About
TJ Fisher is an award-winning published author of nonfiction and fiction works. She is a recognized storyteller, writer, novelist, social critic and tastemaker. A native Floridian and longtime Town of Palm Beach (“the Island”) beach-block resident, TJ previously owned an historic 1850s French Quarter home on Bourbon Street in New Orleans. She became noted for her 1959 pink Cadillac Convertible named Lulabell. The Advocate | Baton Rouge book editor previously labeled her “suitably outrageous and eccentric to represent New Orleans.”
Stay tuned for more information on her forthcoming The Pearly Gates of Purgatory series…an epic 15-book continuing series…of narrative fiction… Prepare the flashlight to binge read in bed at night. The panoramic tale is cranked all the way up. Big emotions. Big conflicts. Big twists. Big shocks. Unlikely settings, scenes and unexpected collisions. The explosive all-original and tell-all sweeping saga is not like any other work, and the writing style is not like any other author. The series is set in New Orleans, Dallas and Palm Beach. The forthcoming sequence of not-yet-published title(s) are: Baby Doll Gombo (#1), Zin-Zin (#2), Flambeau (#3), Quadrillée (#4),Tableau (#5), Peristyle (#6), Mascarade (#7), Promenade (#8), Société (#9), Zansét (#10), Repasser (#11), Confrondre (#12), Rouler (#13), Procession (#14), Vieux Gold (#15).
TJ is a longtime member of the Producers Guild of America (PGA), Directors of America (DGA), Writers Guild of America East (WGAE), Screen Actors Guild- American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA), Dramatists Guild (DG), Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (“Television Academy”/ATAS), Dramatists Guild (DG), Actor’s Equity Association (AE), Authors Guild (AG), and other professional guilds and associations.
A former journalist and columnist, her previously published award-winning nonfiction works Orléans Embrace with The Secret Gardens of the Vieux Carré and Hearsay from Heaven and Hades: New Orleans Secrets of Sinners and Saints garnered major kudos and national literary honors. The critical acclaim included IBPA Benjamin Franklin double gold for “Best New Voice Nonfiction” and the “The Bill Fisher Award for Best First Nonfiction Book" and triple silver. The equivalent of literary Oscars. She also snared a gold IPPY Award, Nautilus Book Award, gold and silver National Best Book Awards, Eric Hoffer Award, Southern Independent Bookseller Alliance honors and the Pirates Alley Faulkner Society Faulkner-Wisdom short-list novel mark of distinction. Additionally, TJ authored Vieux Carré Chic: The Art of Overindulgent Home Décor.
Southern Author TJ, self-admittedly as irreparably complex, flawed and charismatic as her characters, is a colorful storyteller. A complex character of dichotomy…with seeming contradictions…all her virtues collide and coexist with her faults. It’s complicated but never boring.
TJ Fisher is also a Palm Beach Broker Associate | Luxury Realtor with Compass Real Estate. She serves as the WE ALL DREAM IN GOLD Group Principal Agent. Her office is located 150 Worth Avenue #232, ocean-block in the Midtown heart of the Town of Palm Beach, in-between the Atlantic Ocean and the Intracoastal Waterway. She holds the highest-level of a Florida Certified General Contractor's License.
Featured Work
The Pearly Gates of Purgatory series, 15 novels
The storyline is juicy and intriguing, with wild plot twists and a profound, deceptive world of dark temptations and dangerous liaisons. Plenty of intoxicating allure. All the threads entwine—humor, gravitas, and pathos merge. The story’s endlessly fascinating female heroine is at the center. Nothing about her is stereotypical. Unpredictable protagonist Samara “Sam” Viola Schaffer finds herself at the crossroads of a very treacherous path, lined with jealousy, riddles, peril, obsession, seduction, violence, deadly suspicion, and murder, a tangled web of bloodlines, passion, betrayal, wealth, and mystery. It’s a turbulent journey. Rollin’.
Other Works
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Vieux Carré Chic: The Art of Overindulgent Home Décor
2010
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Hearsay from Heaven and Hades: New Orleans Secrets of Sinners and Saints
2008
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Orléans Embrace with The Secret Gardens of the Vieux Carré
2006
Awards and Recognition
- IBPA Benjamin Franklin Gold for “Best New Voice Nonfiction”
- IBPA Benjamin Franklin Gold for “The Bill Fisher Award for Best First Nonfiction Book"
- IBPA Triple Silver Awards
- IPPY Gold Award
- Nautilus Book Award
- National Best Book Gold and Silver Awards
- Eric Hoffer Award
- Southern Independent Bookseller Alliance Honors
- Pirates Alley Faulkner Society Faulkner-Wisdom Short-List Novel Mark of Distinction
Press and Media Mentions
- “No medium alone, or paired with another, could possibly capture the elusive essence of the place author TJ Fisher calls ‘a bewitching oasis of culture and civilization sculpted from a hostile swamp.” —GINNY SMITH, THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER
- The Writer’s Almanac with Garrison Keillor marked the 10-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina with a quote from TJ Fisher’s post-Katrina work Orléans Embrace. The Writer’s Almanac: “August 29, 2015: on this day: Hurricane Katrina. … New Orleans writer, T.J. Fisher, wrote of the storm: ‘Katrina changed everything. Life here is different, every face altered. Yet we feel and sense the landscape not only in its hurricane-leveled, sodden depressions but — perhaps even more so now in the strangely comforting depths of our shared history. Even in the worst hit areas, not all is dissipated. Dense intricate attachments burrow too deep to underestimate or overlook. This is no featureless town to be rubbed off the map and cast aside. Here the band plays on.
- "Soulful narrative … post-Katrina homage … With heart upon sleeve, Fisher ... engages the reader with aphoristic-like portraits of the Quarter and the encompassing spectrum of lifetime held within. Her finely crafted outpouring ... casts a sensuous spell.” —JONNE MOLINA, SHELTER
- “Emotion and passion pour from the pages of this book.” —Benjamin Franklin Book Awards
- “I love the book … it’s very impressive.” —JENNIFER SANTIAGO, MY 33
- “It’s gorgeous … narrative and pictorial homage to New Orleans, primarily the French Quarter … stunning … gorgeous exposé.” —CHERÉ COEN, THE DAILY ADVERTISER
- "It’s a beautiful book in three parts, written with almost poetical prose.” —AMAZON
- “Take a trip through the authors’ eyes … ‘Saving New Orleans,’ looks at life after surviving calamity. Fisher’s text embodies both the city’s freewheeling nature and the painful confusion of grief.” —MARTHA SHERIDAN, DALLAS MORNING NEWS
- "Orléans Embrace celebrates what makes New Orleans French Quarter unique and significant … the history of the Quarter and those who live there … beautiful pictures and capsule backstories. Unusual, gorgeous, intriguing.” —COLLEEN MONDOR, BOOKLIST
- "Fisher, who divides her time between South Florida and New Orleans, is suitably eccentric and outrageous to represent New Orleans. Fortunately, she is also knowledgeable about the city and a talented writer.” —GREG LANGLEY, THE ADVOCATE
- “Resonating.” —KARIE MELTZER, NEW ORLEANS MAGAZINE
- "The prose is out of this world.” —BILL BAGWILL, WLAE-TV/PBS
- "A passionate reflection … a love letter to this seductive place with its distinctive history, character and architectural style." —REGAN MCMAHON, SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE
- "Writer[s] ... Fisher turn a fine hand of prose.” —JON KEMP, THE TIMES-PICAYUNE
- "Emotional portrayal of the historic French Quarter.”— FOREWORD MAGAZINE
- "Dazzles with heart, soul … social commentary … will mesmerize the reader … subtle nuances at play between what is seen and what is only perceived in the soul. The enchanting prose of Fisher captures that elusive quality of New Orleans, indescribable yet immediately recognizable … the author somehow manages to convey the magic, and her words resonate after the book is closed.” —GEORGE NORTON, GRIS GRIS ROUGE
- “She [TJ Fisher] writes eloquently.” —RENE PECK, THE TIMES-PICAYUNE
- "Inside look at the mysteries of the French Quarter through the eyes and lenses of local aristocrat[s] TJ Fisher...” —ANDREI CODRESCU
