T.A. HUTTON-GUEDES
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About Me
For more than two decades, I’ve been writing for teens and young people. I discovered my love for writing as I was reading to and with my own children from toddler age through young adult years. I’m especially drawn to mysteries both as a reader and as a writer.
As a former educator, I’ve taught writing to classes from Kindergarten through University.
Beyond writing, I enjoy hiking and cooking and am an extensive traveler. I am newly married and enjoy splitting time between the mountains in the U.S. and the beaches of Brazil with the love of my life and our 5 children.
Favorite books: Catch-22 by Joseph Heller, A Year Down Yonder by Richard Peck, A Single Shard by Linda Sue Park, Seabiscuit: An American Legend by Laura Hillenbrand
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BODY ART
My first novel, Body Art ( think Veronica Mars meets Hannibal Lecter), tells the story of teenager, Maleah Howard, whose life was torn apart 10 months earlier when her older sister ran away.
When a serial abductor who uses his victims as canvases for his tattoo masterpieces attempts to lure teenager Maleah into his twisted game, how can she refuse if it could lead her to her missing sister.
The story dives into questions not just teenagers, but ones we all face regarding identity. How do we obtain the various labels we perceive about ourselves whether from within, biology or society? The element of loss in so many of our own stories, perceived through abandonment in Maleah’s case, influences our views of ourselves.
From fashion to hairstyle, the car we drive, and the musical we listen to, we connect to these as an expressions of who we are. Though mainstream now, tattoos and other body modifications hold an element of darkness, of mystery and offer an ideal way of examining the questions of identity. Whether you accept the term label or not, that’s generally what we are doing with a tattoo, labeling ourselves, associating ourselves with some part of our identity.
It’s not just we who mark ourselves. Whether invisible or not, others have marked us in some way influencing who we become. But the active self marking of tattoos is a way for us to outwardly demonstrate elements of identity signifying formative parts of our histories and experiences or the aspirations or ideals we have for ourselves.
INSPIRATION Gallery
With tattoos playing a central element to the theme of the story, images provided a great deal of inspiration in the writing of the story. I’ve heard a thousand stories from others about the origins of their tattoos. I’d love to hear yours. Ping me on Instagram with a photo and your story.
