by T. I. Lowe
Thank you for reading and helping me keep my promise to my mom.
Lulu’s Café Playlist
“Fly Away” by Lenny Kravitz
“Better Man” by Pearl Jam
“Lightning Crashes” by Live
“The Joker” by the Steve Miller Band
“Magic Carpet Ride” by Steppenwolf
“Say Hey (I Love You)” by Michael Franti & Spearhead
“Her Diamonds” by Rob Thomas
“Born Again” by Third Day
“Home” by Phillip Phillips
“Walking On Water” by Needtobreathe
Acknowledgments
YEARS HAVE PASSED since Lulu’s Café was first independently published, but I’ve felt in my heart for some time that there was so much more God had planned for this book. That feeling of his not being finished with Lulu was confirmed through email and phone correspondence with my agent, Danielle Egan-Miller, from Browne & Miller Literary Associates, and Karen Watson and Jan Stob from Tyndale House Publishers. Thank you, ladies, for taking a chance on me and my stories. Hoping I make you proud.
To my friends and family for supporting me in this dream. Without you, it wouldn’t have come true. Thank you for believing in me.
My Lowe Bunch—Bernie, Nate, and Lydia Lu—I love you to the moon and back plus one million! You not only supported this dream of mine, but you took it on as your own. Thank you for going on this writing journey with me.
To Christy Allen, for always having my back. You know I love you to the moon and back also.
In the beginning, when I wasn’t sure about my ability to write, my stepmom, Brenda, my daddy, Jerry Stevens, and my in-laws, Kimber and Frank Healy, believed in me. Thank you.
Thanks to my church family at Bethlehem Baptist Church. Y’all lifted up many prayers on my behalf and for God’s will to be done with this writing journey. We asked and he answered. Amen!
And to Teresa Moise, my mentor and running partner. Your enthusiasm about my dream gave me the courage to take that first leap! And your pep talks have made me continue to take those leaps even when they feel like mountains.
To Lynn and Kevin Edge for having me on your prayer mirror. Love y’all more than I can say.
Life isn’t always sunshine and rainbows. Jennifer Strickland and Trina Cooke, thank you for showing up on the stormy days with a shoulder at the ready for me to cry on and for celebrating with me on the sunny ones. Good or bad, you are there, and that means the world to me.
My author-sister and writing partner in crime, Christina Coryell. Without your advice and messages of encouragement along the way, who knows where I’d be in this journey? Probably in a ditch, with little drive to get out of it. When moments of weakness crept up and I said I didn’t want to do this anymore, you said to do it anyway.
A special thank-you to the Loris Library and my little hometown for always making me feel at home and for supporting my dream with encouraging words and by reading my stories.
Confession: I write even though I don’t exactly know how. I do okay with spinning a tale, but it’s the proper stuff I’m talking about. I’ve basically winged it up to this point, by reading lots and lots of books and studying blogs to figure out how to do this thing called writing. Yes, I have a long way to go, but the drive to share stories with y’all keeps me working at it. Now that I am partnering with Tyndale House, I have a superwoman on my side who is also known as my editor. Kathy Olson, you are a gift straight from God. Thank you for helping me polish Lulu’s Café.
Above all, I want to thank my heavenly Father for the opportunities he blesses me with. Just hope I honor him in all I do.
About the Author
TONYA “T. I.” LOWE is a native of coastal South Carolina. She attended Coastal Carolina University and the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, where she majored in psychology but excelled in creative writing. Go figure. Writing was always a dream, and she finally took a leap of faith in 2014 and independently published her first novel, Lulu’s Café, which quickly became a bestseller. Now the author of ten published novels with hundreds of thousands of copies sold, she knows she’s just getting started and has many more stories to tell. A wife and mother who’s active in her church community, she resides near Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, with her family.
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