About E. Tara Scurry

When I was 6 years old, my family saw my love for storytelling. They gave me the gift of their support and encouragement, which continues to fuel me to this day. As a young reader and into adulthood, my love of reading gave me escape and excitement that helped get me through life's toughest times.

Now, as the first place award-winner in the Poetry Category of the "BEST BOOKS" book awards and an award-winning finalist in the poetry category of the "National Indie Excellence" book awards, I've been gratefully adding joy, escape, and excitement to my readers lives for over 3 decades.

My eccentric stories break boundaries with dynamic characters, upset stereotypes with their inclusiveness, and provoke while being relentlessly openhearted. They reflect my open-minded personality and core value of freedom. Readers have said the sacrilegious tendencies of my poetry and stories make them wrestle with their own beliefs. They have also said, "her work is very moving, expressing a wide range of emotions", "tranquil yet disarming all at the while thought provoking", and "this book expresses raw emotions...she has touched my life."

One of my favorite letters was from an inmate serving 15 years in the Federal Correctional Institution in Gilmer, West Virginia. He wrote, "My blood brother Ko Ko kidnaps your book every single night, aint that a b----, your book is gold in here. It brightens up everybody's day who reads it. I know when I'm pissed off I read your book and it brings me in another world, I basically escape prison for a little while."

As a Speaker, I'm an unapologetic advocate for justice, love, learning and hope. As far as I'm concerned, women's rights are human rights, black lives matter, and unless it harms other people - each of us should be free to live our lives and pursue our interest as we see fit. I've spoken at progressive places of worship and I'm happy to speak at your retreat, college club, professional association, employer special interest group, or non-profit organization.

As a Teacher, I help fellow creatives feel safe pursing their creativity and live rewarding creative lives. I do this mostly by teaching workshops and participating on panels around building an author platform, diversity & inclusion in fiction, career management for creatives, and quality independent publishing. I appreciate opportunities to support other creatives, so don't be shy about reaching out! I would love to speak at your small creative group, in-person/virtual book club, or large conference audience.

As a Storyteller, I create and share my stories because I'm convinced they help people. Readers know that getting lost in a book can be a reprieve from a stressful day or an escape from life's disappointments. As an avid reader myself, I'm fascinated by research from cognitive neuropsychologist Dr. David Lewis's that shows reading silently for only six minutes works 68% better for relaxation than other proven methods such as listening to music, going for a walk, or sipping a cup of tea. He also found that regularly reading just a bit more than that -- only 30 minutes a day--has been shown to add two years to our lives! That said, I like to think that my stories help people live longer and healthier lives. AKA Live Longer & Prosper!

If you're not at least a little open-minded about all kinds of progressive justice, diversity, and inclusion, you probably won't enjoy my poetry and stories. They include characters with a variety of ethnicities, spiritual beliefs, sexual orientations, gender identities, socio-economic statuses, and differently-abled bodied folks to name a few! If those kinds of things don't get you excited, then my stories definitely are not for you. If on the other hand, you or someone you know really appreciate eccentric and openhearted stories, then I look forward to having you read and share my stories with your friends!

I created a graph that categorizes my portfolio of books, which makes it easy to determine which one you'll enjoy the most - since I write in multiple genres. You'll see that I've done all the research for you. My books (paperbacks, audio and Ebooks) are priced from FREE to $20 Dollars so you can make the logical choice at a budget that works for you.

So Let's connect! You'll find me speaking at events, teaching workshops, and helping to inspire others. If I don't have the chance to connect with you in person, please reach out by inviting me to your special event or by joining my VIP reader community. I would love to connect with you!