When my publisher had our author’s meeting, she had Susan
May Warren teach us about how she writes better and quicker. She’s written a
book about what she does. I ordered it from Amazon. It’s amazing. The book is The
Story Equation. This might help you, too.
Tell us a little about your family. My husband and I
have four children, twenty-two grandchildren and four great-grands with one on
the way. We have a very large family spread out over the western states. We’ve
been very close but it’s getting harder and harder with everyone in different places.
I’m thankful for social media outlets to keep in in touch.
I understand that. We have 9 great-grands, scattered across
part of Texas and New Hampshire. Has your writing changed your reading habits? If
so, how? I write romantic suspense and I must say, I’m finding it harder
and harder to find books that hold my interest. I usually figure out the ending
before it’s time. Thankfully, I also love history so I’m very drawn to
historical suspense and the history element plus the mystery keeps me intrigued
enough to keep going.
What are you working on right now? I have two more
books in the Tender Series to get out but I’m also working on a new romantic
suspense.
What outside interests do you have? Travel, of course,
and reading. I also play pickleball. My husband is a musician so I help him do
a lot of Karaoke! We also go trail riding in our Jeep. We’ve seen some
fantastic sights in remote locations on our trips.
How do you choose your settings for each book? Because
we are full time RV travelers, I find some very unique, beautiful locations
around the country. Whenever I find a place that inspires me, I start researching
to find something unusual about it and the writing begins!
If you could spend an evening with one historical person,
who would it be and why? Abraham Lincoln. He was such a visionary and
so adept at leadership. He was a master politician but never lost his homespun common
sense and humor. Still with all of that, his home life was tragic. I don’t know
how he went on day after day.
What is the one thing you wish you had known before you
started writing novels? I wish I had a business degree! I had no idea how
much I would need it in my writing career. Either that or a degree in marketing.
What new lessons is the Lord teaching you right now? Patience
and balance. I need to slow down but I don’t really know how.
What are the three best things you can tell other authors
to do to be successful? Write for your reader, not for yourself. In the
beginning you write the stories you want to see but as your career progress,
remember who you are writing for and what they want to read. You need to be
able to write for the market and the demand so you can sustain your writer life
long term.
Writing for me was an obsession. I couldn’t not do it. But I
had to learn how to manage my love of writing as a career so as not to burn
out. A healthy body and family life makes for a good writer. It’s that balance
thing again!
Embrace your inner marketer. Don’t fight it. Find the part of
marketing you like and focus on that. Connecting with your readers is healthy
for you and your readers. You’ll make lifetime friends, and they’ll follow you
throughout your writing career.
Please give us the first page of the book.
High California Sierras 1861
Royce Darnell stared at Stumpy McPherson from beneath the
brow of his tan felt hat. “Are you sure you secured the chuck wagon last
night?”
The older man nodded before he sent a stream of brown
spittle across the snow. “I’m sure.”
He wiped at the corner of his mouth where his white beard
was stained brown. “There ain’t no way them raccoons could’ve got to the food.
Someone had to open it up.”
Royce looked up at the gray, pre-dawn sky. “How much food
can you salvage?”
“Enough for breakfast and that’s it.”
Royce brushed past Stumpy, headed up the hill to the chuck
wagon. As he got close, the odor of coffee and sorghum carried. Even before he
saw the damage, he could smell the havoc created by the raiding raccoons.
Sugar, flour, and beans were strewn across the muddied snow.
Stumpy gestured to a tin of lard, resting in a pile of dead
pinecones. “That’s about the only thing they didn’t eat. That and my chaw of
tobacco.”
Royce stooped to examine the small tracks trampled into the
dirty snow. They led in a clear path straight to the trees. “How did you secure
the wagon?”
“I tied it with ropes and knots a man couldn’t undo.”
“Where are the ropes now?”
“Disappeared. Ain’t no sign of them. I expect if he’d left
them, we’d seen they was cut.”
Royce’s jaw tightened. Three incidents in three weeks.
Someone was determined to drive Royce and his men away from this area of the
mountain. He glanced up to see the same certainty in Stumpy’s eyes.
“There’s got to be tracks somewhere.”
“I already looked. There ain’t nothin’.”
“Stumpy, this isn’t the work of Indian ghosts.”
Royce and his crew had been building a water flume up the
mountain for almost two months. The incidents hadn’t started until they had
reached this exact spot, close to the ancient burial ground. The mystery and
location had sparked rumors of a haunting.
“Did I say it was ghosts?” Stumpy asked. “I’m just repeatin’
what some of the men say.”
“Well, don’t repeat it. It only gives it credence and that’s
what our vandal wants. He’s watched our movements for a while. It isn’t a
coincidence that he waited till we got close to the burial ground to stage his
little scenes.”
How can readers find you on the Internet? They can
find me at my website www.TanyaStowe.com,
on my Facebook
Reader’s Page and Instagram.
They can also follow my writing and travel adventures on my newsletter.
Thank you, Tanya, for sharing this book with my blog
readers. I’m eager to rea the book.
Readers,
here’s a link to the book.
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8 comments:
I’m Brenda from Mississippi. This sounds like a great book. I’ve never read anything by Tanya so it would be great to give it a try.
Nice to meet you, Brenda from Mississippi!
Tanya is a great author. Thank you for sharing. Blessings from Lucy in WV.
Enter me in your awesome giveaway!!
Nichols SC.
Captivating and wpnderful. Pearl-NM.
Thank you!
I always enjoy Tanya's books. Thanks for sharing!!
Connie from Kentucky
cps1950ATgmailDOTcom
sounds like a great story enter me please Sarah in OHIO
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