About the Author:
Tara Fox
Hall’s writing credits include nonfiction, horror, suspense, action-adventure,
erotica, and contemporary and historical paranormal romance. She is the author
of the paranormal action-adventure Lash series
and the vampire romantic suspense Promise
Me series. Tara divides her free time unequally between writing novels and
short stories, chainsawing firewood, caring for stray animals, sewing cat and
dog beds for donation to animal shelters, and target practice.
Interview Questions….
1. What
inspired you to become a writer? When did you first realize you wanted to be a
writer?
I always liked to write, since I was a kid.
As I got older, my short story subjects moved from unicorns to ghost towns to
my life in the country. But I didn’t get serious about writing until my mom had
a bad health scare. I’d always wanted to
write her a book, and now had a deadline of a year, at most. I began Promise Me that night. Six months later,
her health issues had been resolved completely, and I had several finished
books. She liked them so much, I kept writing them for her, sequel after
sequel. And since the first books were already done, I decided to ask a professional
editor for their opinion on whether to try to get them published or not. If the editor’s assessment had been negative,
I would have kept writing but never gone public with my stories.
2. What
genre(s) do you write? Why do you write the stories that you write?
I write in a lot of genres, as you can see
from my bio J.
But I prefer paranormal stories, usually with some suspense and/or thrills, be
it action or romance. My short stories
are often horror or scary tales, as they are usually pulled right from my
nightmares. Frightening stories come
naturally to me, maybe from reading horror novels almost exclusively from
middle school until I graduated from college (I still read horror, but my
tastes have broadened since then). I
also watched most every horror movie, big budget and small, from the late
seventies to the year 2000. That probably gave my subconscious a lot to pull
from in the nighttime hours. As for the non-scary stories, I usually see
something and think, “What if—?”
3. Where
did the inspiration for your book come from?
Per above, I wanted to write a book for my
mother. But all I had for a premise was an old vampire tale I had been working
on half-heartedly for years. There was only about seven pages, with the typical
flimsy vampire novel plot; vampire loves girl from afar, rescues her, she has a
relationship with him, they decide they can’t stay together….then with a few
plot twists, they live happily ever after.
I wrote a first chapter from my notes, printed it off, and gave it to
mom. She told me that night that it was boring, unrealistic, and nothing
happened, “and if I didn’t make it more interesting, she wasn’t reading any
more.” I was crushed, of course, having written it for her. So I let everything
else slide for the next week, took a hard look at all my plot points, and
decided what I had so far was drivel. I needed a story she could believe in,
that was as real as I could make it. So I thought, what would I do if I found a
real vampire? How would I really act? What would really happen? Then I changed
the setting to a rural farm that resembled my own place, gave the heroine a lot
of my attributes and world views, and decided that she would rescue the vampire
instead of him rescuing her. And Promise
Me was begun. J
4. How long did it take you to put the story together?
I have spent more time
writing and then reworking Promise Me
than any other book. I have spent the time equivalent to writing four other
novels, if not more. But being the first thing I wrote, the book needed a lot
of work to be readable, much less exciting. I was so unsure of what I wanted to
say, and rewrote the beginning chapter about five times. Originally, all the
Promise Me books were long…upwards of 200K. Each had to be split into two
books, and given new names, and also have added in sections in the first few,
so that they didn’t just stop in the middle of the action, and new readers
would be able to understand what was happening if they picked up the second or
third books instead of reading in order of publication.
5. Can
you share a little about your novel with us?
Promise
Me is the story of country woman Sarelle and Danial, a man she finds
wounded and unconscious on her land. She helps him instinctively, then
discovers he’s a vampire. While giving him her blood in an effort to awaken
him, Danial attacks her. Sarelle gets away when he had drunk enough to heal
himself, angry at her foolishness in hoping for some Hollywood romance when she
should know better. She confronts him later that night, wanting answers. Danial
is reticent, but very charming and polite.
There is chemistry between the two from the
beginning, and Sar and Danial begin a sexual relationship in a matter of weeks.
But while Sar is happy to enjoy Danial, she isn’t ready for her life to change.
Danial also wasn’t looking for love, but when he begins to love Sar, he begins
pushing hard for her to commit to him, and also move in with him. In a
relationship with two humans, there is a lot to deal with in merging two lives
to make one shared life. With Sar and Danial, there is much, much more; his
blood donors that make house calls, his connections to the mob, his enemies,
and other vampires, some of whom want Sar for their own amusement, his needing
to keep out of the daylight, the cherished business he runs by night that takes
a good deal of his time, and his long and painful past which impacts his
present life. Promise Me is about how
Sar comes to terms with these challenges with Danial’s help, and how they began
to build a life together.
6. Who
is your favorite charter in your novel and why?
I love all the characters in Promise Me,
especially Sar and Danial. But my favorite is Devlin, because he is so much fun
to write, especially his dialogue. He says and does whatever he feels like,
where my other characters have boundaries on what they would think was either
polite or appropriate to do or say aloud.
7. Now
that your book is getting ready to hit the stores describe how you feel in one
sentence?
Scared to death and elated at the same time
sums it up.
8. What
has surprised you the most about the whole processes of getting your book on
the market?
I am surprised that no matter how many
times I go through the story and fix typos, there are always more. I think they
must breed when I hit send that final time.
9. Would
you like to share what the reviewers are saying about your book?
So far the reviews for Promise Me have been
positive. Here is a recent review that just posted from NOR:
Sarelle
had to help the man she found in the woods. Even after she discovered he was a
vampire, Sar couldn't leave him to die. As Danial recovers, Sar experiences the
first stirrings of attraction since her husband died. But Danial's life is
drastically different and his world brings danger to hers. She can't deny her
growing feelings but will Danial demand more than she give?
Firstly, this is a very engrossing story. The action is nonstop and there's really no good place to pause and put the book down. Danial and Sar's growing passion and romance is only part of the story, but a very steamy part of it. The evolving plot and fascinating secondary characters add quite a punch to the mixture. The story is told in the first person from Sar's point of view. As a rule, it's not something I generally care for but the author does a nice job of fleshing out all the characters. This is part of a series and I do wish there had been more closure for Sar and Danial. I'm not a big fan of books that leave you with more questions than answers. Even so, I really liked the story. If paranormal romance is your thing, this would be a nice addition to your collection and the beginning of a complex and sexy series.
Active Date: Jul 4, 2012
NOTE: If the Active Date is in the past, the review went live today.
Night Owl Reviews
Firstly, this is a very engrossing story. The action is nonstop and there's really no good place to pause and put the book down. Danial and Sar's growing passion and romance is only part of the story, but a very steamy part of it. The evolving plot and fascinating secondary characters add quite a punch to the mixture. The story is told in the first person from Sar's point of view. As a rule, it's not something I generally care for but the author does a nice job of fleshing out all the characters. This is part of a series and I do wish there had been more closure for Sar and Danial. I'm not a big fan of books that leave you with more questions than answers. Even so, I really liked the story. If paranormal romance is your thing, this would be a nice addition to your collection and the beginning of a complex and sexy series.
Active Date: Jul 4, 2012
NOTE: If the Active Date is in the past, the review went live today.
Night Owl Reviews
10. How
many books have you written?
I wrote 2 novellas to start, and also a
bunch of short stories, some of which were published in anthologies. I
published an e-anthology Just Shadows
in Jan. 2012, and my first novel Lash
came out in April 2012. Promise Me
came out in May 2012, and Midnight
Thirsts 2 just published with some related Promise Me stories in June 2012.
Here is a list of books to date, not counting
all my horror flash fiction and short stories:
Surrender To Me: Melange-Books.com/Surrender to Me
Return To Me: Melange-Books.com/Return to Me
"Origin of Fear" in
Spellbound 2011: Melange-Books.com/Origin of Fear "Spellbound 2011"
"Kink" and "The
Oath" in Wicked Christmas Wishes: Melange-Books.com/Wicked Christmas Wishes
Just Shadows: Amazon/Just Shadows
Lash: Amazon/Lash
Promise Me: Amazon/Promise Me
"Night Music" and
"Partners” in Midnight Thirsts 2: Amazon/Midnight Thirsts 2
11. What
are you working on next?
The Promise
Me series will continue for the next several years, with new books being
released every 3-4 months. My paranormal action adventure series will also
continue with Lash II, titled Shadow Man
being released in late October from Bradley Publishing. I’ll also be doing
other projects, like a collaboration with fellow Author Jenny Twist on Bedtime Shadows, an anthology due out in
September from Melange Books. I’ll also have some flash fiction coming out in several
horror anthologies this fall, like Quick
Bites of Flesh from Hazardous Press. I like to keep busy.
12. What
do you like to do for fun when you’re not writing?
Sleeping, chainsawing firewood, gardening,
reading, swimming, and sewing are all enjoyable J
13. How
can readers contact you?
Email: tarafoxhall@gmail.com
14. When does your book go on sale and where can
we buy it?
Bradley Publishings
15. Last
but not least is there anything that you would like to add?
Let’s have a contest!
Leave a comment
and/or send an email to Tara asking to join her mailing list, and be entered to
win an e-copy of Promise Me!
