-I'm James Cherry, poet, writer, music empresario here in Jackson, Tennessee.

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[music] -Straight ahead on Tennessee Writes, we're meeting Tennessee author Becky Drace.

She's been married for 54 years, has two children and five grandchildren.

She's a Bible teacher and has traveled across the world, including South Korea and Scotland.

She lives in Humboldt, Tennessee, and believes you should never lock yourself into one place.

Get this.

She completed college at the age of 59, earn.. from Union University.

We'll find out how getting cancer was the inspiration for her latest book.

Get the coffee brewing and find your comfy chair because Tennessee Writes starts right now.

-Books about Tennessee.

-Books that come from Tennessee authors.

-Books and stories with a Tennessee twist.

-West Tennessee PBS presents Tennessee Writes.

[music] -Hello and welcome to Tennessee Writes.

My name is Peter Noll, and I am so glad you're joining us for this unique show that goes beyond the book to let you get to know the author in a very personal way.

We find out where they're from, how they began writing, where their stories come from.

They'll even share advice for you if you want to write your own book.

Plus, they'll go up against the clock in the lightning round as we see how many questions they can answer in two minutes.

-Today, Tennessee Writes welcomes author Becky Drace.

She's been married 54 years and is the proud mother of two and grandmother of five.

She lives in Humboldt, Tennessee, and has traveled the world, including South Korea and Scotland.

At the age of 59, she completed college at Union University with a bachelor's and master's in social work.

Tennessee Writes welcomes Becky Drace.

-Welcome to Tennessee Writes.

-Thank you for having me.

-We're so excited.

College at 59.

-Yes, I went at 59.

-What precipitated that?

-Our kids had heard me say for years that one of the things I had not accomplished was finishing my college because I had a year and a half before we married.

They encouraged me, and then Jerry said, "Why don't you just explore that and see what you find out?"

I did and found out I could go.

At that time, colleges had just begun to do virtual work.

We were still traveling, doing conferences all over the country.

It worked out beautifully for me because I could do my classwork online, take my test online.

I was in a cohort class that only met one night a week, which we talked about how God orchestrates things.

It was on Tuesday night.

We would fly out on Friday, fly in on Monday.

I'd have my class on Tuesday.

I did that and got my undergrad degree.

Then I was a good student, so I graduated into the master's program and finished my master's d.. a year later.

It was an accomplishment for me.

I can't say that, "It was something I didn't get to do."

Now I can say to people, never underestimate the fact that you can go back to school.

There's so many different avenues now to where you can complete your educ.. -We are very blessed in West Tennessee to have so many universities, Union, Lane, Jackson Community College, Freed-Hardeman, Lambuth.

-Lambuth, to say.

-When you stop to add them all up, there's a lot of education.

Bethel.

It just goes on and on.

-It does.

-Were you, in some of the classes, the oldest student?

-I was always the oldest student.

[laughs] They called me the mama of the group, yes.

It was fun because I got to rub shoulders with young girls who were just going into the field of social work.

Really, the degree that I have is a general social work degree.

We explored all the different avenues of community service and we explored all the different ways that social work can integrate into all these different areas.

It was a very interesting program.

Now those girls that were in my cohort program are just everywhere.

That's really wonderful to see, too.

Union University has a really good social work program.

-That's what I've heard.

You're originally, you said, from Brownsville, correct?

-I'm originally from Brownsville.

-You met your husband, Jerry, how?

-How?

[chuckles] His dad came as the pastor of my home church in Brownsville.

I did not go to that church at the time, and my best gi.. that we would be a great couple.

She arranged for us to meet, and then we began to date shortly after that.

Dated for a year and a half, and then married.

She was right.

It was a good fit.

-54 years?

-No, 57 this year.

-57.

-Yes.

-Wow.

You now travel the world, all over the country and the .. ministering.

Tell us about that.

-We do.

Of course, Jerry's been in full-time evangelism since 1975, and then I was able to work the office work.

I was the CEO for the office and did that.

I was able to stay at home with the children.

We lived in Jacksonville, Florida, for 20 years.

He would travel in and out of Florida.

-Why Jacksonville, Florida?

-We went down there originally to serve a church when he got out of seminary.

After that experience, the Lord called him into full-time evangelistic ministry.

We just stayed.

It was comfortable.

The kids were born there.

It was a great place to fly in and out of, and so weather was never a problem.

We did that and stayed there 20 years and then moved back up here to be closer to family.

We went into evangelistic ministry in 1975, and then the Lord just took us everywhere after that.

-Where's been your favorite place that you traveled?

-Oh, that we ever traveled?

Oh, dear me.

Probably Scotland.

-Scotland.

-Have you ever been to Scotland?

-I have not.

-Oh, you need to go to Scotland.

-I watch the Hallmark movies about Scotland- [laughter] -Oh, yes.

Absolutely.

--but I know that's not always real.

It just looks like such a beautiful country.

-I've told my mother after we've traveled so many different places, I told herself all the places that we've ever been, Scotland is the most beautiful country.

Of course, we've not been to Ireland.

Now, I've heard Ireland is beautiful, but Scotland is by far.

The people are lovely and it's just a wonderfully welcoming place, and the scenery is just gorgeous.

-Part of your ministry, you do videos online.

-I do.

-They're daily or semi-daily.

I don't even know how to describe them.

It's almost like prayer, meditation, motivation.

Calm down.

-Thank you.

[laughs] -Just calm for a second.

Is i.. I saw them on Facebook.

-It's on Facebook, right.

Our son says, "Mom, you need to do this on YouTube and you need to explore Instagram," or whatever these other ones are.

I started out on Facebook and that's where it's continued, but it was daily.

I'll tell you how that began, but now it's weekly.

I do a weekly video every Monday, and then I do text messaging to a variety of groups.

I think I have eight or nine groups now that I send text message.. just a word of encouragement, and just support.

Some of them reply back with questions or something about whatever the topic is.

Actually, Jerry, my husband, is the one that suggested that I do a daily video when I went through my cancer scare, which is where the book was born.

I began to do it then.

It's been four and a half years now since my cancer diagnosis.

It began then to be a little more than I wanted to do all week long, so I started just on Mondays.

I do one on Mondays.

You can find it on Facebook.

-Even if you're traveling, you do the videos.

-Absolutely.

-You find the most pretty-- Sometimes they're .. and you find a very beautiful back-- Does Jerry shoot them?

-[laughs] Yes.

-Okay.

-Sometimes, yes.

Sometimes, no.

Sometimes I do a selfie.

It just depends.

He's my PR guy.

Not only is he my husband, he has been my partner, my husband, for 57 years, but we're in ministry together.

It's like we're tied to the hip.

We're together all the time.

We're a team ministry.

He has been so supportive of me.

He's encouraged me to do things that stretch in ways that I never would have stretched.

Sometimes you think, or I think, a lot of people think that they aren't equipped or maybe could do some things.

Then sometimes it just takes a motivation, someone just to encourage them to move a little further.

That's what he did for me.

He encouraged me.

As I began my cancer experience, he said, "Why don't you just journal?"

I began to journal.

That was a very unique experience.

Nobody in my family ever had cancer.

It was a very unique experience.

That's where the beginning of a lot of things happened at that point.

-Talk to me about your decision when you were leaving Florida.

Your children are they in the area?

-No.

Our daughter and her family live in Montana.

Our son and his family live in Arlington, right side of Memphis.

-This was almost like coming back to home.

You didn't move back to Brownsville.

You live in Threeway, which is a humble address, correct?

-Right.

-Why did you pick there?

-There?

We picked there because in Jacksonville, we had access to an airpor.. He was traveling all the time, usually about every week or every other week.

When we began to think about moving back, our fami.. His mom had passed away.

We'd really been praying about what to do, where to live.

Should we stay there?

We were happy there.

Should we move back here?

We began to explore different areas.

We thought of Nashville.

It was really growing like crazy.

We thought, "No, we don't want to put our children in Nashville schools."

We talked about Memphis, and we said, "No, it's crime-ridden.

We don't want to really move there."

Then we looked at Jackson, and it had an airport at that time.

We knew we needed to be close to an airport for his travel.

We moved back to Jackson, and then little by little, Jackson Airport closed.

I was driving back and forth to Memphis a couple of times a week to put him on planes.

It was a good fit for us because it put us halfway between his dad and my family.

The children were happy here.

They went to school here.

We moved here when Drew was in sixth grade, and she was in fourth grade.

They've been here a long time.

They developed their friendships here.

We were all happy in Jacksonville, but we were happy here as well.

We moved from Jacksonville to Jackson.

[chuckles] -Now I think they have flights out of the Jackson Airport again.

-[laughs] Yes, they do.

Recently, yes.

[music] -Becky, let's dive into The Bright Side of Blue, your book.

This show is about local authors from.. You just never know when you're going to meet someone that wrote a book.

I was picking up dinner.

They're Rotel chicken.

Delicious.

I saved one earlier, and they had one for me.

Got some coffee.

There was a table waiting in line that had your book on it.

I was sitting there, and I, "What's this?"

I thought, "Oh, they must be selling something."

Then I looked at the back, and you live in Humboldt.

Oh, we got to get them on Tennessee Writes.

-Oh, you're sweet.

Thank you.

-We got the book.

You had mentioned earlier that you were diagnosed with cancer.

Your husband, Jerry, said, "Start journaling," which is how I think all these great writers say that's how the all-good writer journaled.

Had you journaled before?

-Somewhat, yes.

When the children were younger, I would journal some thoug.. and ideas, and things.

I've done book before.

I did a Bible study several years ago for our daughter's 20th birthday.

I was familiar with writing styles and things that I wanted to do, but I'd never really thought about this.

Actually, what happened was when I began to write my story of my cancer journey, I submitted it to Morgan James Publishing out of New York City, and they loved it.

Actually, our first publication house was out .. They went and sold their company to Arcadia Publishing.

When I submitted it to them, they said, "We don't do that here.

We do pretty much local things here.

Why don't you submit it to our other publisher, Morgan James?"

I did.

They wrote back, and they said, "We love it, but not everybody has cancer.

Why don't you explore some other avenues of life where people have gone through challenges and then how they have processed through?

That's how it began.

The way originally that my journey began was when I was diagnosed with cancer in '21, I began my cancer journey in '22.

Jerry was with me that day.

We walked down that long hallway toward the chemo lab.

I didn't know what to expect.

I didn't know.

I'd never been in a cancer lab, never been i.. When that door came open, I was absolutely awestruck.

Going down that hallway, I said, "Lord, I'm your person.

Whatever you have in store for me for my future, just let it be that I can remain a kingdom person."

When that door opened, there were 13 seats around that chemo lab.

Everyone was full.

People were plugged in.

Some of them were sad.

It was a very overwhelming experience.

There was a cute nurse right here.

I said to her, I said, "What do I do?"

She said, "Just take a seat."

I took a seat by a lady, and she said, "Is this your first time?"

I said, "Yes."

She said, "I'm a second time."

She said, "You'll be here a while, won't you?"

I said, "Yes."

She said, "Are you going to c.. I said, "Probably."

She said, "I'll be here on Frid.. I said, "Well, those are cute shoes."

From then on, we were locked.

Then from then on, for the next 12 weeks, the Lord brought another lady into my path.

Out of that began my journey through the cancer experience.

Then, when I submitted my story to Morgan James, they said, "Not everybody has cancer."

Then I began to think about other people's life experiences, and out of that birthed the book.

There are 11 different accounts, one of which is biblical, about people who went and dove into the spiral of despondency or depression and how they navigated back out.

I asked these folks to write their story, and they did.

I edited it for them, gave it back to them.

I said, "Now, your name will not be printed in the book, but I do want your experience."

-You just did their initial.

-I did their initial.

-How did you find these people?

-I thought about people.

Most of them are from the area.

There's a few from Florida where we were before that I knew had been through some very challenging experiences.

You read the book.

You know that some of them were lost by gri.. Some of them were lost by relationships.

Some of them were health crises.

Some of them were marriage that has disintegrated and how they worked through that, both from the male point of view, the husband, and the wife's point of view.

There's a variety of different types of experiences and challenges, and drama that are recorded in the book.

I just began to think about different people, and I just threw it out there, and then the ones that responded.

One lady told me after she wrote her-- She was assaulted when she was young, and she wrote her story.

When she handed it back to me, and I edited it, gave it back to her, and when she brought it back to me for the final approval, she said, "This liberated me from 30 years of things I had suppressed in my memory all those years."

She said, "Thank you.

If nobody else reads this book, I just want you to know what a benefit it has been for me."

I thought that accomplished what I actually set out to do, and the Lord honored that.

That's where that went.

[music] -Becky, we've come to the segment of Tennessee Writes for our lightning round.

It's where we ask our authors a set of quick book and literary questions- -Oh, dear.

--and see how many th.. If you can't think of an answer, just say pass.

The key is trying to get as many as you can.

We'll put two minutes on the clock, and it'll begin ticking down to zero after my first question.

Are you ready to play the Tennessee Writes lightni.. -Let's try.

-[chuckles] Two minutes on the clock.

Do you write your books on a computer or by hand?

-On a computer.

-On average, how many books do you read in one year?

-That's a good question.

Probably 12, 15 maybe.

-What is the first book you can remember reading as a child?

-As a child.

Oh, dear me.

I don't know.

Probably Gone with the Wind, maybe.

-Name a fellow author you would like to go on a book tour with.

-Jerry Drace.

[laughs] -What is the name of the font used in your book?

-12.

-How many books do you hope to write before you die?

-Oh, I've got about three more in the hopper that I'm still considering.

-What book has most influenced your life?

-The Bible.

-Name a book you are reading right now.

-I'm reading The Remnant by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins.

It's part of the Left Behind series.

-If your book was made into a movie, what actor do you want to star in?

-Let's see.

Maybe Sandra Bullock.

I don't know.

I hadn't thought about that.

-How many versions of your book did you wr.. -Actually, probably two, from the beginning to the final copies.

-How often do you check your Amazon book reviews and ratings?

-Not often.

-What's one thing you would change about your book cover?

-Nothing.

I really like the way it was pu.

-What book are you most embarrassed to admit you've read?

-I'll pass on that one.

I don't really have one.

-What author, living or dead, would you most like to have dinner.. -Oh, living or dead.

I don't know.

I guess probably Jerry Jenkins and his son Dallas J.. Jerry wrote the Left Behind series, and then Dallas did the Chosen TV series.

[music] -Becky, before we delve into having you read from your book, how are you today with the cancer?

-Oh, I'm fine.

It's been four and a half years.

at Baptist Cancer in Memphis because our daughter-in-law suggested that.

Not anything wrong with Kirkland's, but she was there.

I was suggested to go there, and I went there.

It's been four and a half years, and my oncologist says 98% non-recurring.

I said, "I hope I'm not the 2%."

Anyway, I'm doing very, very well.

Thank you.

I went through a series of 12 weeks of chemo, and then radiation for 21 radiations, and then 14 weeks of immunotherapy.

I went through a year and a half of treatment, and I go back every year of course, for rechecks, and I go back to see my oncologist every six months.

I'm doing very well.

Thank you for asking.

Not everybody has the outcome of cancer that I have had.

Another thing about the book, too, that I thought was interesting is the Forward was written by Mike Huckabee.

-I thought, "Oh, she's connected.

She knows people."

-Because of him.

[laughs] -It's Mike Huckabee, so I thought, "Oh, okay.

This isn't just somebody who--" I thought, "Oh, she's up there."

-We met Mike several years ago when he was pastor in Pine Bluff, Arkansas.

Like I said, my husband's traveled all over everywhere doing meetings and such.

We met him in Pine Bluff.

Then, of course, he went on to become governor of the state of Arkansas.

His daughter is governor of the state of Arkansas.

-Now he is in Israel.

-Now, he is the UN ambassador to Israel.

We've stayed connected.

They still text back and forth often.

We've stayed connected with Mike and Janet for years.

When the book was born, we asked if he'd write the Forward.

He said he'd be glad to.

He wrote the Forward for the book, which was a real joy for me.

That was before he became ambassador, too.

I was like, "Whoa, okay.

This is great."

-We always love to hear our authors read out loud the words that they put on paper.

Would you mind reading a short selection for us?

-I will be glad to.

This is called The Beginning of Blue.

That's where my book is from The Bright Side of Blue, from the dark places of life to the brighter places.

Since I'm normally a bright sunny person being faced with an empty nest, and then later the diagnosis of cancer hit me hard.

I had difficulty processing the immediate facts, and then I had multiple questions that followed.

The shock of cancer resulted in an emotional shift into the second period of deep, dark blueness.

I hadn't experienced this level of dark blue in a very long time.

I had to process what was happening.

Jerry encouraged me to write about my experiences, so I began to journal about how my life events were causing abrupt changes to everything I once considered normal.

Writing down my thoughts led me into an area I had not considered.

I had an epiphany one day during my quiet time.

It was this.

Not everyone looks at their empty nest in the sam.. Some parents are glad when their kids leave home or also, not everyone goes through cancer, but every person has challenges that can abruptly shake their world.

This led me to explore how people cope and move through different types of life experiences.

Along the path of my life journey, I've met hundreds of people who have shared with me their stories, so I began to think outside of my personal box.

I began to ask questions to some of these people I had met, like, "How have you coped?

How will you encourage others?"

The trajectory of my book shifted from my life challenge to others' experiences.

I discovered a wide array of areas where both men and women face a myriad of changing emotions due to some life event.

Every individual I interviewed revealed periods of confusion, sadness, and yes, even depression.

All of the stories revealed deeply personal experiences with similar common themes that helped them navigate their challenges.

These two themes are faith and hope.

-Becky, sadly, a half hour goes by so quickly.

We've come to the end of this edition of Tennessee Writes.

We want to thank you so much for coming in and sharing about your story, your life, from Brownsville to all over the world to Jacksonville and back.. to West Tennessee.

We're glad you're here and for sharing about your story with cancer and how that story has turned into this wonderful book, The Bright Side of Blue.

-Thank you for having me, too.

It's been an honor and a privilege.

-Before you leave, would you do us a favor and sign your book?

-I would be glad to.

-Thank you.

-I will sign it the way I normally would sign books when I have an opportunity.

I sign it, Blessings Becky Drace.

Then I always include a scripture.

The scripture is 2 Corinthians 2:14-17.

I will quote that for you.

It says, "Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place.

For to some we are the aroma of l.. to others we are the smell of death.

And who is sufficient for these things, for not like some who peddle the gospel for profit, but we are representative of God and through Christ Jesus to man."

-Thank you.

-You're welcome.

-Thank you.

We want to thank you for coming on with a little gift.

-Oh, wow.

So nice.

-We call our Tennessee Writes writing pack.

It's an organizer- -Wow, super.

--briefcase, messenger bag, notebooks, water bottle, coffee mug, and a plethora of pens to help with your future writing.

-Oh, thank you so much.

I appreciate it.

-Thank you.

-Again, thank you for having me on your program.

-Oh, it's our pleasure.

We want to thank all the viewers for watching and streaming this edition of Tennessee Writes.

We hope you'll join us again as we get up close and personal with another Tennessee author.

Remember, you can stream all of our past episodes on YouTube and the PBS app.

As Walt Disney said, "A good story can take you on a fantastic journey."

Keep on reading, Tennessee.

[music] -For comments about today's show or to suggest a Tennessee author for a future program, email us at tennesseewrites@westtnpbs.org.

Tennessee Writes, on air and streaming now.

[music] -I am Frank McMeen.

I have spent 30 years of my life living in Jackson.

One of the things that is a blessing to West Tennessee are all the programming that you can watch here at WLJT.

You can see Tennessee Writes, having had the privilege of being on that TV show.

It's interesting to see all the local writers and what they're doing throughout West Tennessee.

Then to see a program like Tennessee Crossroads, that is always so interesting.

Just being from Tennessee and seeing all these interesting programs about things throughout Tennessee, but especially those that are dear to us in West Tennessee.

All of these things are at risk.

This year, $900,000 has been taken out of the budget.

We need your help.

It's critical.

Go to wljt.org.

We need your help.

[music]