In this edition of Indie Shine, a place for rebirthoflisa to ‘Shine’ the spotlight on indie artists, we welcome author Abbie Johnson Taylor.
©Abbie Taylor used with permission
Bio:
Abbie Johnson Taylor is the author of a romance novel, two poetry collections, and a memoir. Her fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction appear in The Avocet, Magnets and Ladders, SageScript, and other publications. She has a visual impairment and lives in Sheridan, Wyoming, where for six years, she cared for her late husband, totally blind and partially paralyzed by two strokes.
Q & A
What do you do and Why do you do it?
I write because, I, like everyone else, have an imagination, and I enjoy putting my thoughts on paper.
Tell us about your most recent work.
‘My Ideal Partner’ describes how I met, married, and cared for my late husband at home for six years after he suffered two strokes that paralyzed his left side.
Who inspires you?
I’m inspired by many things, places, and events.
What do you consider your “Masterpiece” at this time?
I don’t call any one work a masterpiece. Almost everything I’ve written is brilliant, in its own way.
What is your motto in life? 
Don’t sweat the small stuff.
Name your wildest dream. The one you can not imagine achieving, but would love for it to come true.
I would love to be a guest on A Prairie Home Companion with Garrison Keillor hosting.
What is your favorite quote?
“Be well. Do good work, and keep in touch.” Garrison Keillor in The Writer’s Almanac
When it is all said and done, what would you like to be remembered for?
I would like to be known for my stylish prose and poetry and lovely singing voice.
Tell us about your next project and when will it be available to the public?
I plan to publish a collection of short stories set in Wyoming, my home state. I started working on this last year before My Ideal Partner was published ahead of schedule. Since I haven’t had time to get back to it, I don’t know when it will be available. Meanwhile, you can read many of my poems and short stories on my website.
Where can fans purchase your work?
My books can be purchased from Amazon, Createspace, Smashwords, and other sources. On my website, you’ll find a page for each of my books that contains ordering links.
Social Media
Blog: abbiescorner.com
Website: abbiejohnsontaylor.com
Facebook: Abbies Corner of the World
Amazon Author Page: Abbie Johnson Taylor
character Egypt Wilson is a young woman who was cursed by her other’s dying declaration that she was unworthy of love, labeling her a whore. Her life since then was spent avoiding relationships with men, only using them for one thing. 
What is your favorite quote?
Ok, I must stop here! This book was after my heart. I absolutely love both Langston and Zora! In fact the main character of my first book is named for them. I was swooning when the main character not only befriended, but became a contemporary of these icons! Nora was living the life J would have wanted, had I lived in the 1920s.
Charlotte, who insists on being called Godmother. She is a strange and temperamental woman who gives Nora a hard time. Nora is a bit of a Zora fan girl, but managed to keep her composure long enough to procure an invitation to a party where all of the who’s who of Harlem literary society will be.
hiding just under the surface. I can’t wait to see if my theory is correct. Unfortunately my thirst to solve this mystery will not be satiated until December when book 2 is released.
made notes of the type of food I envisioned Jonathan to be an expert at and was lucky enough to finalize the menu over the course of a weekend of Food Network binge watching. I do have the recipes and am strongly considering adding them to the back of the novel…or maybe as a novel bonus.
LWT: Who designed your book cover and how did you come up with the concept for it?
JW: Ooooh! Okay three tips: 
My most recent work is Book Three in The Stella Trilogy, “The Road to Freedom – Joseph’s Story”. It’s sort of a prequel to Book Two and surrounds the son of Stella from Book Two (granddaughter of Stella from Book One) who passed for white and changed her name to Sidney McNair and raised her children as white. For this, Joseph McNair is unaware of his African American lineage and seeks to discover more about why blacks are treated the way they are in America. After a fight with his brother Edward in his mother’s living room in Book Two, Joseph leaves home. Book Three explores his adventures when he left. With a group of friends, Joseph attempts to travel to Atlanta for an SNCC conference but encounter many trials on the way. They think they are on the road to becoming part of the movement but they are discovering more about themselves. This self-awareness, unknown to them, is their freedom.
and those that cannot change their minds cannot change anything”. The mind is the most powerful organ in the human body. Over time it has the ability to correct and re-correct itself. Many people seek change around them, external. They seek to change their living conditions, seek to raise awareness about discrimination and racism. People seek to change all the time and in different forms. These attempts will always fail if a person does not first seek to correct his mind. It’s not always about race and politics. It’s about the way that people think. It reminds me of an African proverb that says “When there’s no enemy within, the enemy outside cannot hurt you.” It’s our perspective. Change the way that you think first and then everything around you changes.
My next project is a two-part series (a duology), Renaissance: The Nora White Story (Book One) and Revelation: The Nora White Story (Book Two). I intended for this to be one novel but I do not like my books to be extremely long so I broke it down into two books. The story is about a young woman who, like many of her time, is not interested in her family’s land and despite graduating High School is not interested in College either. Nora decides she wants to go to New York to be a writer and against her parents’ wishes, she does. She becomes part of The Harlem Renaissance Movement and learns the North is not all it’s cracked up to be. Nora must decide for herself about who she is and what she wants.
drop dead gorgeous. I wanted Abby to be the image of the girl next door. She had to be kind and sweet but still, have the usual teenage angst. I imagined her with amber strawberry blond or red hair with fair skin. I found a picture on Pixabay.com that I have used to portray her.
blogging community. When I moved to Colorado, I found out she was only a couple hours away from me. Once we met, we became fast friends. Wendy is a graphic artist. I described the swamp fairy to her, and she drew the fairy. I gave her a photo of fairy swamp, and she added the calcite heart stone and the image of the hummingbird (since the fairy was a shapeshifter), to create a fantastic cover.
own 
My most recent book is titled, The Unhappy Wife. It is a collection of short stories based on real women’s marriages. Though the stories are inspired by real events, I’ve fictionalized parts of the women’s stories in order to protect their anonymity.
Lisa W. Tetting 