Portrait of a UT author

Anyone can write a book or tell a story, but the true art of storytelling is a rare gift granted to those such as Maya Angelou and Zora Neal Hurston who have told stories and written books about love, life and even triumph.

Author Jane Bradley is the epitome of a natural storyteller; she becomes one with the characters in her books and goes into their world.

Bradley leaves readers clutching to the novel desperate to read what happens next each time they turn the page.

The Chattanooga, Tenn. native is not only a writer but an individual who has harvested feelings about her past and childhood years while growing up in the south that has allowed her to embrace the stories of others and even share a little from her own experiences.

She incorporates southern dialect in her writing which can bring a reader right into the scene, making them feel as if they are there.

Bradley is a professor of English at UT, where she teaches creative writing, fiction workshops and screenwriting.

Bradley has been successful with her early novels, such as her autobiography "Living Dolls." "Living Dolls" has been used by therapists and has had a positive effect in the lives of many young troubled readers.

When asked how it felt to write such a in depth story of her life, Bradley said "It didn't feel liberating, it felt like I could finally take the tape off of my mouth and tell the truth."

Another one of Bradley's books, "Power Lines," has been named among the "Most Notable Books" on the New York Times Bestsellers List. "Power Lines" is a collection of short stories about love.

Intense, heavy and gruesome are just some of the words reviewers have used to describe "You Believers." Bradley's gift is in giving readers a three-dimensional look into the lives of the characters of her books.

The characters in "You Belivers" are based on a true story of a young woman who was abducted and killed and the mother who led the search team to find her body.

"This book has a mission bigger than any of my books," Bradley said.

Her sole purpose of writing about this highly publicized novel is so that the character's story can be told and to bring awareness of how easily someone can be abducted. The story even takes a twist and goes into the mind of the abductor.

"It shows how we can live and grow from horror and survive from it," Bradley said.

Bradley wrote "You Believers" over a five year period and surprisingly rationalizes prolonging its release .

"It was the scariest thing I've ever written. Its brutal," she said. "I've heard the voice of the killer on tape. I would have nightmares every night so I stopped writing the book for years because it was just too gruesome to write."

When writing this book Bradley traveled south so she could find inner peace to write, trying to write from the character's point of view.

"There's a kind of faith in the south that inspires me, a lot of sincere faith that makes you believe in a higher power, I'm much more in tuned with my spirit. Once I got down there I had the ability to write the book. I needed the lush nature to soften the horror," Bradley said.

Even as a shy and timid child, Bradley wrote stories.

One she remembers well was a book she had written about the redemption of love and at a young age she was able to write intuitively.

"My writing style comes from my talent for empathy because I can understand all kinds of characters and then I reveal them," Bradley said. "That's a survival mechanism that I learned as a kid. I do think I have a gift for empathy."

Some writers and storytellers have gone through experiences they then tell through their novels.

"I don't think my suffering made me a better writer but I think the struggle made me acquire empathy and intuition and I learned to listen and be a good observer and that has made me a good writer," Bradley said.

Teaching and writing have always been things Bradley wanted to do as a child .

Now, in her adult years, she is living her dream.

"Education saved my life so I take it very, very seriously, education is your way out, I have seen the other way to go, you don't be lazy about it," she said.

Bradley described with sincerity how strongly she feels about her students and wanted to leave them with words of encouragement.

"Your life depends on how hard you work right now and that's why I'm so hard on them. At your age you are ripe and ready for making the choices that are going to affect the rest of your life. Yes, I'm a stickler; I'm trying to make students improve in the little time that I have with them," she said.

Bradley will read an excerpt from "You Believers" on April 21 in Libbey Hall at 5:30 p.m.

Afterwards she will be available to sign copies of her book.