FAIRFIELD COUNTY – For Terri Daughtry, inspiration for writing has always been a fleeting thing. But when inspiration would strike, she rushed to get the idea down on paper – or napkins, or the back of a receipt, or whatever she could find – before it was gone.
As she wrote each precious note, she would file it away – for what exact purpose, she wasn’t sure. But she knew that, one day, she wanted to be a published writer.
That bucket-list dream finally reached a point of reality in December, when her first book, a self-published children’s story about the need to have perspective when things go wrong, went live online. So far, it has sold 40 copies.
Titled “It’s a New Day,” it’s a children’s book with coloring pages in the back, inspired by interactions with her grandchildren – and a hope of helping other kids learn to cope with a common challenge.
“My 9-year-old granddaughter was going through that phase of, the least little thing goes wrong and it’s a meltdown, ‘This is the worst day of my life,’ you know,” she says.
“And you always try to talk to them, and they don’t hear, and they can’t hear you. And so, I thought, ‘How can I address it in a different way?’
She says she wanted to convey her message in a way that wouldn’t make the 9-year-old feel like she was being blamed or put on the spot. So, the main character in the book is named for her 3-year-old cousin, Madi.
In the book, Madi is having a really bad day and learns that, even when everything feels really terrible, it does get better – and tomorrow is a new day.
The coloring pages in the back, Daughtry says, are aimed at encouraging conversation by keeping kids engaged with the book’s content so that parents can discuss it with them.
Though she always enjoyed writing, she built her career on serving others – and has long loved her job as a housekeeper, where she’s worked with many of the same clients for decades.
Now 66, she says that career is winding down – and, as beloved longtime clients pass on, she does not seek new clients to replace them.
Instead, she has decided to unearth her longtime interest in writing – and the boxes of notebooks she’s filled up over the years.
She says there was one time, about 20 years ago, when she submitted a manuscript to a publisher – and took the rejection letter she received as a sign that it was not worthy. But she kept on writing, hoping to someday try again.
In the years since, the ability to self-publish books online has become more accessible than ever before, so, she decided to try that. A friend encouraged her along the way – and helped her through the process.
“I can’t tell you how happy I was that I just did it,” she says. “You’re always scared [of] how it’s going to be received, but my family and my friends have all been very supportive of it.”
She says she plans to hold a book promotion event at some point, but the idea she’s most passionate about has nothing to do with book sales: She says she’s ordered several copies with the intention of visiting a children’s hospital to read to sick kids and encourage them to look ahead to tomorrow when they’re having a rough day.
She says she’s already in the process of creating her next children’s book – and it will have a similar format, including coloring pages in the back.
Her second book, she says, will be about cousins – and the importance of putting in the effort to cover gaps of time and distance to build the next generation’s family relationships.
“I have 26 cousins, and that’s a lot of cousins. I grew up playing with the vast majority of those cousins, and kids don’t do that as much these days,” she says.
“So, it’s a story about the mom talking about cousins and the child getting curious – ‘Do I have cousins? Would they like me?’ – and then the mom getting the ball rolling with her child’s cousins to get the next generation of cousins together to play.”
Daughtry says she also has plans for more books in the future, some drawn from her old boxes of notes, and at least one inspired by her volunteer work with the Hoof & Paw Benevolent Society, based out of Blythewood, where she serves as Vice President.
The working title of that one is “But I Want a Puppy,” and it aims to help kids understand the challenges and commitment that raising a dog entails.
“My inspiration just kind of comes through life and things I see and observe,” Daughtry says. “My goal is helping kids navigate some of these small things in a way that they can understand.”
