Recovery, resilience and the courage to be yourself

August 5, 2026
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Montrose Star
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TURNING PAIN INTO PURPOSE: AN INTERVIEW WITH TAMARA MORGAN

Tamara Morgan is a transgender author who transforms deeply personal experiences with addiction, recovery, and self-discovery into messages of hope. Writing with honesty and vulnerability, she invites readers to walk beside her through the loneliness of addiction, the emotional work of healing, and the courage required to live authentically. In this candid interview, Morgan discusses the inspiration behind books such as To Thyself Be True and The Lifestyle of the Addiction, the strength she discovered in choosing herself, and her belief that recovery has no gender—and that through faith, self-love, and perseverance, healing is possible.

What is the basic inspiration for this story, and how did it evolve into the final book?
Like each of my publications. They hinged on the personal struggles that I was challenged with during that moment. With everything that occurred. I was inspired to write about the various perceptions that were involved.

Walk us through your writing process. Did you outline everything in advance?
That’s a great question. Actually, I began with being very honest. Something that I believe we’re not always capable of in addiction. With that in mind, I started evaluating the degree my life existed during this awakening.

What was the hardest part to write and why?
I believe the hardest part is actually being able to place in words. The actual degree of emotional levels our lives have revolved into. After the fog kind of lifted, we’re left to deal with the emotional pain. Seeing the depth that our existence had fallen and experiencing the emptiness for the first time. This allows us to understand the reality at that moment.

What was the hardest scene to write and why?
The hardest part was written in a book called The Lifestyle of the Addiction, where I began writing about the depth that my addiction had become, the loneliness that it held when you finally sat in silence.

Faced with the reality of your life; seeing for the first time that you’ve only been existing, not living.

How much of my personal experience, if any, did I weave into the story?
The truth is, it was all based on personal experiences; it illustrates the degree of struggle that we often face in addiction. The endless cycle that we revolve in as it reveals the various pieces that we are left to face.

Was there any particular part of the storyline that you could share with the reader that is the most relevant part?
That’s complicated, because we often experience different levels of enlightenment. What I mean is that for myself, I was writing about the various aspects I was being challenged with.

How it was in silence teaching me about what my life required today.

What actually challenged me to be a writer? When did I realize I had a story to tell?

Actually, after my last stay in a rehabilitation center. My life has changed quite a bit. I had reconnected with my father, revealing my life choice as a Transgender female. Clearly, I revealed that I was addicted and seeking treatment. After treatment, I returned to the Midwest, where he resided.

With the start of a new environment. I began seeking new opportunities in my life. Finding events that were in line with my recovery. Simple goals were what I wrote about. As well as experiencing. Watching a sunset, don’t laugh. Sure, we all have seen one; some might even have watched some of it. For myself, I never even considered. I never took the time to just sit down and enjoy its simplicity.

How has your voice as a transgender woman shaped your voice as an author, if at all?
With a previous interview on the Out of the Blue podcast, the interviewer asked about my identity within my addiction; the personal struggles I might have experienced. I always had a voice. Being quite flamboyant, those who know me would agree. The length of those conversations often exposed were always met with interest. Being transparent as just Tamara actuality prepared me to challenge that same honesty within myself.

Your books explore important themes. What conversation do you hope readers continue long after they finish the last page?
With my writing, I’ve been hailed by my publishers to have a unique style that actually reflects longside the reader. While I navigate through the book. Inviting the reader to be engaged within the process as if they were part of the storyline.

Each chapter reflects motivation and inspiration. While they understand the depth that we all experience, as we begin this journey in recovery.

Do your books contain anything that suggests the reader should do this or that to ever start
recovery?
No, my literary writing actually shares my experience with the reader with content that demonstrates the challenging experiences that my personal life is going through. The struggle that I would often encounter within the process, and the clear perception that always was that changing factors gave me the strength to continue.

What has been the most rewarding response you’ve received from a reader, and why did it stay with you?
Great question. I had a reader tell me that I wish I could be as strong as you. I replied, but you are. She looked puzzled and said, “I don’t understand.” I smiled briefly and said, “You are strong. You’ve already taken the first step to begin the journey.”

This part stayed with me because, as I explained to her, the degree of strength we have is incredibly important, but the fact that you question yourself reflects growth. It also means that you’re invested in change and have already achieved some levels of strength.

“Strength must be seen even in the smallest form. It’s that conscious change we began, that we often overlook.”

If someone who has never read a book by a transgender author picked up one of yours, what do you hope that they discover?
Within the divided parts of the country we’re experiencing, first and foremost, I’d like the reader to understand one simple thing: with addiction and recovery, there are no set gender rules. The discovery in reading one of my publications has always been the same goal. To share with the reader that there’s hope and that through personal faith and loving yourself, we do recover.

What would you say is the number one priority that you want to share with the reader?
Wow, there’s so much I want to share, but I want to illustrate one thing. It’s so simple, and the truth is. That we all have overlooked this one thing. To choose ourselves. That despite the degree of our addiction, we’ve never surrendered the choice to choose ourselves.

For younger LGBTQ+ people who dream of becoming writers, what advice would you offer about finding their authentic voice?
I would say, “Why have you not started writing? First, your voice counts, and the ability to face uncertainty and fear should never be the deciding factor. Most important is the ability to believe in yourself. This aligns with being your authentic self. Write with conviction, with purpose and the confidence you’ve always had. We awaited your book to share with the world.”

What does Pride mean to you?
I believe my personal perception of pride is simple: to live as my authentic self. But actually, it represents clarity, no different than my recovery.

In my first release, I published a book called ‘To Thyself Be True’. Although I did identify as a transgender lesbian, I actually had to finally be honest with myself about my addiction. I could no longer lie to myself. If I were truly living as myself, then I had to approach the rest of my life with the same honesty.

What fictional character you’ve created is most like you, and which is least like you?
Actually, my character in my related release is not fictional. They’re based on my life, the experiences I had, the struggle that I faced, and the existence that reality held in all that I endured.

I am, however, in the process of releasing in the upcoming months a Romance Thriller that relates to me as the character, involving me as a transgender lesbian, with related themes. Relationship, adventures, adult content with a storyline that keeps you in your seat till the end.

Is there a chapter or passage you’ve written that was especially difficult emotionally?
Yes, there were many. I would like to share this one first. It’s a quote from ‘To Thyself Be True’: “Until you separate the words from the emotions, only then can you see what you are to see.”

This was especially an emotional moment. To think we have always had the ability to actually separate these related factors.

The emotional components will always fall within these: mad, angry, happy, sad, etc.
However, when you separate the contents. You can see it as just its parts. Without being emotionally driven. We’re able to understand the options available within the process that our lives require today.

What surprising discoveries did you make during the writing process?
I believe the most significant discovery was how I was able to converse with the design team to create the book cover. Its collective contents strongly inspired the book’s overall theme.

Do you think about the reader or write primarily for yourself?
That’s a complicated question. Actually, both areas have their own variables. From the writer’s perspective, we’re rebuilding our lives through the experiences we’ve encountered. Yet we’re also inviting the reader to navigate alongside us through challenging situations.

What misconception about transgender people do you hope literature can help erase?
I’m uncertain if literature can erase some of the propaganda that has stained our community. Like anything that affects the world, there will always be that negative influence. I personally believe that we’ve become too judgmental as a society. Without actually understanding that diversity is often viewed within an emotional response. Instead, we tend to reach a decision where we don’t investigate anything further. Of what actually exists, this makes it easier to dismiss.

More at: AuthorTamaraMorgan.com