Reading by Deb: INTERVIEW with TARA CONRAD

I want to thank Tara Conrad for taking the time for this interview!

BIO:

Tara Conrad is a collared submissive and married to her Dominant, George. They are high school sweethearts who are still madly in love.

Tara has always loved reading and was encouraged by her husband to start writing. Tara writes a little bit of sweet romance and a whole lotta steamy romance. It’s been an incredible journey so far and it’s just starting.

She hopes to share many more stories with readers.

When and how did you know you wanted to be a writer?

I used to love to write when I was in high school, but never imagined a career as an author—that was for other people. Instead, I went into the psych field.

I raised and homeschooled 4 kids. My family went through some really traumatic experiences, and I was lost. I was in a dark, depressed place. Nightmares plagued my sleeping hours and panic attacks consumed my waking hours.

My husband realized what a bad place I was in, so he got me a journal and told me to start writing. He knew writing would help me to express all the stuff I was bottling up. He was right and that story was published.

He also encouraged me to pursue a career as an author—an unrecognized dream you might say. I’m so thankful for him because I absolutely love being a writer!

Did you have any influencing writers growing up?

I was a big reader growing up. Two of my favorites were Judy Blume and Beverly Cleary. They shaped my late grade school and early teen-ish years.

Are any of your characters based on people in real life?

Alex and Natalie, the main characters in the first three books of my Fire and Ice trilogy are based off my husband and myself—one part of our life at least.

And then I have my sweet romance, Real Life Romance starring Gilbert and Elizabeth, they are very much based on us as well—the opposite spectrum of our lives.

Where do you draw your book inspirations from?

From all sorts of places. My own marriage, friend’s relationships, conversations I’ve had with other people. Inspiration is all around.

Do you use have a basic outline when starting a new story or do you let the characters lead the way?

I have an outline in my head. Which I’m sure you can imagine is chaos. I end up getting a few chapters in and I’m lost.

Then my husband and I sit down and plot out where we’d like the book to end and how we anticipate getting there. I keep that next to me when I write so I don’t go too far off course, but sometimes those characters start talking and take the story in an entirely different direction.

Many times, I let them because their story is better than the one I had planned out for them.

When you are picturing the characters in your book, do you have a cheater photo for inspiration?

Nope. I purposely don’t look at pictures.

Many people read as a form of escape and relaxation. What is your favorite way to sit back and relax?

Reading. LOL I’ve always been a reader and hopefully always will be. Other than that, hanging out with my husband is my favorite thing to do.

Who are your favorite current authors to read?

There’s so many.

Here’s a few: Pepper Winters, Aleatha Romig, Anna Zaires, Charmaine Pauls, Christina Mandara, Georgia Cates.

What are your favorite books by others?

Two of my all-time favorites are Pepper Winter’s Monsters in the Dark Series and her Ribbon Duet- of which I’m super lucky to have signed copies of!!

Do the locations in the stories have any meaning to you?

Real Life Romance is set in Philadelphia—a place I absolutely love. My husband and I were 18 and 19 when we got married and we honeymooned there.

Pre-covid, we tried to get down there every other month or so. It’s such an incredible city. There’s so much history there. The tiny alleys with cobblestone streets, ones I know history was made on give me chills—I swear I can still hear the voices of the men who helped birth our country.

Do you write in single or multiple POV?

Multiple POV. I love being able to get into all my characters’ heads and to tell the story through their eyes.

What do you find to be your best research tool?

I do a lot of internet research. My searches of late are pretty sketchy. I’m pretty sure the FBI is watching me. LOL

Do you write under a pen name? Also, do you write under more than one name?

Nope. It’s all me.

What genre do you write and why is this your preference?

I have a few short stories that I wrote while I was getting my MFA that have been published.

My main genre is romance. I love being able to escape into a story that I know will have a happy ending. And I love even more being the one to write that story for other readers to experience a happily ever after.

Tell me something about yourself outside of writing. Jobs, accomplishments, family, quirky trait...what led to you being you?

Let’s see. I’m an only child.

My husband and I met when I was 16 and he was 15, we got married at 18 and 19 and have been together ever since.

We have four 20-something kids that I homeschooled. All of them went on to higher education. My oldest is working on his Phd.

We live in a city, but we have chickens in our backyard.

During covid I became obsessed with indoor plants.

I don’t know much else, I’m a pretty boring person.

What advice would you give to an aspiring writer?

Write! Find that crazy confidence that I KNOW you have deep inside you and let it out! You have a story in you and there are readers who need to read it!

How do you deal and process negative book reviews?

You definitely have to have a thick skin with reviews. They really don’t bother me. I’ve gotten some negative reviews with useful constructive criticism—so much so that I’ve reached out to those readers and thanked them because they pointed out some major flaw that I needed to address.

Other negative reviews are more person preference in books. My books aren’t for everyone and that’s okay. I don’t fault anyone for not liking my books.

What is the most difficult part of your writing process?

I’ve learned I have the attention span of a gnat—and that’s being generous.

Sitting down and focusing on writing without getting distracted by everything and anything is a difficult task. Thankfully, my husband is a big help with keeping me on track.

What do you need in your writer’s space to keep you focused?

I haven’t figured that out yet. I’m going to say my husband to keep me on track.

Gosh, I think I’m a full-time job for him. LOL

What is your naughty indulgence as you are writing?

Don’t laugh. Promise?

There’s a small café in a neighboring town that makes a chunky monkey smoothie- packed with bananas and peanut butter protein powder. I could live on those!

If you could spend a day with another popular author, whom would you choose? And why?

Can I cheat and pick two? Thanks 😊

The first would be Pepper Winters. I adore her books and I just love her. Every time I see her, she’s so peaceful and centered—I want some of what she’s found. And I want to talk to her about Q! My husband reads me to sleep every night. I had already read the Monsters in the Dark series and knew so much of Q was my husband. After he read it, he said he was actually scared at how similar they were. I would love to know where she got the inspiration for his character.

My second is Aleatha Romig. I was a fan before I started writing. I’ve had the honor of chatting with her on several occasions. She’s always there to cheer me on, support me with posts, being a part of my takeover parties, and offering to help and advice whenever I bug her. She’s the real deal—a genuinely kind person. One day, I’d love to see her and thank her in person!

What is your schedule like when you are writing? Do you have a favorite writing snack or drink?

I start my day with a coffee and drink water all day. Sometimes for a snack I’ll have some cinnamon Life- no milk.

Do you listen to music when you write – what kind of music is your favorite?

No- that goes back to my attention span of a gnat. LOL

Have pets ever gotten in the way of your writing?

Occasionally, my shih-tzu will tell me I’ve been on my laptop too long and she’ll climb onto the keyboard.

What is your kryptonite as a writer? What totally puts you off your game?

The internet. It’s like a black hole.

I’ll go on to check my social media, then I’ll get sucked into reading a post and all the replies.

I’ll check out Tik Tok and end up scrolling through videos for hours.

And then the dreaded Amazon….

Have you ever killed off a character that your readers loved?

I must plead the 5^th here and direct people to read Alex and Natalie’s trilogy for this answer: Submitting to Him, Fighting with Him, and Living for Him.

How do you celebrate after typing THE END?

First, I cry. It’s a big emotional moment and is still overwhelming. My husband usually has a nice meal for us with some wine.

A little bonus here. My book, Real Life Romance, has a companion website! It’s based on some of the activities the couple in the book did, for real life couples to help put the spark back in their relationships.