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FOR IMMEDIATE
RELEASE
Reality TV Star Toya’s Rough Road Becomes
‘Priceless Inspirations’
In New Cautionary Tale of Sex, Motherhood
and Growing Up
LAS VEGAS, October 22, 2010 – She’s found
enviable fame and fortune, so Toya’s new
memoir surprises readers with its unexpected
message to young girls: Don’t do it my way.
Antonia Johnson Carter – best known by the
mononym Toya and star of the hit TV reality
series “Tiny and Toya” – has written a life
story that honestly faces the tears, fears
and insecurities that rode shotgun on her
drive to stardom.
“Priceless Inspirations” (Farrah Gray
Publishing) offers Toya’s own life choices
as a backdrop for advice to young girls on
sex, relationships, motherhood and growing
up. Getting pregnant at 14 gave Toya
valuable perspective on the perils of
growing up too fast.
Rap music star Lil Wayne fathered Toya’s
daughter, Reginae, and wed Toya seven years
later, but the marriage lasted only two
years. Another lesson learned.
“That relationship has brought me a lot of
love and a lot of pain.” Toya said. “Right
now, my main focus is family.”
The protective cocoon of family is something
Toya spent most of her life without.
Abandoned by her parents as a child, she was
passed from family member to family member
as her mother sank deeper into drug
addiction. Feeling unloved and unwelcome,
Toya fell into the arms of a 15-year-old
rising musical star – Dwayne Michael Carter,
now known as Lil Wayne – and soon was
pregnant.
In “Priceless Inspirations,” Toya takes the
reader through the pain of struggling to
raise a child while still a child herself,
without the benefit of guidance from her own
mother. Using words she recorded in journals
as a teen – and the wisdom she has gained in
the years since – Toya bares her own soul
for the benefit of today’s young girls.
Toya’s roller coaster saga continues: While
her mom is now a recovering addict,
ex-husband Lil Wayne is serving a one-year
prison sentence at Riker’s Island for gun
possession charges.
When not writing or performing in her TV
series, Toya volunteers to help at-risk
teens and teen mothers. She is also
developing a children’s clothing line
inspired by her daughter Reginae. The
clothing line will feature fashion-forward,
affordable loungewear and accessories for
teens.
Farrah Gray Publishing will be publishing
Antonia "Toya" Carter's “Priceless
Inspirations” in February 2011. Grammy
Award-winning rapper Lil Wayne is writing
the Foreword.
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TIP SHEET:
Book Foreword by multi-Grammy Award-winner
Lil Wayne
BET Television: “The memoir, which is
dedicated to all women, is an inspirational
and encouraging read. Toya’s hope is to
inspire women with similar struggles and
those that can somehow see themselves in her
narrative.”
“Tiny and Toya:” On June 28, 2009, the
reality TV series drew more than three
million viewers, the highest-rated series
debut in BET history. “Tiny and Toya”
returns to the air in 2011 for its third
season.
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