Professional Bio

I'm a romance author, filmmaker, actress, screenwriter, martial artist, paranormal researcher, foodie, and singer/songwriter under the professional name Toya B. Throughout the years I've incorporated many different areas and passions into my career, which led to me creating several career branches in the entertainment industry. Starting with poetry, I moved up to screenwriting after one of my high school teachers helped me get into theater and other various styles of performing arts. Many years of screenwriting came after that initial experience. Through it all, I began reading a wide variety of books, which was something I'd always loved to do. But I didn't become inspired to write my own historical romances until I was introduced to author Johanna Lindsey's work, (thanks to my father who also had a passion for reading historical romance.)

Wanting to begin writing down a swarm of ideas and emotions that came with reading those amazing books, I didn't actually begin writing my own manuscripts until years later when that little tiny voice to expand my writing career wouldn't go away. By then I knew I was absolutely ready for that stage of my career goals, and when the time was right, I got started writing my debut novel, which turned into a duology, along with a standalone crossover. I have since written several other romance manuscripts in both historical and contemporary settings. Although it has been a rough journey, I am so proud of the work I have done and am still doing. So, along with screenwriting and everything else I'm doing for my career in the music and entertainment industry overall, I can finally add my novels under that belt of honor. Hopefully I will be able to continue incorporating many different things into my stories for years to come. On the flip side, those who know me will tell you in a heartbeat how animated I am but I assure you there's more to me than that. I'm proud of my serious, yet quirky and comical personality. It allows me to explore many different kinds of characters; characters that the public will soon get a taste of and will always remember.

La-Toya is the youngest of three children who grew up in New Jersey with many tales of fun, adventurous recklessness, began by two older brothers who never failed to make her laugh. She hopes to have a horse ranch of her own one day in order to raise her own family. More on that below. . .

Extended/Personal Bio

I grew up in a small city in New Jersey and right from the start it was evident how different I would be from the rest of the members of my family. I'm not exactly one of those people who knew I always wanted to be this or that. It's just that the things I do is something I've always had a passion for and enjoyed and so growing up doing it as a career was something that my subconscious knew even before I did. If that even makes sense.

Music, dance, martial arts, writing, filmmaking, singing, art, and so much more: With dance, I'd learn and mimic the choreography from my favorite music videos. With singing, I'd just sing along to my favorite songs until singing became an outlet for me, a way of expressing parts of me with different genres I grew up listening to. With filmmaking, well, it's something that I had the passion to do after I spent years writing stories and seeing them come together in my head. Writing was an outlet for me just like singing, but then after some time, it became a way for me to bring to life different scenarios in my head; conceived by something I would hear, see, fantasize or dream about. And some of the things that helped create this part of who I am is my love for different aspects of history, different cultures, my love for love in general, animals, and nature.

As you can probably tell from my other websites/social media pages, especially if you've stumbled on My Frontier, I love horses, animals in general, and anything to do with nature. I always have, ever since I was a little girl. One of the reasons I love writing historical romance is because I get to transport to a place and time where it was easier to focus on living off the land and be in awe at what it can provide; the scenery and serenity of the land around you, animals in their natural habitat with no worries on going extinct or getting killed because of one type of carelessness or another. It's the perfect atmosphere for a wonderful love story that I hope I can bring to the world a little at a time. And it's the kind of environment I always wanted the pleasure of living in. Back then, there weren't cars, or pollution, or noise, or technology to distract you from the things that are the most important. I've always wanted to have my own horse ranch with my own land in order to revert to a time where traveling on the trail was the best kind of medicine, therefore would be the perfect inspiration for more tales of love to come from here on out.

And it would be the perfect place to raise a family, which I hope to do one of these days as well.. Perhaps it's one reason among many that I'm so in love with the Old West and other eras of history that's long been forgotten. It's not possible to go back to the past, but as a romance writer, I love taking things from the past and embedding it into our hearts and minds here in the present. Romance novels have done that for me, and I hope I can do that for others. I will probably update this bio sooner or later with better words/better way to describe aspects of me that not everyone is savvy to. As for other things about me, you'll probably be able to find out more information on my other websites. Just click on the link to my official website on the home page. There you will see my other career branches, as I like to call it, and other things that I spend my time working on. Welcome to my world. Don't get lost in there. . .

Why Historical Romance?

I love different eras in history. They breathe life into me when today's society gets tiring and shameless. I love the courting. I love the ballrooms, and dashing strangers. I love the trail life and riding horses on the rough terrain. I love Indian way of life in the Black Hills. I love castles. I love dungeons. I love nobility. I love secret lovers. I love swords and bows and arrows. I love spirituality. I love strength. I love sexuality. I love the idea of family. I love domination. I love pride. I love a good battle. I love what the power of love can do for two people who thought they had nothing to live for. I love a good personal struggle in an old society with so many rules and the need to break free. I love adventure and the wilderness. I love horses and carriages. I love secrets and lies. I love redemption and the idea of forgiveness.

I write what I believe in, and I write what I desire. I write what I've experienced and what I have yet to explore. I write about my inner demons. I write about my dreams. And I love to write about that all wrapped up in the essence of a faraway place and time -- where everything is intriguing and sensual yet irresistible and tempting. I love writing about unforgettable worlds, and characters. So the question is. . . why not historical romance?

Since I was a child I would make up stories and other scenarios in my head based on characters that I would read about. I always referred to it as my "alternate reality" and would be my escape from actual reality. It would become so realistic to me that it felt like I've been swept into another place and time. It got to a point where I would realize that it was more than just these memorable characters that fascinated me; it was also the time period with which they'd lived. Obviously there are many advantages in today's world as opposed to many years ago, but different time periods in history were special and unique in their own way and gave a perfect setting for the kind of romance that you don't see anymore; the kind of romance that still has the power to sweep me off my feet. I wanted desperately to create stories like that and give back to the world and have them fall in love with the things I see in my head the same way historical romance has done for me. And hopefully I'll be able to do that for many years to come.