Below: Moderating a panel on memoir (At the Crossroads of Violence & Voice) with (l to r), Bernice L. McFadden, Jordan LaHaye Fontenot, and Lauren Rhoades

Above: A.E. Rooks, holding up my short-story collection SECRET KEEPERS, as she moderates a short-story panel (Between Confession and Concealment) with Jennifer Anne Moses, Daren Dean, and me.

“Teresa Tumminello Brader, niece of convicted art forger William Toye, presents on her memoir Letting in Air and Light. Using exclusive family photos and previously unavailable images, she expands upon and delves even deeper into the story of her discovery of her uncle’s misdeeds after decades of secrecy.”

I was invited to speak to the YES group at the PAC in Mandeville, La. on Letting in Air and Light, Friday, August 1. The group had read my book and I couldn’t have asked for better attendance or attention. Such insightful questions too: My favorite was about my psychological reasons for writing about my art-forger uncle. Another woman told me my book was “so New Orleans” and said “you had me at chiffarobe”! Another brought her Clementine Hunter painting (authenticated), as seen in the photo. Also on the table: the August copy of Country Roads that I discovered only the night before, which I brought because it contained a lengthy article on Hunter’s murals at Melrose! A big thank you to Jenny, the leader of the YES group — she’s amazing.

A big thank you to Chris Smith of the East Bank Regional Library in Metairie for hosting and interviewing Constance Adler (author of the novel Sight Unseen) and me this past Thursday. His insightful questions led us into a great discussion.

Thank you to the wonderful Blue Cypress Books on Oak Street (New Orleans) for hosting Constance Adler, author of the novel Sight Unseen, and me for our event on “Memory to Imagination: Exploring the evolution of storytelling from memoir to fiction” this past Thursday. Both Constance and I had book-length fiction — mine being my new short-story collection Secret Keepers — published after our memoirs. Great questions from the audience — big thanks to them as well — after our conversation.

Less than a week to the release of my short-story collection Secret Keepers!

Thank you to the award-winning writer Gerry Wilson for her wonderful words about my work (see below).

Official release date for Secret Keepers is Tuesday, March 25. It can be preordered through my publisher Belle Point Press, https://bellepointpress.com/products/secret-keepers; at your favorite independent bookstore; Bookshop.org; or B&N. (ISBN: 978-1-960215-34-5) Thank you to all who do so.

Three weeks to the release of my short-story collection Secret Keepers!

Huge thanks to author and literary/cultural scholar Minrose Gwin for the wonderful words below:

Official release date for Secret Keepers is March 25. It can be preordered through my publisher Belle Point Press, https://bellepointpress.com/products/secret-keepers; at your favorite independent bookstore; Bookshop.org; or B&N. (ISBN: 978-1-960215-34-5) Thank you to all who do so.

Many thanks to Chin-Sun Lee, author of Upcountry, for her lovely words about my upcoming short-story collection, Secret Keepers.

Official release date for Secret Keepers is March 25. It can be preordered through my publisher Belle Point Press, https://bellepointpress.com/products/secret-keepers; at your favorite independent bookstore; Bookshop.org; or B&N. (ISBN: 978-1-960215-34-5) Thank you to all who do so.

Secret Keepers, my second book (both with Belle Point Press) and first short-story collection, will be officially released on March 25, 2025. It can be preordered here: https://bellepointpress.com/products/secret-keepers. Thanks to all who do so.

On October 20, I participated in the LMNL Arts Fall Fest at The Domino. Reading in front of Taylor (ha) was appropriate, as in the next few days she and the Swifties would arrive in New Orleans. Many thanks to Nikki Ummel and Michelle Nicholson for all they do for the community.

*

On October 26, (aka Swift Saturday) the Women’s National Book Club of New Orleans held their annual book launch party. I was honored to read with the other presenters, Carolyn Hembree and Katheryn Krotzer Laborde. Thanks to the WNBA-N.O. board for facilitating the event and to the audience members for such great questions.

*

Of course the big news in October for Letting in Air and Light was its selection as one of the three nominees for the 2025 One Book One New Orleans‘s citywide reading and literacy outreach. A big thank you to OBONO director Megan Holt and the board members for all they do for the community.