Episode 31: How to Turn Your Book Into a Movie

Terri Johnson 0:00

I've always been a writer. I've always been an avid reader. So I believe that people who read a lot in their mind in their heart, they have a book in them someplace and that was me.

Acquania Escarne 0:17

You are listening to the Purpose of Money podcast, a podcast where we talk about ways to build wealth and create more freedom in your life today. I am your host Acquania Escarne.

Hey guys, welcome back to the Purpose of Money podcast. I'm super excited. Today we have special guest Terri Ann Johnson. She is a national best selling author for her contributions to the Markel publishing group's Anthology, Spice and Brown Girls Books-All I Want for Christmas. She has always had an enthusiasm for reading, which blossomed into a desire to write. Terri works in the financial field and loves to travel with her family and friends. She is the mother of a young son and a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Incorporated, where she is a featured author for the 2019 Delta Authors on Tour in Washington, DC and Hampton, Virginia. Faith Alone is her debut novel, which has just been purchased by a film producer.

Hey, Terri, welcome to the show.

Terri Johnson 1:23

Thank you, thank you for having me Acquania, this is a blessing.

Acquania Escarne 1:27

How's everything going today?

Terri Johnson 1:28

Everything's going good.

Acquania Escarne 1:30

For my listeners we're both in the DC, Virginia, Maryland area, Terri and I are proud members of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Incorporated. And I'm so excited that she is also a member of my chapter. So I get to highlight one of the successful Delta women who I had the pleasure of knowing for quite some time. We met when I was in college, actually...

Terri Johnson 1:51

Yes, it's been quite some time.

Acquania Escarne 1:52

and now we're beyond those years, but we're still enjoying each other's company. So I'm really excited because I feel like I've been able to experience your journey from the beginning. And a proud advocate of your first book. I read Faith Alone on the beach, when back in the day when we used to be able to travel. And I was visiting the Grand Cayman Islands, I believe, and I read it in almost 24 hours like it was the bomb.

Terri Johnson 2:24

And you know, hopefully you were going to save this for that beach trip too. And you did.

Acquania Escarne 2:29

Yes, I stick to my word. And let me tell you guys, I don't read paperback books anymore. And I had a paperback copy. And I just became this lover of audiobooks. So I was really worried. I was like, "Am I gonna finish this book?" But girl it was too good.

Terri Johnson 2:46

And I think at the time, the audio wasn't out yet. But now it is on audiobook. So if anyone would like to Yeah, it is on audiobook now.

Acquania Escarne 2:56

Good so y'all hear that you can read the audio book, listen to the audio book or read the paperback. But let's get back into how you became an author. Because a lot of people are curious about this process. And they're interested in doing the same thing you're doing and having similar success. So let's start with when did you discover you could write? I want to know a little bit more about that, because that's a skill that everyone doesn't have. Right?

Terri Johnson 3:23

So I've always been a writer, I've always been an avid reader. So I believe that people who read a lot in their mind or in their heart, they have a book in them someplace. And that was big. So I always knew I wanted to write, but the time not sure if I really believe I had the time to write. So I put it off and put it off. When I was at GW, I did take the journalism class. So it's always been me. I took Shakespeare classes. I love Shakespeare. Back in the day. We had Terry McMillan, we had E. Lynn Harris, we had Toni Morrison, we had Maya Angelou, we read those books. And they just inspired me. So I believe that would made me take the jump to actually do it because I always had the desire. But I believe that would make me take the jump to actually start putting pen to paper say, "I'm gonna get this out of my brain. I'm gonna get off my heart just go ahead and do it" was when I had my son who's now nine. And I just believe that I wanted him to see his mom doing something that she had a passion for and that she always dreamed that she would do. So at the end of the day, I can always tell him dreams do come true. So that he could have something to you know, latch on to it as he gets older. He can say, "If she did something that she really wanted to do, then I can probably do something that I've always wanted to do." So I believe that was the my muse that made me say, "Okay, now is the time to go ahead and do it."

Acquania Escarne 5:03

That is a wonderful story. And it's so funny how our families motivate us to do the craziest things. But what you're doing, like you said, is for his overall benefit, because he's seeing you perform a passion and be successful. And I'm sure he's seen in the difficult times, too. So tell us about this writing process, because I know you didn't just wake up and all the words just came flowing. So tell us about your writing process. And the publishing.

Terri Johnson 5:34

Okay. Okay, so the process, I am a learner, I like I love classes. I love home school, I love classes. So when I decided that I wanted to do it, I signed up for classes to learn the craft, even though like you just said, the words just didn't start coming out of this, or just poof, it just started happening. I took classes from Victoria Christopher Murray, who became a publisher and will, and we'll talk about that a Christian fiction author Vonda McKnight, and also another author, Brian Smith. So I took classes from them actually to learn the craft, even as I was writing, so I can say, I love taking classes. So if that wasn't a tough thing for me to do, since I say, "Okay, I'm gonna go ahead and do it." I knew I wanted to do it. And I knew I wanted to have some up under me to say, okay, so I could actually understand the craft. So that was how I actually got started. So to transition from writing the book, to getting published, I wrote a short story. And Christmas is my favorite time of the year. So I wrote a short story. And it was based around Christmas time for one of my classes. So again, my publisher, who was also one of my teachers, Victoria Christopher Murray, she's a soror as well. She's actually in Washington, DC. She saw the story. And it just so happened that her publishing company, brown girls books, did an anthology, All I want for Christmas. So I saw that on Facebook, and I said, I am going to submit. So I got it together, submitting. And I probably submitted the day was due, but I knew I was not going to miss that deadline. So I did submit and there are 19 authors that were actually chosen for that anthology. So that was the first publication. So I took that small, short story I guess it may have been 8000 words, and made that into the debut novel Faith Alone. I stretched it out to about 40,000 words made it more of a story in summer of 2018.

Acquania Escarne 7:53

Got it. That's amazing.

Hey, guys, I hope you're enjoying this podcast episode. I just wanted to take a break and share a story about an amazing woman who has created freedom and wealth in her life. I promise I'd share these kinds of stories on the podcast. And this week, I'm highlighting Teri Ijeoma of Trade and Travel. Teri has an amazing story about how she went from being an assistant principal, making $40,000 a year to a swing trader making $100,000 a day in quarantine. Teri started out investing just a little bit of her money and had a goal to make $300 a day. She just wanted to replace her income so she could travel more and work less. Let's just say she mastered investing in the stock market and is now teaching others how to trade too. Check out my website ThePurposeofMoney.com/invest to learn more about how Teri accomplished financial freedom through investing. Remember, check out ThePurposeofMoney.com/invest to learn more about Terry Ijeoma and her course Trade and Travel.

Was there any pressure from your teachers to push to the longer novel and a little bit of inspiration to or?

Terri Johnson 9:10

Probably not more of a push, it probably was more of an inspiration. I knew you know what happened the characters kept talking too. So I knew I wasn't done with the story. So the characters kept talking, things kept popping up, little scenes may pop up here, another scene may pop up there. So I knew that it could evolve into a larger story. And I love the characters. I love the people and I love and the story is based in Washington DC. I love my city. So it was it was good.

Acquania Escarne 9:41

I love that. I love that. So a lot of people out there struggle between getting a publisher or seeking self publishing. Did you at any time have that debate with yourself and if so, what made you decide to go with a publisher?

Terri Johnson 9:56

Okay, so Brown Girls Books is a small boutique publishing company. So it wasn't really hard to decide, because I knew they didn't have a whole lot of authors. At this point, they may have 40 authors in total. But that's throughout the five or six years that they've been in existence. So within a year, they may publish three to four books by other authors. So that didn't seem overwhelming as a full time accountant because I do work full time. I did feel as though self publishing might have required more time than I actually had, since I do have a full time job. And just being new, not really understanding the industry. So it wasn't that hard. But since I have self published a short story, that is actually people can purchase as well. So I do know that I will try to transition to try to self publish on more works as well. At the time, no, because just being just feeling overwhelmed with the process inspired me to go with the Brown Girls Books.

Acquania Escarne 11:11

Okay, that's really good. And it's helpful to because a lot of my listeners are intrapreneurs, which means we have jobs just like me, I have a nine to five, and then I'm pursuing selling life insurance and hosting a podcast. So we are all very busy. But we have these passions and side hustles that we want to see grow. And so I think that was a really good perspective that you provided. So in your process of being with a publisher, did they provide everything like the contrac? Attorney? Or did you need any of those services to really know, if this was the best deal for you? How did you navigate that?

Terri Johnson 11:49

We did sign a contract. So yes, they did provide a contract, they did not provide an attorney. But I did have an attorney look over the contract for me because of its business. So we just want to make sure and I'm not a lawyer, I'm a bean counter. I just wanted to make sure that a lawyer looked through it just to make sure everything was good. And he agreed that it was so that was the route that we went and I signed the contract. And it's not a long term contract is really per book. Like they don't have me for five years or anything like that will say, "We need to get 10 books out of you in five years." It's actually a contract per book. Okay, so I think that's good, too. And that still allows me to be able to do some self publishing as well.

Acquania Escarne 12:42

I like that. I think that's good. So let's tell people more about Faith Alone, because I feel bad. We talked about the book, we talked about the title, we didn't talk about what the story is about and why it's so amazing. So tell my listeners, what is Faith Alone about? What was your inspiration to tell this particular story? And then we'll get into the juicy movie deal.

Terri Johnson 13:05

Faith Alone, again, is based in Washington, DC. And this the story of 42 year old Michelle Jackson, she's living her best life. She's in a happy marriage, she loves her job. But then all of a sudden, she finds out that she's facing a life threatening pregnancy. And then in the midst of that, a tragedy occurs. So Faith Alone in faith alone, we watch Michelle navigate the storms of her life while leaning on her faith.

Acquania Escarne 13:34

Beautiful. Did you always know that you wanted to tell stories from a Christian perspective?

Terri Johnson 13:39

I did. I'ma be honest with you. And I don't say this too often. But when I was younger, actually, when I was going to GW I would catch the subway from home to school. And a lot of times I saw young girls reading books, and I won't name any authors, but just reading books that I felt that were just not things that high school or even middle school girls should be reading. So I do believe that has always stayed with me to be able to put content out that anyone can read. Like my mom probably sells more books for me than anybody. She could take my she could take my books to church without feeling a certain kind of way about what's in it. It's inspirational. It gives people hope, if you're going through something is some scriptures in there, but it's funny moments. It's like for real people. It's like the Down to Earth people. I don't have billionaires, people flying off and going to a home, flying off and meeting a billionaire on an airplane. I believe this is really full is really real people real faith.

Acquania Escarne 14:50

I like that. I know. We may not be able to talk much about the details of your own being purchased to make a movie, but I do actually want to know about the process. Similar to how you navigated into writing where you submitted your short story for an anthology is the process similar for movies? Is there a central place where you go? Or was this something really spearheaded by your publisher?How does that process work?

It was definitely spearheaded by the publishers Victoria Christopher Murray and ReShanda Tate Billingsley. They're the founders and owners of Brown Girls Books. So they have I guess, you could say networks. And with the pandemic happening, people are looking for content. Because we're home. People looking for new content that put on either streaming services or cable TV, so that it was actually the impetus for the request. We need content, and they looked through their books. So actually, they picked six of their titles and Faith Alone was one of one of the six to say, "We can see this being weak. We can see this being on TV, we can see this being a movie." And it's funny, because as I do book clubs, one question that I'm always asked is who can you see as Michelle? Who do you see as Brian, who is Kesha? So we play that game when I talk to book clubs, as well, it was I felt like I spoke it into fruition. And trust me, with the next one, I'll always ask, "Who do you see?" If that's what I need to do to push it into the universe. That's what I will continue to do.

That leads me into a great Next question. What is next for TerriJohnson? Because some of us loyal readers are waiting?

Terri Johnson 16:55

Look let me tell you something, sometimes I have felt like I can't even go on Facebook. Because I know my loyal readers are like, "What is she doing on Facebook? She needs to be writing." And I know that. Oh, trust me. Okay. What's next? Is the follow up for Faith Alone. Yes. And it is called Switched. So the question is, will there be a scheme like a hospital scheme that some nurses or somebody may have switched some babies? Possibly, but we don't know. So in Switched, we're gonna find out. And I will say this, and I'm saying this publicly, the rewrites because I'm actually doing edits now. The rewrites are due to the publisher on Thanksgiving. So yes, we put that out in the atmosphere too that she will have that second draft on Thanksgiving. So 2021, it will be out and it will be a three part series. So even as she's just going over the second draft, I am honestly going to start part three of this series. And we're going to get that done. Because I'm actually loved the characters with COVID, with the child being home, the stuff, but we gon clear all that out. And we don't get this done.

Acquania Escarne 18:24

Yay. You guys don't know like that's some tea, right there. You just dished little bit of tea, but yeah, me anxiety you gave me hope. I read Faith Alone. And there's a chapter at the end of Faith Alone for Switched. And then it's just, "What?" and waiting. I'm super excited about that.

Terri Johnson 18:43

Thank you.

Acquania Escarne 18:45

So I can't wait. I will support you in any way you need. So just let me know if it's food if it's peace and quiet.

Terri Johnson 18:53

Yes.

Acquania Escarne 18:54

Don't call you out when you're on Facebook.

Terri Johnson 18:58

I need to get on Facebook to get off Facebook before they get me.

Acquania Escarne 19:03

Let me know I'm here for you.

Terri Johnson 19:05

I love you all because the fact that folks want Switched is a blessing. And it's just look, when I was writing Faith Alone, there were times when I knew I was like, "God, you want me to put that in there? You want me toput that in there." So I knew it wasn't just me. I wasn't just sitting here by myself. I know. The Holy Spirit was here with me. So I have been praying. So that can be something that you can do to help me just pray that God gives me what he wants the readers to read. That's really the prayer.

Acquania Escarne 19:43

I can do that. I can do that.

Terri Johnson 19:45

Thank you, thank you.

Acquania Escarne 19:45

And I actually I've heard this before. I think there's a book in me. I just started writing it two weeks ago. And every weekend I meet with a writing group and we try to break it down into parts that we can handle and every week we push each other to write more. And November is actually A Novel Writing Month. There's quite a few clubs out there who push you to get a book in that month out. So I have my outline, I have my Amazon book description, I'm about to design a cover just to put all the pieces in place.

Terri Johnson 20:18

That's good.

Acquania Escarne 20:18

But somebody also once told me that when there's something that you're passionate about that you're supposed to write, you won't be able to put it down, you'll wake up in the middle of the night, you'll have random thoughts and you won't be able to rest until they're put out. And I believe that's all God, like when you have those types of epiphanies. It's bigger than you.

Terri Johnson 20:41

Yeah, exactly. And you can feel it

Acquania Escarne 20:44

And it also proves your story is bigger than you, right? So I believe that. You keep writing and you get on part three, I'll be ready for that, too. Okay, so one of my last couple questions. The name of the podcast is called the Purpose of Money. So I ask all my guests this, what is your purpose for money?

Terri Johnson 21:03

My purpose for money is really to build generational wealth. That is really my purpose for money. I am a single mom. I adopted my son when he was three months old. So I do want to leave him with something when I'm gone. But I want to instill in him the passion to create generational wealth as well for his kids. So that is actually my passion for money.

Acquania Escarne 21:31

Thank you. I love that. Last but not least, tell my listeners, how can we find you on all things social media, and what is your website?

Terri Johnson 21:40

Okay my website is www.TerriAnnJohnson.com. And you can find me on Facebook Author Terri Ann Johnson. Same with Instagram @AuthorTerriAnnJohnson on Twitter, I am @TAJohnson419.

Acquania Escarne 22:02

Got it? Don't worry, guys, I'll make sure to include all of that in the show notes. I want you to check out the link in the show notes for your direct copy of Terri Ann Johnson's book Faith Alone. And when the movie comes out, we better have a watch party. I'm just saying everybody needs to get together and support this. We are here for you. Thank you, Terri, for being on the show. I really appreciate you.

Terri Johnson 22:26

Thank you. I'm so blessed. This is so nice. Congratulations on your podcast.

Acquania Escarne 22:32

Thanks a lot.

Thank you for listening to the Purpose of Money podcast. For more resources and information, check out my website, ThePurposeofMoney.com. And while you're there, please sign up for our newsletter so you have the latest information on new episodes and blog posts. Until next time, keep creating freedom in your life today.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai