I think my work has impacted my family the most. I didn’t exactly have the best family or support from them in my younger years. But now that they have seen my progress, I have inspired many of them through my persistence and dedication to a noble cause. I give them hope that you can come from a dark place and still make your life meaningful.
As part of my series about “authors who are making an important social impact”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Terri-Lyne Gedanitz.
Terri-Lyne Gedanitz has always been passionate about storytelling. With a considerable reputation in entertainment, Gedanitz started her career in film as a talent agent and successful casting director. Today her passion project is her upcoming YA graphic novel and coloring book series, Karmic. Tagline: “She is neither your friend or your foe. She is here to help you reap what you sow!”
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Before we dive into the main focus of our interview, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your childhood backstory?
I was born and raised in Thunder Bay, Ontario where I was raised in foster care. I was blessed to become a part of a loving foster home with my brother until the age of 13, where I then met my biological father and moved in with him. When I was sixteen I moved on my own and became my brothers foster parent and took care of him until he turned sixteen. As a child I loved to write short stories and poetry and spent most my time playing in the wilderness and focused on my schooling and extra curricular activities, such as; running, ballet and air cadets, to name a few.
My childhood was strict in academics and activities. Sometimes a bit too much, to the point that I rebelled in my teens.
At age 19 I became pregnant with my son and focused on the next 8 yrs raising him with his father. At age 28 we separated and I decided to explore different opportunities in filmxstarting with becoming a talent agent for film and commercials.
When you were younger, was there a book that you read that inspired you to take action or changed your life? Can you share a story about that?
Ever since I could remember I loved reading Stephen King, R.L .Stine and V.C. Andrew’s. My foster parents didn’t like that I would read such dark matter and would try to keep these books away from me. One moment that sticks in my mind was when I borrowed a R.L. Stine book from a friend and my parents found the book and tore it up. This devastated me for two reasons; one, I lost my friend after that, and two, I learned to not bring home books to read. Looking back, what it taught me was that no matter how hard you try to keep things away from kids, if they want to do it, they will. And now most of the material I write is usually dark in nature; from horror, thriller, to now fantasy. Keeping me away from this type of material did not keep me from writing it. It only made me more passionate to write darker material. More so to teach others that life isn’t all cookies and cream.
It has been said that our mistakes can be our greatest teachers. Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
There is one mistake that stands out the most early in my writing career. I wouldn’t call it funny, but definitely a learning lesson. I hired a book promoter for my first book, The dream writer. The launch went well and the promoter did a good job at getting sponsorships and helping with the actors I hired to do a live murder mystery based off the book. Years later, during the pandemic, this promoter decided to target me and make up a bunch of false claims to specifically destroy my reputation. After sending police after her and publishing her harassing emails, I was finally able to get her to stop. What I learned from this was that I should have did research on this individual before I decided to attach her to my works, as I later found out that she was a registered known psychopath with an extensive victim list and criminal history. It was my first experience with a female predator that by any means possible was out to hurt me. Since, I have learned to do extensive research and be careful with whom I attach to my work.
Can you describe how you aim to make a significant social impact with your book?
My Karmic series is about karma, more specifically, cause and effect. My intention with the character and her series is to help create awareness for one’s own actions, and intentions, and how they may impact others mentally and physically. I have since become an anti-bully advocate by bringing awareness to bullying and its impacts through my series, blogs and merch.
Can you share with us the most interesting story that you shared in your book?
My Karmic series is a series of individual stories with relatable characters that either are punished for ill intentions or rewarded for good deeds through the actions of Karmic, who is Karma incarnated as a shapeshifter. In creating her backstory, I incorporated the different religions and characters associated with those religions in the book as Karmics creators. I include a couple bonus pages in the book breaking down what karma means in these religions, as it means different things in different cultures.
What was the “aha moment” or series of events that made you decide to bring your message to the greater world? Can you share a story about that?
Well, this is a loaded question…
So, I’ll need to be vague here…
The day I thought of the character is an interesting one. I had been seeing a guy for several years that I didn’t fully trust (Ihad reasons), but fell head over heels for him. I had suspicions that he wasn’t being completely honest with me, so I put him to the test. The test was simple, have him give me access to his email to see who he had been contacting outside of me. Prior to the day, I gave several hints that he needed to earn my trust. So when I asked to give me access to his email, he seemed quite happy to do so. Unfortunately for him, he didn’t know my knowledge in retrieving deleted mail and i found several questionable emails that verified that he was a liar. Later that same day, I was talking on the phone with him and said “I feel like i am karma”. This wasn’t the first guy that had lied to me and I found out. So at this point, it was feeling like the reason why I was meeting these types was to straighten them out.
This was the day I thought of Karmic and started working on her and her stories.
Without sharing specific names, can you tell us a story about a particular individual who was impacted or helped by your cause?
I think my work has impacted my family the most. I didn’t exactly have the best family or support from them in my younger years. But now that they have seen my progress, I have inspired many of them through my persistence and dedication to a noble cause. I give them hope that you can come from a dark place and still make your life meaningful.
Are there three things the community/society/politicians can do to help you address the root of the problem you are trying to solve?
I am sure there are many things that can be done, but the things that stands out the most is educating people on the effects of what bullying has on the victims in way of mental health, and teaching people to be more aware of the effects of their actions and consequences for others in their futures. Hate speech, bullying ( mental, emotional and physical) would also benefit from making it a criminal offense so it is easier for victims to get justice against wrong doing and gain confidence and the upper hand in standing up to their abusers.
How do you define “Leadership”? Can you explain what you mean or give an example?
Leadership to me is taking responsibility of your life and living by example. For example, in the context of bullying, taking accountability for your own actions and living a life that reflects this.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
“If you’re going to be exceptional, you need to be different”. This quote to me means to embrace your differences because people who you see stepping outside of the box are the ones making positive impacts in the world.
Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would like to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them. 🙂
Hmmm, well…
Do I need to only pick one? Lol
I love intelligent creative people. I’d love to sit down with Stephen King, Stephen Spielberg and/or Elon musk.
These men have paved the future with their creativity and outside the box thinking. I’d love to enjoy a lengthy intellectual conversation with either of them to pick their brains for possible collaboration. If not that, then just to be in the presence talking to some of the worlds greatest minds is exciting and inspiring to me.
This was very meaningful, thank you so much. We wish you only continued success on your great work!
Social Impact Authors: How & Why Author Terri-Lyne Gedanitz Is Helping To Change Our World was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.