Karlyle Tomms is an award-winning novelist and screenwriter whose brand is diversity and resilience. His first two novels were award-winning, and the adaptation of his novel Edge of Smoke was selected as a semi-finalist in the Santa Barbara/Palm Springs diversity screenwriting competition. He grew up isolated and gay with bullying and abuse in Ozarks poverty during the 1960s while attending an authoritarian church. College led him to free-thinking and self-love, outlined in his book, The Gulls Are Always Laughing - A Gay Man's Journey to Healing and Spirituality. Before completing his first novel at the age of fifty-eight and retiring from a 42-year career as a mental health clinical social worker, he wrote for regional magazines and newspapers. He is also an accomplished speaker and amateur actor. Through his characters, he explores the psychology of the human condition and the various elements and entanglements of personalities. Incorporating the social and historical influences surrounding his characters, Karlyle's stories explore overcoming social, emotional, and spiritual challenges.
His novel, Sunrise Over the Pumpkin Patch, about a small-town girl learning serious life lessons during the turmoil of the 1960s, was endorsed by Marideth Sisco, known for her work with the Oscar-nominated film Winter's Bone, starring Jennifer Lawrence. Marideth said of Karlyle Tomms's novel, “Tomms guides us through the labyrinthine twists and turns of one person traversing those changing times with a deft appreciation of personalities."
Karlyle Tomms has adopted writing as his "retirement career" and continues to work on converting the plethora of stories stored in his mind into touching and entertaining guides to understanding the power of overcoming.
Check out Karlyle books here: Karlyle Tomms | Author