Hello, Black Diamond readers and welcome to my very first blog post! I’m T-Pot, the author and creator of The Black Diamond series. I’m excited for the opportunity to use this blog to talk directly to you about different topics relating to the books. This’ll be an informal space where you’ll hear from me, in my own voice, about the world of The Black Diamond. I’ll choose a different topic and post about it the first Sunday of every month. I’ve got many ideas, but if you guys have any topics you want to hear about from me, please don’t hesitate to let me know. I’ll be happy speak on it! Now, with that out the way, let’s get on with the first topic… me!
I know that a brief bio about me can be found on the opening page of the site and on the back of every book. My life goes beyond that brief snippet, and I thought that y’all may want to know more about the creator of your favorite book! To start off, let me explain my name since I get questions about it from people out-the-know. No, T-Pot is not my rap name. My name, my government name, is Terrence Potter. I’m sure y’all can make the connection. T-Pot is a nickname that my friends, classmates, and teachers have been calling me since I was a little kid. The first person to ever call me that was a counselor that worked at a community center I went to as a kid. His name was Mr. Curtis. Somehow it spread throughout my community and soon that’s what everybody started calling me. So, it stuck.
I was born and raised in Delaware in August of 1990. I bounced back and forth between Wilmington and New Castle. I had a pretty normal childhood, I think. I lived with my mom and would visit my dad on weekends. I went to Lewis Elementary for elementary school. I loved that school. There were kids there and teachers that I still keep in touch with to this day. When I wasn’t in school, I went to a community center called Hilltop every weekday.
I started to get into sports around this time because my mom was adamant that I was to stay busy. She figured keeping me busy would give me less of a chance of getting in trouble in school and in the streets. I did karate for a bit. I was on a soccer team. I eventually joined a track team called the Delaware Diamonds when I was 9 and stayed on it until about age 15. It was one of the best decisions of my life! That track team had such a huge impact on my life. Firstly, I accomplished a lot. Not to toot my own horn, but I was pretty good. I won so many medals and ribbons that I didn’t know where to place them all, so some got lost. And there were some pretty high-level medals. I’m talking about in regional and national meets. Like I said, I was pretty good. I got to travel all over the country. I’m talking California, Tennessee, Florida, Iowa, and a bunch of other places! For a kid from Delaware, that was huge! I met my best friend on that team and bunch of other kids that I’ve developed lifelong friendships with. Man, the things we got into…
I went to middle school at A.I. DuPont. Made some more friends. Joined the school choir. Nothing too, too exciting. I moved on to Howard High for high school. I’m a proud alum of that place because Howard was the first, and for a long time the only, school for black students in the state of Delaware. It was founded shortly after the Civil War and is an official national landmark. Did you know it was a part of Brown vs. Board of Education, the case that ended school desegregation? Lot of history in that place. Anyway, it’s now a Vo-tech school, so I chose the career area of Legal Administrative Assisting. I had a lot of fun there and eventually was voted prom king and graduated as valedictorian.
I went to college at the University of Delaware. I graduated with a degree in Psychology in 2012. I spent a few years trying to decide what I wanted to do with my degree before eventually beginning work with the mentally disabled. I have an aunt that is special needs, so it’s very close to me. That’s what I do now when I’m not writing. In terms of interests, I’m a huge sports fan. Football, basketball, baseball, tennis, track, I like it all. I play a lot of Nintendo. I’m always up for a game of Super Smash Bros. or MarioKart or anything. I’m always listening to music. It’s mostly r&b and hip-hop, but there’s some other genres mixed in. Unfortunately, I don’t sing music much anymore because puberty robbed my singing voice. Tragic, I know, but them’s the breaks. I’m currently single, so ladies, don’t be afraid to shoot your shot. You might get lucky. Well, I think that’s enough about me for one post. Until next time.
Next Month: The beginnings of The Black Diamond