Announcement, Interview

Emily Zemler co-writer on upcoming T-Boz book ‘A Sick Life’

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The long awaited book of memoirs, ‘A Sick Life‘, by T-Boz will be with us on September 12, 2017. Tionne co-wrote the book with British writer Emily Zemler.

The book will address her battle with sickle cell anemia and brain tumor, stardom and drama within TLC, and the death of Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes.

“A Sick Life doesn’t just mean I’m sick with an incurable disease”, T-Boz states. “Sick as in good. I’ve worked with Michael Jackson. A Sick Life as in I’ve traveled the world with the biggest selling girl group of all time, TLC. A sick life as in good, bad and indifferent”.

‘A Sick Life’ will be the first book Emily Zemler has written. Emily is a freelance writer and journalist based in London. Her work has appeared in various sites such as Billboard, CNN.com and SPIN. She has also completed coverage of prestigious events like the Oscars, the Emmys and Golden Globe awards.

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Emily took some time out for us to discuss her experience working with T-Boz!

How did you find writing your first book firstly?
Emily: This is my first published book, but I previously wrote a book as my MFA masters thesis at Sarah Lawrence (which you can find somewhere in their library). That said, I enjoyed the process of writing this book. It was a lot of hard work and Tionne and I spent a lot of hours on the phone together throughout to ensure that it’s the best it can possibly be.

How did you become part of the project?
I was offered the project via my book agent. Tionne hired me after reading a few of my articles and speaking to me on the phone.

Was working with Tionne how you imagined it to be?
To be honest I didn’t have a specific expectation. I interview celebrities on a daily basis and they are generally just nice, normal people. She’s been super nice and communicative throughout the whole process and I’d be happy to work with her again.

Did you learn anything new about her that you didn’t know before working on the book with Tionne?
I learned a lot of things about her, but you’ll need to wait for the book to find out what those are.

Also, do you have plans to write more books in the future?
Of course, although I’m not sure what they are yet.

This will be Tionne’s second book, following 1999’s ‘Thoughts Vol 1‘. Like ‘Thoughts’, ‘A Sick Life’ will also come with an audio CD. T-Boz is currently in the process of recording material for the project.

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T-Boz explained why both books are important to her. “I enjoyed both because they are both different times in my life, and both different types of books”, T-Boz told me. “Thoughts I did myself and went to get the deal. This one, I had a wonderful writer help me. So they were both great experiences for me.”

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Be sure to chck out ‘A Sick Life’ on September 12. Released on Rodale Books. It will be available for purchase on Amazon.

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Interview

Shah Wonders: Man behind TLC’s “Fanmail” theme!

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Shah Wonders is most famous for his incredible artwork on the TLC cover for their timeless hit, “Waterfalls“, but he has done so much more for the girls, and played a bigger role in some of their major projects than we thought!

Shah sat down with Left Eye immediately after completing the “Waterfalls” single cover art and brainstormed creative themes for future releases.

He created a futuristic theme while in his non air conditioned apartment, waiting for his first check for his work on “Waterfalls”. The futuristic theme was initially just called “Fantasy“.

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Initially called “Fantasy”, this inspired “FanMail”

It partly inspired Seb Janiak’s futuristic shoot which eventually was delivered in the form of, “FanMail“!

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This portrait was also included in TLC’s “FanMail” fanclub merchandise printed on t-shirts.

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Tobias Dante Eaton’s TLC shirt from the fanclub

Shah’s character designs of Left Eye also went on to be the basis of the animation used on her ‘Eyenetics‘ website, in support of her debut solo album, “Supernova“, in 2001.

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Left Eye on her ‘Eyenetics’ site. Screencap by LBG

Shah Wonders is indeed a talent ahead of his time! This is why his creativity and artistic skills would be perfect for use on future upcoming TLC projects!

https://www.instagram.com/shahwonders/