Welcome to TKM Creates
My web designer says I need to write an introductory blog so you know what to expect. I’ve been resistant to writing this first blog, primarily because it’s just as hard for me to jump into what this is all about as it is for you. I’m a bit of a curmudgeon and lots of people have accused me of being “sarcastic” and even a mite bit “weird.” Frankly, they’re right, and the quotes are unnecessary. That said, get off my digital lawn.
My editor says that isn’t the best way to start a blog, but perhaps it will weed out the people who can’t relate.
They gone?
Okay, thanks for sticking around.
Welcome to my first blog! My name is Terra McKeown, and I create stuff. It’s in the URL, after all. Mostly I write speculative fiction, memoir, and the occasional article. I am also involved in creating some podcasts, audio dramas, as well as sound and video art. More of that will be posted and updated as we go along. (Obligatory plug: subscribe to my newsletter, and you’ll find out when that happens!) Primarily, I like finding and telling stories, and making sure that it’s as inclusive, diverse and hopeful as possible.
My main project, as you can see after looking at the website for thirty seconds, is The Alters series. A seven-book run, the first novel in the series is Chasing Dawn, which came out last summer. Book two, Break of Dawn, will be out at the beginning of May 2023 (pre-order here!), and sometime in the first part of 2024 will come book three, Light of Dawn.
The Alters centers on Dawn Hollins, a woman living with magic as well as dissociative identity disorder (that’s multiple personalities for those who don’t follow the reprints of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual). It’s about how she lives a full life while dealing with trauma and mental health, while also having to walk a narrow line between the magical and mundane. Plus some action, some romance, and probably a few bad jokes thrown in for good measure.
There are other projects coming along, but I don’t want to spill the beans just yet. Podcasts, vlogs and contests, oh my!
So enough about that, and maybe a bit about me. As you can read in my bio page whenever you want, I’m a farmer living outside Albuquerque, New Mexico. Sunflower River is an intentional cooperative of queer farmers, and I’m their newest steward. I moved in a couple years ago but have been intimately involved with the land for nearly seven. That makes me a queer cliché, honestly.
And that’s another thing. I’m a queer, agender, middle-aged survivor and general curmudgeon. My pronouns are ze/zir. All that means a lot of things, and in future musings I will probably dig deeper into each of them and more, but just the labels probably tell you a lot.
Beyond writing, much of my career has been in social work and other healing modalities. As a survivor of childhood trauma, mental health and work in disability has become an important element of my social work vocation. Healing and knowing myself, as well as helping others find and embrace healing and support and compassion, has been my career for over twenty years. After a
Masters in Jungian depth psychology and art therapy, as well as several years of massage school and somatic training, I have held positions as a social worker, case manager, disability advocate, caregiver, as well as massage and somatic therapist. This perspective informs a lot of what I do in the world, and so for those who like to pay attention to such things, there’ll be plenty of chats about that, as well.
And finally, vulnerability and authenticity and thriving – while also living and loving alongside mental health struggles – is a lot of what I’m about. Much of the time, my perspective as well as my stories focus on what it means to live with anxiety and dissociation and to survive a life that, for many people, looks like a trip through alleys and less-traveled roads to reach wholeness and vibrance.
With all that said, let me do the obligatory marketing thing and say “buy my book!” and “subscribe to my newsletter” It’ll be a fun and wholehearted journey that we’ll go on together. Meanwhile, ask me anything in the comments below! I can’t promise I’ll be nice if you’re not, but even still, I love to hear from fans and fellow travelers.
Alright, now, the rest of you get off my lawn. And turn down that music. Damn kids…