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[music] It's all about home.

-This Tennessee author started his career as a newspaper reporter.

In fact, his first day working at the Jackson Sun paper, he was covering a murder.

He eventually gave up the newspaper business and is now writing books and much more.

Originally from Memphis, he went to college in Indiana before settling in Jackson, Tennessee.

Straight ahead on Tennessee Writes, we're meeting Tennessee author Tyrone Tony Reed Jr.

We'll find out how Superman inspires his stories about good versus evil, and we'll find out about his latest battle, becoming America's favorite couple with his wife.

Brew some coffee, find a comfy chair, because Tennessee Writes starts right now.

-Books about Tennessee.

-Books that come from Tennessee authors.

-Books and stories with a Tennessee twist.

-West Tennessee PBS presents Tennessee Writes.

-Welcome to Tennessee Writes, the show that gets up close and personal with Tennessee authors.

My name is Peter Noll.

This show goes beyond the book to learn about its author, from their childhood to where their stories come from.

They'll even share advice if you want to write a book yourself.

We also put the authors up against the stopwatch as they try and answer questions in the lightning round.

-Tennessee Writes welcomes author Tyrone Tony Reed Jr., a Memphis native and former journalist.

He now calls Jackson, Tennessee home.

Inspired by Superman, his books feature heroes fighting evil.

In addition to writing books, he hosts his own talk show and podcast.

He believes everyone has a story to tell.

Tennessee Writes welcomes Tyrone Tony Reed Jr.

-Thanks for coming in today.

-Thank you for having me, Peter.

-Have a seat, and let's talk.

You've been inspired by Superman and his alter ego, Clark Kent.

Is that why you really got into journalism?

-That's how I got into journalism.

I started in journalism when I was a teenager.

The Commercial Appeal had a program called the Teen Panel.

In 8th grade, my mom found the article.

She knew I loved Superman and loved Clark Kent.

She told me to apply.

I applied.

They called me.

From 8th grade up until 12th grade, I've been in a teen program with newspapers.

I did the Commercial Appeal for two years.

Then they had the first citywide high school newspaper called the Teen Appeal, which was a partnership between Scripps Howard, the University of Memphis, and the Commercial Appeal.

They did that.

I was one of the first people to do three ye.. got a scholarship, and went to Franklin College, where I continued in journalism.

-In Indiana.

-In Indiana.

Franklin, Indiana.

-In my research, I read that you were also on Cour.. -Yes.

-Tell us about that.

-In high school, Court TV came to White Haven High School, where I was a senior.

We just talked.

They picked me.

I was one of the student cou.. I got to talking about Batman because I'm such a nerd.

I talked about how Bruce used the trauma that he witnessed with his mom and dad being murdered in front of him to make sure that never happened to somebody else.

That's why he became Batman.

They were so fascinated by that.

By the time we had that meeting and I went home, they called my parents to see if I could be on Court TV with them.

-How was that experience?

-It was fun.

It was absolutely fun.

I got to meet Miss Teen America.

I got to meet our mayors.

I got featured on national television, which was a pretty awesome thing to have happen in high school.

[chuckles] -You got your journalism degree, became.. just like Clark Kent here in Jackson.

-It didn't happen just like that.

-Eventually, your career took you to Jackson.

At the Jackson Sun newspaper and on your very first day on the job, you were covering a murder.

-The whole day went smoothly.

Nothing happened.

I sat there near the scanner.

Nothing.

Nothing at all.

Five minutes before I got off work, there was shots fired.

When I got to the scene, there was somebody who had died.

I had to cover that.

It was the first time that I had ever covered a story like that because, for a teen reporter, it's usually sports or what do you wear and what you're into.

That was my first real assignment.

I had family members coming up to me asking me what was going on.

I had to tell them, "I don't know.

You have to go talk to the police because I have no idea."

I didn't want to tell them that somebody they knew might be dead.

It was a very stressful last five minutes of the day.

I was there for probably two hours after that.

-What a first day.

Your employment at the Jackson Sun got you something even better: your wife.

-Yes, my own Lois Lane.

I might not have the powers, but I have a Lois Lane.

Oh my goodness, if anybody's like Lois Lane, she is.

She's very thorough.

She stays up all night making sure she got all her facts right.

When she's my editor, oh my goodness, because she has edited some of my stories and sh.. I have to leave out the room because she doesn't care that I'm her husband.

She wants to make sure that i.. and that it flows well.

-When you started at the Jackson Sun, was your wife working there?

-Yes, she was already working there.

-Was it love at first sight, sparks flying right away?

-I thought she was beautiful, but she didn't pay me any attention.

I was just the person at tech in her desk.

I had gotten her position.

-That's not a good way to start.

-No, it's not.

I had gotten her position.

They had given me her desk.

I was younger than her, and I was her coworker, so I had several strikes against me.

She told me that.

I don't know.

It had to be a blessing because by the next year, we actually started talking to each other.

We've been together ever since.

-Now you guys are in a competition to be America's favorite couple.

Tell me about that.

-Right.

Jeff Goldblum and his wife have teamed up.. and they're doing a special contest about America's favorite couple.

I had no idea that we were going to get selected.

I just said, "I'm going to try to enter us in this.

Is it okay?"

-Was she on board with this?

-She was like, "Whatever."

I said, "I'm going to enter us in.

I'm serious."

I enter us in.

About two weeks later, I get a text message saying that we've been entered and that congratulations.

The competition starts June 30th.

I'm like, "Okay, we're in this now."

It's such a huge opportunity because we both love entertainment.

I want to turn my books and my characters into TV shows and cartoons.

Variety will show people who we are and that we love doing this thing.

We have stories to tell.

I'm excited about it.

-I need to be very honest.

Tony and I met each other years ago.

When I first met here, you were working at Froggy 104, Forever Communications.

That's what this show is about.

I've met so many people in Jackson that you didn't even know they wrote books, that they've been published authors, that they have books, that they've written.

That's what we wanted to celebrate on Tennessee Writes.

I was so excited.

I didn't even know you had written books.

Serious.

I also had met his wife, who works at the Bramblett Group, and I had never connected both of you.

I usually don't try and assume that.

Tell us how you got into, I'm going to write a book.

-I was in my senior year of high school.

I'm such a superhero fan.

I've read and followed every superhero that I could possibly find.

Growing up, there weren't a lot of Black superheroes that I knew about.

I wasn't living somewhere near a comic book store or comic book shop that I knew about.

I didn't know about Black Lightning or Bla.. I knew nothing about them.

I knew about He-Man and Superman and Batman and Super Friends, but I didn't see anybody that looked like me.

I decided I was going to write a superhero book.

Being full of myself, I called him Sir Tony of Memphis.

He was going to be a superhero with-- -How old were you when you wrote that?

-I was 18.

I had just come out of high school.

I was just clowning around that summer.

I'm like, "I'm going to write this book.

It's going to be Sir Tony of Memphis.

Everybody's going to be from Memphis.

We're going to ride horses, and we're going to fight demons."

I don't know.

From there, Sir Tony evolved into Angelo, Kevin Edwards.

I'm like, "I won't put my name in there.

I'll let it be somebody else."

Kevin Edwards and his ex-girlfriend, Juanita Grayson, are the two protagonists of the story.

They're sent to a world that's overrun by demons.

They're told that they're the only two people who can save the world.

Now, they just broke up, and now they have to go to another world and work together with superpowers to save the world.

She doesn't want to be a superhero, but he does.

He's into Superman.

He's into those superheroes.

He thinks this is wonderful.

This is great.

Until he realized that other people's lives are on th.. The parallel to our lives.

We have callings on our lives.

I believe that God put us here on this earth for a reason, and that it's up to us to decide whether we're going to step up and fight, or if we're just going to coast through life and do whatever we want.

[music] -Tony, let's really dive into The Soldiers of Light Against Darkness.

It is SOLAD.

-SOLAD.

-SOLAD, Soldiers of Light Against Darkness.

-That's right.

-This is book one of two books that you have out, a series, and you've got plans, a story arc that you set for more.

-Yes.

The next book, the third book, they're going to the future to meet their future children, even though they're still not together yet, which is going to be quite a trip.

-Have you always been into science fiction fantasy?

-I have.

I've always loved science fiction.

I grew up watching Johnny Quest with my dad, the 60 versions, and the updated versions of The Incredible Hulk.

I've watched all the Quantum Leap.

Oh my, that's one of my favorite shows.

All those, and of course, the '80s with He-Man and She-Ra and Batman in the '90s and the Ninja Turtles.

If it was a superhero or some science fiction thing, I was right there.

-The book, I would say, is there a Christian component to it?

-There is.

-Tell me about that.

-There is.

That's part of w.. Outside of writing for newspapers, I was a junior deacon at church.

I was an usher.

I taught Sunday school also.

God is a big part of my life.

Again, as I said, they're destined to go save a world that's ove.. but I believe that we're all chosen to be here for a reason.

How things intersect in our lives so much that God has a plan, we just have to ask Him what it is and walk into it.

So many blessings, so many doors that have been opened for me have been because God led me to different places.

I never would have thought that I would have went from a newspaper company to a radio station.

That was never in my plan, never in my plan book, but I did.

I met you.

I met my wife here in Jackson.

I always thought I was going to stay in Memphis.

This is where I'm going to stay.

Then I ended up in Indiana, back here, then to Jackson.

I've been to many conventions all over the United States, which I never thought would have happened.

I feel like God gave me this story to tell because there are African American high school students that look like me.

-It's Juanita and Kevin, right?

-Juanita and Kevin.

-Yes.

You said they just broke up.

-She broke up with him.

He does not know why.

It's their senior year.

-That plays out throughout the story?

-Right, because they still love each other.

Kevin was in a previous relationship with someone, and that person just passed away.

You find out later why that person passed away.

Juanita's reason is, I don't want to be second.

I've always cared about you.

I've always wanted to be with you, but you were with this per.. I don't want to compete with the ghost.

He's not even thinking about the ghost because him and that ghost haven't been together for a long time.

He wants to be with her, and she wants to be with him, but right now she just doesn't want to compete with that thing.

Now being tossed into another world with his own problems and situations, having to put that on the back burner, and wanting to go home, a lot of times we're called not when we want to be called, but we're called when there's a need.

Sometimes we don't feel ready to take that responsibility or go forth, but God calls us when we're not ready, and He equips us.

He qualifies us for that.

[music] -We have come to the heart of Tennessee Writes.

We call it the lightning round.

We put two minutes on the clock, Tony, and we try and see how many questions you can answer in two minutes about books, writing literature.

The key is to get as many as you can.

Do you want to play?

-I do.

-Okay.

We're going to put two minutes on the clock, and it will start counting down after I ask the first question.

How many pages would the book about your life be?

-1,500.

-What animal best represents your book?

-A tiger.

-What is your favorite book of all time?

-Kingdom Come by Mark Waid and Alex Ross.

-What's your least favorite book of all time?

-I don't have one.

-What is the name of the font used in your book?

-Papyrus.

-If you could pick a celebrity to narrate your book, who would it be?

-Morgan Freeman.

-What's one book you are reading right now?

-Spider Girl.

-What food or drink most helps you write?

-Pizza.

-If you could have a book signing event in any city in the world, where would it be?

-San Diego Comic-Con.

-What's the last book you finished reading?

-The Amazing Spider Girl, Volume 1.

-What author, living or dead, would you most like to have dinner with?

-Dwayne McDuffie.

-Where would you go for dinner?

-Pizza Hut, because I love pizza.

-Do you write your books on a computer or by hand?

-Both.

-What book have you read multiple times?

-The Bible.

-How many times?

-Seven times.

-Do you prefer paper or e-books?

-Both.

-What actor would you want to star in the movie.. -Aldis Hodge.

-First book you can remember reading as a child?

-The Berenstain Bears.

-What is your favorite place to read books?

-The library.

-What is your least favorite place to read books?

-[?]

-On average, how many books do you read in a y.. -About 50.

-Do you prefer to write with pens or pencils?

-Both.

-What book has most influenced your life?

-The Holy Bible.

-Name an author you most admire.

-Mark Waid.

-What's your favorite magazine to read?

-Variety.

-What book are you most embarrassed to tell people you read?

-I'm not embarrassed by any book.

-How many books are on your nightstand?

-About 15.

[music] -Tony, we always love to hear authors in their own words speak the words they've written.

Would you mind reading a short selection from your book?

Soldiers of Light Against Darkness.

-Of course.

This is Chapter 7, Memories of the Living Dead.

Angelo and Angeline are just meeting the killers of men, these superpowered demons.

Zombies.

Angelo shook his head.

Didn't think we'd run into those here.

Demons, yes, but not zombies.

"You've seen these things before," Melanie asked.

She was confused and afraid as she inched in between Angelo and Angeline.

"Yes," Angeline said, "but only on television and in movie theaters."

Melanie's mouth dropped as she inched between Angelo and Angeline.

"Have you fought these things before?"

"Yes," Angeline said, "but only in video games."

Melanie scratched her head.

"What's a video game?"

"A training simulation for an event like this," Angelo said.

"You are such a nerd," Angeline whispered into Angelo's ear.

Angelo blushed but quickly regained his composure as the zombies stumbled towards them.

"At least we've got the slow-moving zombies."

Plague rose higher into the air and shrieked loudly.

The zombies stopped moving, looked up at Plague, and shrieked back at her.

"That can't be good," Angelo said as he and Angeline, and Melanie walked backwards towards the nearest house.

The zombies broke out into three groups.

The sound of breaking bones came from one group of zombies as the bodies contorted, and they walked on all fours, spider-like moveme.. The second group of zombies crouched down, left into the air, and flew around Plague.

The third group of zombies vibrated at super speed and within seconds appeared on the rooftops of the houses.

"You were sane," Angeline said as she eyed Angelo.

"Me and my big mouth," Angelo said.

"We have to protect the villagers, and the only way we can do that is by splitting up."

"Angelo, that never works," Angeline said.

"All the horror movies we watch together, we have to," Angelo said.

"They'll gang up on us if we don't, and we have to keep their numbers from multiplying.

Angeline, you take the flying zombies and half of .. Angelo handed Melanie a pouch off his belt.

"Melanie, you stay with me and use these purity bombs on the spider zombies while I take care of the other half of the super.. "Aim for their heads.

Be careful," Angeline said as she left into the rooftop of the house behind Angelo and Melanie.

"Ready, Melanie?"

Angelo acts as he decapitated two spider zombies and fou.. a group of six-powered speeding zombies.

Melanie stood frozen as the corpses of her friends surrounded her and Angelo.

The corpse of Ms.

Janet, the old lady who gave Melanie candy a.. swung her arms like a wild animal at Angelo.

Melanie gasped as Angelo ran his sword through Ms.

Janet's corpse, and it fell to the ground.

"Stop," Melanie said as the corpse of her childhood friend Rebecca, grabbed Angelo by the throat.

Angelo shoved four purity bombs into the corpse's mouth.

Its head snapped back as the bombs exploded.

[music] -Tony, a lot of people watching the program today are thinking, I maybe got a story.

I have always wanted to write a superhero story.

What would you tell people who want to write a book but haven't?

How did you do it?

-Just write.

I would tell them to write.

Write every chance that you get.

Read as much as you can.

Don't be intimidated by it.

A lot of people didn't think they could write.

A lot of people didn't think they could do it.

I didn't think I could do it.

I didn't go the traditional route.

I don't have a major publishing company behind me.

-This is self-published?

-I self-published my first-- -What went into that decision?

-Right after I left the Jackson Sun, I went to a Writer's Digest conference in Ohio.

We drove about 13 hours up that way, paid $350 to have somebody look at my first 50 pages to tell me everything that they thought that I was doing wrong.

It was disheartening.

Then they told me that you can write the book 100%, but you'll only get 10%.

You're agent to get 20, and the publishing house to get the rest.

Don't worry about merchandising or action figures or anything like that.

They'll take care of that.

I went back to the hotel room when my wife was waiting for me, and I said, "You know what?

I'm going to have to self-publish."

Because every idea that I had that I had come up with for my book, they told me, "You can't do that.

You can't do this."

They said, "Well, there are some things that you all are doing that we've seen Stephen King do, but only he does that."

Why can Stephen King do it, but I can't do it?

I didn't want anybody telling me that I couldn't do whatever the idea I had for.

It's been the best decision that I've made because every convention that I go to, there's somebody who comes back to me and tells me, I've already started reading your book.

It's great.

It's wonderful.

This woman she had read 40 pages already.

She had just bought the book an hour ago, came back and said, "I love this book.

I want to give you some more money for what I have right now."

It's worth it.

-If people want to buy the book, wh.. -They can go to my website.

Buy directly from me because that helps me out so much more.

-What's that website.

-tyronetonyreedjr.com.

That's tyronetonyreedjr.com.

I'm on all the social media platforms, Facebook, Twitter.

There's a Twitter.

It should say Tyrone Tony Reed 1 on Twitter because somebody hacked my Facebook and my Twitter account, and I had to make new ones.

-You can follow all those links on your website?

-That's correct.

All of my-- -[crosstalk] Is there an audio version or just not yet?

-I'm working on it.

My dream is to turn into a graphic audio because so much action and .. I want music and action sounds, and everything.

It's coming.

-Tony, we are out of time.

We so thank you for coming in to Tennessee Writes.

Again, I'm amazed at all the people that I've known, and they're like, Oh, you've written books too.

You've written two.

Probably how many more?

Stay in touch with us.

-I will.

-Let us know so we can keep everyone updated.

As a thank you gift, we have this Channel 11 All About Home Writi.. with a briefcase, a latte mug, a notebook, and pen to help you in your future writing.

-I appreciate it.

-Before you go, would you sign your book for .. -I will -Thank you.

-To Peter, West Tennessee PBS staff.

Thanks for all you do.

Thanks for your love and support.

Tyrone Tony Reed Jr., I got this special little thing that I do in my books.

It's like my superheroes.

-Thank you.

-Thank you.

-For comments about today's show or to suggest a Tennessee author for a future program, email us at tennesseewrites@westnpbs.org.

Tennessee Writes, on air and streaming now.

[music] -The program you've been watching was made possible through the generous financial support of West Tennessee PBS viewers like you.

Please visit westnpbs.org and make a donation today so that we can continue to make local programs like this possible.

Thank you.

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