Meet Toni Bellon

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Toni Bellon. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Toni below.

Toni, we’re so excited for our community to get to know you and learn from your journey and the wisdom you’ve acquired over time. Let’s kick things off with a discussion on self-confidence and self-esteem. How did you develop yours?

When I turned ten, my parents began holding summer conferences. They would bring high-level educators from around the country to various hotels with meeting rooms. Us children would help by running errands and being available for random jobs. We didn’t look like anyone in the room. Sometimes we didn’t sound like them either.

The beginning of each conference was marked with a welcome wine and cheese party. The young go-fers were expected to dress up, pass out name tags, stand up straight, shake hands, look people in the eyes, and make polite conversation. We called it – Children on Parade. Needless to say, those introductory events taught me to enter any room and put others at ease. I learned to fake being confident until I did feel good about myself.

You can often find me volunteering to greet others and make them feel at home. I still think of myself as a child on parade.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

I wrote my debut book (LEAP) to acknowledge my biggest regret—allowing others to stop me from seeking help for my much younger brother and myself in dealing with our mother’s alcoholism. My brother was born when I was about 14 and my mother was not in any shape to care for him. I needed to take over for her. Not because I wanted to help my mother, but because I wanted to help the baby. He hadn’t asked to be born into this situation.

After retiring from the University of North Georgia, I began writing. This has been very therapeutic and costs less than professional help. I enjoy writing and hope to use snarky humor to put a smile on the face of anyone reading.

L.E.A.P. Linn’s Emerging Adult Plan is being published for the first time this August. My book launch will be presented by A Novel Idea at Brimstone Tavern (3815 Mansell Road, Alpharetta GA) at 7 pm on August 20th. At this event, you can watch me perform a short sketch about writing, purchase the book, get it signed, and order food or a drink. If you get lost, you can call Brimstone at 678-421-4213.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

First, stop caring what others think. There are only a few people whose opinions will matter to you in the future. They are likely to love you unconditionally and should be taken seriously. Others are easily ignored.

There’s enough success to go around. You don’t have to make sure others fail so that you can succeed. So rather than be competitive, help others and celebrate their success. Your turn will come soon enough.

That leads to my last quality – don’t give up. I don’t care if people tell you your writing, singing, art, whatever isn’t good enough. You can get better or at least enjoy yourself while trying. Take advice but remember, you don’t don’t have to act upon it.

As we end our chat, is there a book you can leave people with that’s been meaningful to you and your development?

There are so many books that I should mention! Julie of the Wolves, A Wrinkle in Time, and any book written by Jack London.

However, I believe To Kill A Mockingbird has been the most impactful. Maybe because I already related to the character of Scout. Still, Scout made it acceptable to be a girl who didn’t like dresses, was willing to fight for those she loved, and wanted to know more about her neighbors (mostly Boo). In my mind, Scout stood for justice, empathy, and doing what was right.

Hopefully, LEAP will someday be mentioned as having influenced someone.

Contact Info:

Image Credits

Justin Vilonna
Reid Jupin
Atlanta Writer’s Club

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