction has been to define a character and allow that character to tell his or her own story from first person perspective as though the character is writing an autobiography. Through his characters he explores the psychology of the human condition as well as the various elements and entanglements of personalities. His novels incorporate the social and historical influences surrounding the lifetimes of his characters, and are stories of overcoming social, emotional and spiritual challenges.

Authors Spotlight: Karlyle Tomms click here

Confessions from the pumpkin patch-By Karlyle Tomms

Around 2006, when I was goofing around with a friend, a character appeared and spoke through me. She was a smoking burned out hippy chick from the 1960’s. She was crass, and unfiltered. When she came through me, she said, “My daughter would never dress out for gym class. That’s because one nipple pointed up, and one nipple pointed down, and all the children called her tiddlywinks. . . Of course that golf ball sized hairy mole on her ass never helped matters much either.”  I got a huge laugh, so was rewarded to continue with her.
I’m not sure exactly why I sat down at the keyboard to let her tell her story, but that is exactly what I did. What happened was a shock to me. This was not one of my ideas for a novel. In fact, I expected I would probably never write a novel, but she told her story, and I wrote it down. The result was my first novel, “Confessions from the Pumpkin Patch.” That original joke never appeared in the book. I don’t know why. However, she had a lot to say and a very interesting story to tell. As I wrote it, I watched it unfold more as though I was reading the book myself for the first time. The characters just showed up, did what they did, and said what they said. About the only thing I did, other than dictate it, was to make sure the elements of history depicted in the book were correct and on the correct time line. Lovella did the rest.
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Top Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 starsGREAT book.

By cindy craig on March 12, 2015

Format: Paperback Verified Purchase

GREAT book… I highly recommend this book to everyone – normie’s or particularly to anyone from a dysfunctional, or shame based family system – anyone who ever felt they might be alone in this old world… This is definitely one of the best books I’ve read in months and months!
The characters were well developed and reading the story was like peeking inside an All American family’s soul. Another family lost in it’s own secrets, lost love, missed opportunities, shame, and finally true love, respect, and finally – most importantly – acceptance.
Thanks to the person who recommended I read this – it was an exceptional way to spend a rainy day!

 

5.0 out of 5 starsEngaging

By Kindle Customer on May 18, 2015

Format: Kindle Edition Verified Purchase

Thoroughly enjoyed this book. Characters are real and I can relate. Lovella’s character development throughout the book is well written. Enjoyed the history lesson entwined in the story line. Life lessons and wisdom avail themselves for those ready to take notice. Looking forward to the next glimpse into the life of Lovella.

 

5.0 out of 5 starsHooked on the first page!

By Debra C. Billings on March 5, 2015

Format: Paperback Verified Purchase

From the time I read the first page of this book, I was hooked. Karlyle Tomms is my new favorite author. This book was so good that I didn’t want it to end. Considering I read at least 2 books a week, I can’t wait for the second and third, etc., etc. This book flowed so well, was entertaining, and was just like the real things happening in life! You just have to read it, you won’t be sorry!

 

5.0 out of 5 starsKarlyle Tomms is my new favorite author. Well

By Jarod Kintz on February 17, 2015

Format: Paperback

Karlyle Tomms is my new favorite author. Well, behind God, who wrote The Bible. I also think God wrote The Notebook under the pseudonym of Nicholas Sparks, but that is neither here nor there nor in Pennsylvania, where this story takes place.
The story flows as smooth as water, and is as voluminous as Niagara Falls. Don’t try to drink it all in one gulp, lest you drown in its literary glory.
The main character’s name is Lovella, and how can you not love that? Her life struggle takes place in the 60s, a decade I don’t remember—not because I was stoned the whole time, but because I wasn’t born yet. So this period piece was a fascinating time travel experience for me.
Altogether a great read, and I highly recommend it.
About Karlyle Tomms.
I have been a writer for about as long as I can remember. In Junior High School, I wrote a play called “Who Ate the Tree.” Don’t ask me whatever became of it. I have no idea. I have written poetry for much of my life, and when I was in college, I was editor for the college literary magazine featuring short stories, poetry and art by students. I have had ideas for novels since the late 1970’s and most of those ideas remain unwritten. Perhaps the day will come when they find their way to the page.
I graduated in 1981 with a master’s degree in clinical social work and did not write for a while. However, I continued to write music. I had learned to play guitar on the front steps of my college dorm in 1973, and immediately took to writing songs. In 1984, I moved to Nashville, Tennessee where I continued to write and pitch music. I did a few shows and in 1989, after getting an audition for a major national broadcast (which I messed up), decided I didn’t really want that much fame even if I could have it. A little bit of fame would do just fine, and maybe (I thought at the time) none at all would be okay. After that, I sang only for church and the occasional local venue.
In 1994, I entered private practice in Nashville and wrote a little booklet on anxiety management and self-calming which I used for marketing my practice. I was then selected by “Recovery Times” magazine for a monthly feature article where my posts were placed side by side with writers such as Father Leo Booth, Alan Cohen, and Rokelle Lerner. Most of those articles were stories from my childhood that were given an addictions recovery moral at the end.
By 1997, I had completed a self-help colouring book and was about to get that published when tragedy struck. My colleague in private practice died. The agent for my book (who also endorsed my current book) moved back to New York, and the producer who was working with me on doing a demo film for public speaking engagements moved back to Los Angeles. With my Nashville world crashing down around me, I decided I would move back to the Ozarks to be near my grandmother who was struggling with Alzheimer’s in her waning years. I gave up writing for “Recovery Times” and, for many years, devoted myself to taking care of my grandmother.
I cared for my grandmother until she died in 2002, and since I had a comfortable job with a local hospital, I decided to take a bird in the hand and just stay there. The hospital asked me to occasionally write articles for local newspapers and for various promotions. I did radio talk shows on educational topics, and other than writing poetry, there was no other writing that I did for many years.
 

 Jo Sgammato, author of Keepin’It Country, American Thunder, Dream Come True, and For The Music writes: “it is good, very engaging, well-written quite colorful. Karlyle Tomms has a talent and a way with words.”

 Su Anne Sherry, author of My Three Lost Girls writes:   “Engaging and well-written. The author with honesty and humor opens the door to reveal the life of a precocious teenage girl, who, overcoming many obstacles, embraces truth and gains the wisdom of age.”

Rhiannon Rede: Totally awesome book. Couldn’t put it down.

Donna B.:  OMG I finished the book yesterday! I wanted to get to the end but then again I didn’t want it to end. This book has it all, I absolutely loved it, I want more. Can’t wait to share this with friends . Can’t say enough about this book ,best book ever! Thank you and your fans will be waiting for your next book!!!  — Also from an earlier post by Donna B: I would like to say a little critique on this new book called confessions of the pumpkin patch. I was blown away by the skillfulness of this first time writer. I was totally captivated by the first page. It’s has been a very long time since a book drew me in as this has done. I am only one third of the way through it and each day I look so forward to coming back to the story. So proud of this new writer. I highly suggest that you get this book and enjoy the ride you will not be sorry!!!

Robert C.:   Just finished your book Karlyle Tomms…!!! Absolutely loved it…!!! What a great story and so much insight. It had me captivated from the very beginning and then it just got better. I cant wait to get my hands on your next book…!!!

Debbie B.: Yay! Absolutely loved your book. Hard to believe it was a first! When can we expect the next one?

COMMENTS FROM FANS:

Jarod Kintz, author of E-mails From A Madman  and multiple other books writes:

“Karlyle Tomms is my new favorite author. Well, behind God, who wrote The Bible. I also think God wrote The Notebook under the pseudonym of Nicholas Sparks, but that is neither here nor there nor in Pennsylvania, where this story takes place.

The story flows as smooth as water, and is as voluminous as Niagara Falls. Don’t try to drink it all in one gulp, lest you drown in its literary glory.

The main character’s name is Lovella, and how can you not love that? Her life struggle takes place in the 60s, a decade I don’t remember—not because I was stoned the whole time, but because I wasn’t born yet. So this period piece was a fascinating time travel experience for me.

Altogether a great read, and I highly recommend it.”

RE: “Confessions From The Pumpkin Patch” by Karlyle Tomms
Book review by: Marideth Sisco

WINT BONE

Marideth Sisco is an author, songwriter and composer whose credits include the music and an appearance in Sundance winner and 4-time Oacar nominee “Winter’s Bone;” six years of essays on regional public radio in her broadcast series, “These Ozarks Hills;” three recorded albums with her band, Blackberry Winter, and numerous other film and TV credits. More information is available at her web site. (See link below)

“She is so much in your face that it is at first difficult to scope what this first novel’s heroine is up to; she is so brash and self-confident, but no, now she is spiteful, but no, indifferent. Crazed, maybe. All that, and damaged. Honest. Able. And here to tell you about it. In doing so, the author has handed us a clear and unique view of how one might have experienced directly and viscerally the major issues of the times, through her interaction with a small group of individuals with whom she is entangled but from whom she is alienated by her passion and her pain.

Throughout this rollicking romp, she is smart, and making do with what she has, which is an overabundance of wit, cunning, guile and conscience, packed into a dervish of a girl who means to get her way, get outa town and figure out what she’s doing in this world. What is she good for, and what should she be doing about it? And, by the way, what’s all the big to-do about sex, anyway? In some worlds it’s currency, in others a tool. The main thing is to make sure you are the one who says what happens, and when and to whom. Sex is useful in leading the order of play, so long as you make sure you’re the one doing the leading, and that you’re not being led. She’s a tough cookie, and she’ll need to be as she charges headlong into the changing landscape of the 1960’s in small town middle America.

This chronicle of a young girl’s coming of age and into her wisdom is a masterpiece of a character’s evolution through experience and insights into an adult, shown through both the people of the time and the circumstances that formed them; led them through war at home an overseas into a maturity they never expected to find. With a skill surpassing what one might expect from a first-book novelist, Tomms guides us through the labyrinthine twists and turns of one person traversing those changing times with a deft appreciation of personalities and a sweet degree of patience for those whom life is tossing about like a large unwieldy dryer load. Never feeling staged, it’s a tale that rings true to those of us old enough to have been witness to that ever changing landscape, in those pivotal times. For those younger ones who wonder about the events and circumstances that shaped their parents and grandparents’ world view, this is an open window. And for the rest of us, it’s a darned good read, and a remarkable telling.”

 To visit Karlyle Tomms check his Blog pages via.
Karlyle Tomms social media.

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