Interview With Tamara Grantham
As promised last week, I'm back with a special interview with Tamara Grantham, author of the newly released DREAMTHIEF.
1. Where did you get the idea for your book?
Dreamthief started out as a question asked by my brother-in-law. He worked as a military policeman at Fort Sill in Lawton, Oklahoma. Apparently, he’d pulled over quite a few people who were a little off. They also happened to display fairies and unicorns on their car’s bumpers. “Are people who read fantasy books and collect fairy stuff a little weird?” he had asked.
Hmm… Were they? And if they were, then why? These questions evolved into my book’s premise. What if they’ve really been to fairy world and can’t remember it? And what if their lost memories are causing their societal abnormalities and mental disorders? And if so, who would treat them? A half-elf who can remember both earth and fairy world?
2. Can you pick a favorite character from your book or series? Why is that character your favorite?
Kull. He’s a Viking descendant who looks mean and menacing on the outside but has a heart of gold.
3. How would you describe your story in 3 sentences or less?
Olive Kennedy, Fairy World therapist, treats people who’ve traveled to Faythander and come back with no memory of it, causing side effects such as depression and tendency to hoard fairy world figurines. Olive’s godson has been trapped by an evil Dreamthief, and she must travel back to Faythander in order to save him.
4. How did you get started writing?
I started writing on September 1, 2010. I remember the date because it was a beautiful day. The leaves were beginning to change, the summer heat had cooled, and my son had started Kindergarten. I was at home with my two youngest, a 3 year old girl and 1 year old boy. I’d overcome the stresses of buying a new home in a new city, and my husband had started his 2nd year of residency. The past year had been pretty brutal. I was a small-town Texas girl transplanted to Tulsa, Oklahoma. I’d never lived so far away from home, and my husband’s 80 hour work weeks were a killer. Luckily, I was blessed to make some friends who were true kindred spirits.
One of these kindred spirits loaned me a book called Princess of the Midnight Ball by Jessica Day George. It was a fun, creative story, not unlike the stories I’d created in my own imagination. In her bio, the author wrote that she’d written the book while raising two young children and one on the way.
I stewed on this information for a few days. How did she do it? I couldn’t even find five minutes to check my email. How had she done it? And if I were to write a book, what would it be about? Would it have magic? Romance? What would my characters look like? Where would the setting be?
I couldn’t leave all the information stuck in my head. I sat down and wrote a ten page outline about a girl named Ivy who lived on a Texas farm. I called it Forbidden. The story was a mix of Anne of Green Gables meets Tess of the d’Urbevilles, with a little magic and romance thrown into the plot. It never got published, but I still have my hopes up.
After I wrote my outline, I was hooked on writing.
I finished the first draft of Forbidden a month later on October 1, 2010.
Oddly enough, I’ll publish my first book on September 1, 2015, five years to the day that I started writing.
5. Why do you write in this genre?
I love to read fantasy. It started when my mom read C.S. Lewis’ Narnia Chronicles to me, and I’ve been hooked ever since. It made sense that I would also write in the same genre I love to read.
6. If you could "apprentice" with any author in all history, who would you choose and why?
William Shakespeare. He took ordinary stories and made them extraordinary. Someone whose name stands out as much as his does so for a reason. He really knew how people ticked, and that fascinates me also.
7. What other authors do you think you most write like?
(e.g. If someone likes books by (author), then they may enjoy Dreamthief) I think Dreamthief is a good blend of Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files and Ilona Andrews’ Kate Daniel series. I wanted Olive Kennedy to be a series character, like Dresden or Kate Daniels, and those two series were my inspiration.
8. What is your favorite part about writing?
The ability to utilize my imagination.
9. What is the hardest part about writing?
Pacing. It seems my scenes are too fast or too slow, and I have trouble getting that perfect balance.
10. What are your future writing plans? Sequel? Series? Etc?
As I mentioned earlier, Olive Kennedy is a series character, so yes, I have a daunting series to write. Luckily, I’ve finished book two and am now outlining book 3, so it seems to be coming together quite well. I also have a few surprises planned in the upcoming sequels, so be sure to stay tuned!
Learn more about Tamara and her books at her WEBSITE.