Terah Shelton Harris is an author, librarian, and former freelance writer who now writes upmarket fiction with bittersweet endings. Her novels to date are One Summer in Savannah (July 2023) and Long After We Are Gone (May 2024). As a freelancer, her work has appeared in consumer and trade magazines including Catapult, Women's Health, Every Day with Rachael Ray, and more.
Originally from Illinois, she now lives in Alabama with her husband, Jamel. Terah is a lover of life and spends most of her time reading or traveling. A world traveler, Terah has visited over 40 countries across six continents. She has watched the sunrise at the beginning of America, trekked through the jungles in the Bokeo Nature Reserve, searched for William Clark's grave in St. Louis, and much more. Find her online at: www.terahsharris.com.
Terah Shelton Harris's website
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An interview with Terah Shelton Harris
What inspired this novel?
All of my books are inspired by real and unique circum- stances that happen to real people and are not widely discussed. Long After We Are Gone is no exception. This book is inspired by the story of Melvin Davis and Licurtis Reels of North Carolina, who went to jail for eight years after refusing to leave the land their great-grandfather purchased more than a century ago. I first read their story years ago and remained frustrated, shocked, and angry, not only at what happened to them but that I had never heard of heir property before. After much research, I was amazed that the Reels brothers were not alone in their fight and that involuntary land loss from heir property is such an important issue that no one really knows about or talks about. It's not recognized as "the worst problem you never heard of" or "the leading cause of Black involuntary land loss" by the U.S. Department of Agriculture without justification. In Long After We Are Gone, I hope to shine a light on this issue and how certain laws, policies, and loopholes continue to dispossess families of their land.
Which character was the most difficult for you to write? Which was the most fun to write...
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