Teri M. Bethel was born and raised in Nassau, Bahamas, with family roots in Long Island and Inagua. Her heart’s desire is to encourage and empower people to be the best they can be in daily living through her articles, relationship books, and her children’s books. Her colorfully written children’s adventure storybooks which highlight aspects of the Bahamian culture, history, and geography, are also celebrated for their character-building attributes and humor, are being used as homeschool supplements, and are set to come onstream in several private schools. She has also served in Women’s ministry and with her husband, Commodore Tellis Bethel—in Marriage and Youth Ministries.
Teri has authored and published 34 books in multiple genres and is a literacy advocate who promotes published authors and writers of family-friendly content on BooksByBethel.com. In 2021, Teri organized the donation of almost 600 new books by Bahamian authors to Public Libraries throughout Eleuthera.
Teri is the owner of Inspire Publishing, a boutique self-publishing company that provides customized services for authors. In an effort to inspire youth, Teri through Inspire Publishing has also partnered with the Rotary eClub to showcase some of the short stories by the young writers of their Butterfly Storybook competition on BooksByBethel.com. This opportunity has also been extended to the Ministry of Education as well as to a number of private schools. Teri is also a newspaper columnist for The Eleutheran.
In addition to publishing and writing, she is a professional Interior Designer, textile artist, handbag designer, and instructor. Although she no longer produces designer handbags or hosts live training courses, Teri has made her fabric painting and purse-making training video tutorials available free of charge to the general public and, most recently, to the Ministry of Education’s faculty and students. These video tutorials are on her website PaintWithTexture.com. Tellis and Teri have two adult sons.