Author Interview - Tamelia Tumlin

Meet Tamelia Tumlin...

Tamelia Tumlin

My interview today is with romance author Tamelia Tumlin who is in the middle of a virtual tour for her latest book, DEADLY IMAGE. 

Tamelia sold her first piece of writing to Dogwood Tales Magazine while taking a creative writing course in college. That short story, titled "The Traveler," was the feature piece for that edition. A career in elementary education and a wonderful son consumed her time for some years afterward, yet the yearning to write never went away. She now pens fabulous romantic tales with to-die-for heroes and spirited heroines in her spare moments. 

Tamelia has worked with several online publishers, but currently writes for Steel Magnolia Press. Juggling motherhood, teaching and writing is a challenge, but one she welcomes while pursuing her passion. Her novels range from sweet and sassy to dark and dangerous. As a disclaimer, I should also tell you Tamelia is my niece by marriage.

JB: Weclome to the blog, Tamelia. It's a pleasure to have you with us!

Thank you for the warm welcome, Jennifer. It is an honor to be here today. I’d also like to invite your readers to visit my website www.tameliatumlin.com for a chance to win one of two $10.00 Amazon gift cards I’m also giving away at the end of my book tour.

JB: Readers enjoy a personal glimpse of what a writer is like as a person. Tell us a bit more about yourself.

I’m an elementary teacher by day and a writer by night. In between, I’m a proud mother of my ten year old son. I also enjoy reading, writing and traveling. My son has a large US map on the wall where he collects hat pins from each state we’ve traveled to. So far we have most of the Southeast covered. It;s about time to work on another region.

JB: How would readers find out more about you?

           I've recently revamped my website, www.tameliatumlin.com, to make it more

           reader friendly. My books, blurbs and current projects are listed there as

           well as my blog, "Tamelia’s Tidbits," where I share quirky posts about my

           very busy life.

JB: When did you decide you wanted to write, and what triggered that decision?

I have always enjoyed reading. In my early teens I used to read the Silhouette young adult line. During this time you were writing and selling books and my mother was trying her hand at the craft as well. So at fourteen, I thought I had enough knowledge to give it a go too. After all, I loved to read. How hard could it be? I wrote a teenage romance targeted to Silhouette's young adult line. Of course, the book never saw the light of day and it was rejected as it should have been. However, I received something very valuable with that experience even though I didn’t realize it at the time; the knowledge that I could write and finish an entire book on my own and a rejection letter which was full of encouragement from the editor and a critique of my work as well. The fact that the rejection letter was not a form rejection was a milestone in itself. That it had suggestions and encouragement was pure gold--it just took me several years to realize it. I still had quite a bit to learn about writing, but because one editor many years ago saw promise, I had the courage to hone my craft and pursue my dream.

JB: Where and at what time do you write?

My favorite time to write is late at night after my son has gone to bed and I know no one should be dropping by for a visit. I generally pen my stories on the couch with the TV on low. For some reason, I seem to need background noise in order to concentrate--which is ironic, now I think about it, since I expect my son to do his homework without any distractions. Hmm, maybe I need to reconsider that rule. Maybe he takes after me and needs some “white noise” in the background too.

JB: What is your must-have book for writing?

Kate Walker’s 12 POINT GUIDE FOR WRITING ROMANCES. Kate is a well-know Harlequin author and she has some very good advice in her book on how to craft romances.

JB: Tell us any quirks you might have about the writing process.

I generally start with a small idea and write a very bare-bones outline of how my story will play out; I usually only know the beginning and the ending and a few other details. I do fill out a short character chart with just a few notes on each character and add to it as I write. I spend a lot of time staring at the computer screen tossing around ideas in my head and hoping they will magically appear on the screen in logical order on their own. Of course, they never do. Sometimes what I write is drivel, and I have to take out chunks and start over. This may seem like a waste of time, but it actually helps me flesh out the story and get to know my characters a little better. Everything I write isn’t necessarily what the reader needs in the story, but it is what I need to dig a bit deeper into the plot or character growth.

JB: What genre(s) do you write?

I’m a romantic at heart, so romance is the main genre I write in--but with the occasional paranormal sub-genre thrown in here or there.

JB: Among those you’ve written, which is your favorite book and why?

That’s a hard question. By the time you finish writing a novel you know your characters inside and out and each of mine are special to me in one way or another. But, if I had to choose, I would have to say A TIME FOR HEALING. The hero in this story has to find his way again after a personal tragedy leaves him broken and bitter. The heroine has a past she’s not proud of and guilt she has carried around for years. Both characters must learn to heal their hearts and forgive themselves-as well as God-in order to help a teenage boy who’s headed down the wrong path. I also have a secondary character in this story, Old Pete, who not only plays a pivotal role in the story, but is also an endearing character.

JB: Do you ever think of writing in other genres?

I enjoy writing romances and I do like to dabble in several sub-genres of romance, but the only other genre I’ve considered writing is chick-lit. My writing voice tends to be a bit humorous and I think chick-lit could be a good match. Of course, there would probably be a thread of romance running through it.

JB: Can you tell us a bit about your latest release?

DEADLY IMAGE is my Inspirational Intrigue. I’ve always loved reading Steeple Hill’s Love Inspired Suspense stories so I decided to write one similar to that line. The story is about a young widow whose daughter is missing. Although she is desperately trying to find her child,  the evidence keeps pointing back to her. As the heroine faces her past, she discovers everything she had held dear was a deception. With her faith shattered and her daughter missing, her only hope lies with the hero, a special CARD agent assigned to her case. The hero has a few issues of his own to deal with, but he really wants to believe the young widow is innocent. Still, he’s determined to find out the truth, no matter what.

JB: Any new projects, works in progress?

I'm currently working on the next novella in The Gatekeepers series. This is my paranormal series involving four dragon shifters who guard the portals of their realm here on earth. The first story, A DRAGON'S SEDUCTION, was well received by readers. It's available now through Amazon.com.

JB: Do you have any advice or words of wisdom to share with aspiring writers?

My only advice is to never give up. Study the market, study the genre and pursue your dream.

JB: Thanks so much for taking the time from your busy schedule to let us know what’s happening with you and your writing. Warmest wishes for much success with your career!

Thank you for having me. It has been a pleasure talking to you and sharing with your readers.

Special Notice! Leave a comment below for a chance to win one of two free ebook copies of DEADLY IMAGE that Tamelia will be giving away in honor of this stop on her book tour! 

Also, look for Tamelia at the following locations--and don't forget to register for those two $10 Amazon gift cards she'll be giving away on her website!

           www.tameliatumlin.com

           www.steelmagnoliapress.com

           https://www.facebook.com/pages/Romance-Author-Tamelia-tumlin/136280626492728?ref=hl

          https://twitter.com/tameliatumlin

          http://www.linkedin.com/pub/tamelia-tumlin/3b/676/61b

       http://www.goodreads.com/TameliaTumlin

Not a Dry Eye in the House

You sit at your computer where you’ve been all day—or half the night. Your eyes are stinging or burning. As you rub them, you think: Eyestrain—I really should look away from the screen more often. Or maybe you fear your eyesight is failing and you’ll soon need glasses or stronger lenses. You could be right on either count--but the most likely culprit is something called dry eye syndrome.

On the last visit to my optometrist, he asked if my eyes ever itched or burned while writing; it seems he’d noticed redness. The most likely trouble, he said, was a common one for those who work with computers on a daily basis, particularly writers who enter deep concentration mode. As we sit thinking, deep in our stories, our blink rate slows to near nothing. Blinking is the mechanism which spreads moisture from special glands around eyes, sweeping it over the surfaces of our eyeballs. Failure to blink means a lack of moisture to keep the eyes from drying out, therefore, dry eyes—eyes so parched they itch and burn.

So what’s the solution? Before beginning work each day, he said, and any time you feel eye discomfort, apply a drop or two of over-the-counter eye moisturizer, or artificial teardrops, to each eye. Your eyes will feel better, and you'll be able to work longer.

Other causes for dry eye syndrome do exist. For more information see: http://www.medicinenet.com/dry_eyes/article.htm

Apps for Writers - OmmWriter

It sounds like a fine idea, an app with a serene, non-distracting writing surface designed to encourage concentration in keeping with the OmmWriter name. And the app lives up to its basic promise, with a gray-white, wintery background featuring muted skeletons of trees and softly falling snow. Very pretty, even soothing, with no distractions from color, noise, ads or strident graphics. For those forced to write in the midst of chaos, it might be beneficial. Also on the plus side, the app does include automatic save and the ability to add accent marks for multiple languages.

For me, however, the sense of serenity--the main reason for buying the app--was banished by frustration over the lack of utility. The keyboard, though adequate for simple typing, did not have the interactive features of the normal Apple keyboard, such as automatic recognition of contractions, intelligent toggling between letters and numbers, highlighting for typos and misspellings, and suggestions for one-touch corrections. The rationale for leaving these off is that such functions encourage editing, so take the writer out of The Zone. Maybe. But if you’re used to having them, their absence is felt. The greatest problem, however, came from trying to transfer newly created text to a standard word processing program. OmmWriter has no built-in email capability, so text must be selected, copied, and then pasted into a different app for that action.

These things may sound fairly minor, and they might be in a free app. But OmmWriter is $4.99 in the iTunes app store.  At that price point, it should be something more than nice virtual stationery.

Apps for Writers

Writing is work, and anything that can aid the process gets my attention.  One of the great things I've discovered lately is the little yellow "legal pad", or note-taking app, that comes with the iPad, iPhone and iPod.  This app is always there as long as you have your device with you, instantly available while the device is turned on.  You can capture story ideas on the run, jot down dialogue between characters, make notes on research details, plan future scenes--the possibilities are endless.  Need to create a large block of text?  The space is available.  You also have the ability to change to a new page, or navigate between pages, to work with separate ideas.  True, the touch keypad may never be as fast as touch typing, but those used to text messaging can build up impressive speed.  And you can't beat the convenience of being able to work wherever you are, whether stuck in traffic, sitting in bed or in a boat on the lake, waiting in a doctor's office, or anywhere else in the world.   No need to worry about saving what you’ve written, either; the app does that for you automatically.  Once you’re done, getting the written text from the device to your working computer couldn’t be easier; you just email it to yourself using the built-in capability.  The more you use this app, the more you’ll find to do with it.

The Jennifer Blake Newsletter, October 2011

Greetings:

The newsflash for this month is that SEDUCED BY GRACE, final book of the Graces Trilogy, was released on September 27, so is now officially “gracing” the book racks along with Books 1 & 2, BY HIS MAJESTY’S GRACE and BY GRACE POSSESSED. Reviews continue to be gratifying. Harriet Klausner, well-known for hundreds of reviews for Genre-Go-Round.com and Amazon.com said: “The final Graces medieval romance is an engaging historical that combines love, honor and intrigue into an exhilarating thriller. The lead couple is delightful…Jennifer Blake is three for three as she provides another charming fascinating late fifteenth century tale.”

When SEDUCED BY GRACE made its official debut, I was in Colorado for the autumn turning of the aspens. It was an RV trip with my husband, my brother-in-law and his wife—Jerry and I in our Navion motor home, Eddie and LaDell with their 5th wheel rig. The weather was wonderful, a great escape from the heat of Louisiana. As for the leaves, we could not have caught them more perfectly if Mother Nature herself had planned our trip. The mountains were on fire with bright yellow and spots of orange and vermillion against the dark green of fir and spruce. We spent a while in Taos, New Mexico then went northward to the Buena Vista–Leadville area of Colorado. After several days of driving winding roads while “ohhing and ahhing” at the grand golden vistas, we then went south again to Antonito where we had reservations on the Cumbres-Toltec narrow gauge railway, a train pulled by one of the few coal-powered steam locomotives left in the country. This was an all-day trip over the mountains to Chama, New Mexico past deep canyons and over high, winding passes alive with color. At one point, it began to rain—then to sleet! From Antonito we went west to the Four Corners area where we visited the Anasazi Heritage Center near Cortez and the ancient pueblo ruins of Hovenweep. Photos from this trip (I took 475!) will be posted on Facebook as soon as I can get that done, and a few will accompany this news letter when it’s posted to Jennifer’s Journal, the blog on my web site.

Meanwhile, a blog post about how I came to create a Scots hero in a kilt for Graces Book 2, BY GRACE POSSESSED, is now available. You can access this and a story excerpt on the RT Book Reviews web site at: http://www.rtbookreviews.com/authors-spotlight-52. Also, Eye on Romance (http://www.eyeonromance.com) will be doing a special promotion for SEDUCED BY GRACE beginning tomorrow, one which includes an e-card with review quotes, a “Sizzling Scene” excerpt, and a Romance Preview featuring five days of excerpts, or the complete Chapter 1, delivered to your email box. You can still sign up for these goodies if you hurry. Just click to receive the Eye on Romance newsletter.

In other news, I’ve agreed to be part of the 30-year retrospective for the romance industry at the RT Book Reviews Chicago conference in April of next year. For the event, I’ll be appearing on a panel about the history of the romance novel with Roseanne Bittner, Patricia Rice, Mary Balogh and Kathryn Falk. I’ll also participate in an “Author Chat” session with Loretta Chase and Mary Balogh, answering any and all questions from readers in the audience.

Between following the trilogy through the publication process, packing for travel, traveling, and then unpacking, I’ve done little new work this month—or this summer, for that matter. The urge is growing, however, and I’ll begin soon. With a little luck, I’ll have something new to report on that front next month.

With warmest wishes for all the color and cool glory of fall wherever you are,

Jennifer Blake

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Writing Tip of the Day-Prologues

The prologue is an overused fiction device.  A book should not begin with a prologue if the same information can be logically presented within the story framework.

Present Tense Plague

I recently picked up a couple of contemporary romance novels, both of which, unknown to me until I began to read, were written in present tense--"She smiles" instead of "She smiled", "He says" instead of "He said." The first book began with a prologue, which I read because I assumed it would change to normal past tense for the remainder of the book. Being hooked by the premise, I continued to read to the bitter end, but was constantly distracted by the tense in which the story was told, constantly looking for, and finding, errors in the method. When I opened the second book and discovered it was written in present tense as well, I immediately tossed it.

Most books are written in past tense because this is the traditional method of telling a story, as if the events have already happened and a raconteur is entertaining an audience with them. It feels "right" to readers. A story written in present tense, as though taking place in real time with the author as observer, is usually a tour de force, an exhibition of writing skill that may be clever but serves no particular purpose except, possibly, to be "different." It's okay in short fiction but awkward in book length, particularly when including past events. For the majority of books, anything that distracts the reader from the story is automatically wrong, no matter how correct or incorrect it might be as a literary device. Why an author would shoot themselves in the foot by using present tense is beyond me. Don't do it, please, or I may toss your book, too.