Contest & Interview with Author Tara Fox Hall

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

     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?

Website

Blog

Facebook

Email: tarafoxhall@gmail.com

     14.    When does your book go on sale and where can we buy it?  

Amazon

Melange-Books.com
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!