Tami Lund is a funny and prolific author and I am delighted to introduce you to her. Tami, Please tell us a little about yourself.
I am a hopeless romantic, and have been since I read my first Sweet Valley High book. Actually, I’m sure it started well before that point, because I remember when I was young, really young, that I was forever begging my mother to let me keep the latest stray animal I happened across, because the poor thing could not possibly survive without our love and affection.
In between rescuing stray animals, I was a huge bookworm, and I loved writing as much as reading, as far back as middle school. By high school, I had been convinced I would become a writer. Unfortunately, in college, I decided writing wasn’t a sensible career choice, so I majored in public relations, which led to careers in event management and hotel sales, and eventually during the recession I was laid off from said sensible career. That was when all those characters and plots that had been hiding in the deep, dark recesses of my mind suddenly demanded my attention. Actually, they practically slapped me in the face for waiting so long to acknowledge them.
Since then, I’ve published eleven books, with one more coming out this month, another next month, and yet another scheduled for April 2015. I guess you could say I’ve become obsessed.
Fabulous
Outside of my fantasy world, I actually have my own reality, a husband, two beautiful children, and a furbaby, who, you will be shocked to note, we rescued and adopted just a few months ago. It occurs to me that every pet I have ever had was rescued in one way or another. Did I mention bleeding heart romantic?
I love firsts, so tell me about the moment when you found you’d made your first sale.
Well, that’s a little tricky. I self-published my first book in 2010. I literally uploaded it to Amazon and did nothing else. I was so clueless. In January 2013, I self-published my second book, The Resort, which was the beginning of a five book series. By then, I had learned a thing or two, and actually spent a little time promoting it. Imagine my shock when, a month later, I received a royalty payment from Amazon!
If it isn’t too nosy . . . (well of course it is!) How about the first time you kissed your true love?
It was May 1, 1998. Yes, I remember the exact date, because ours was such a romance-novel-worthy courtship. I met him through a friend, at a party. Because, at the time, I lived on the other end of the country, he jokingly asked my friend if I would be interested in a one-night stand. We kissed that night – boy did we! – and six weeks later, he moved across the country to be with me. Six months later, we were engaged. Six months after that, married. We celebrated 15 years this past June.
Defintiely romance worthy. Love it.
Other than your own, who are your favorite (heroes/heroines/writers) in your genre?
I have a few I can think of right off the bat. I am not monogamous to my book boyfriends, unfortunately for them. I love Drake Vireo from Katie Macalister’s Dragon Series. He has been my longest standing book boyfriend. I also utterly adore Phineas Tucker from Jennifer Crusie’s Welcome to Temptation. I love a hero who doesn’t take himself too seriously. In fact, Phin inspired my hero, Brandon, from Candy Crush. Uh oh, does that mean I wrote fan fiction? Anyway, my third and most recent book boyfriend is Sage, the hero from Rebekah Ganier’s book, Snow the Vampire Slayer. He’s laid back, confident, and charming, despite incredibly dire circumstances during most of the book. All top book boyfriend characteristics, in my world.
What is the most exciting moment, so far, in your writing career?
That email I received from Crimson Romance, telling me they loved my manuscript and would like to offer me a contract. That was for Naked Truth, which was published in June 2014. It was the first non-rejection email I ever received from a publisher. The coolest part was literally a day later, when I received a similar email from Liquid Silver, telling me they wanted to contract
Into the Light, which was published in July 2014.
Wow!
What is your favorite pastime, other than writing?
Drinking wine. No wait, I do that while I’m writing. Reading and gardening are my top two fave pastimes, neither of which I ever have enough time to do.
What’s your snack of choice while writing?
Wine. Preferably red.
Got a recipe you want to share?
Ha ha. I’m not the cook in my family. Far from it. My hubs is, in fact, a phenomenal chef. I maintain that he missed his calling, although I’m grateful he practices his skill on the family. Also note, this is why you often see chefs as characters in my books. I think it’s sexy to be able to cook well.
Any advice for new writers just starting out?
My advice is no different from any other author, I’m sure. Edit, edit, edit. And then have someone else edit. And then repeat. Don’t put something out there unless you are one hundred percent confident in it, because readers will notice.
What genre or genres do you write?
I write romance. I love a happily ever after, so that’s what I write. In regard to sub-genres, I write both contemporary and paranormal. My favorite paranormal beings to write about are shifters (by far the sexiest of the paranormal beings, in my opinion) and faeries. Although I have created my own beings, called Lightbearers, and am about to release the second book in that series.
Tell us about your latest release.
Well, I actually have two releases this month. The first was yesterday (yay!). I have a short in a holiday anthology called
Unwrapping Love. Twenty-one contemporary romances. Yes, twenty-one. It’s something like 700 pages long, so well worth the less than $5 price tag. Mine is about halfway through and is called The Perfect Christmas.
My heroine, Anna, is in love with Jesse, a super sweet guy who happens to be married to Anna’s bitchy older sister, Jessica. Things happen, Jesse and Anna end up hooking up, and then Anna learns he only did it to get back at Jessica, who was cheating on him. I know it sounds impossible, but there really is a happy ending!
My second release this month is, as I mentioned earlier, the second book in the Lightbearer Series. The first book,
Into the Light, came out in July 2014, and was Tanner and Olivia’s story. This one is called
Dawning of Light, and it focuses on Finn, a shifter, and Cecilia, a lightbearer. Finn’s job is to protect Cecilia, who doesn’t particularly want to be protected. Personalities clash, but of course there is a strong, underlying sexual tension, which comes to a head about halfway through the book. I love this series. I mean, I adore it, and I think paranormal fans will too.
Quick note: while each book can be read stand alone, I recommend reading them in order, as there are quite a few over-arching plots that carry from book to book. So far, I have something like eight books outlined in the series, and a few minor details from book one will suddenly become crazy important in some of the later books.
I really love the covers.
And finally, where can we find you?
Everywhere. That’s funny because it’s true. I’m on practically every social media out there. But, here are the key places to stalk me:
My website – I update the main page every time there’s a new release (which is pretty frequently), and I’ve just started a new page called “Meet the Characters” which is a work in progress, but so far there are some wonderfully hot guys up there, plus a little background on a few of my heroes. I also blog at least once a week, which is part of my website:
http://tamilund.com
Thank you, Susan, for hosting me on your blog today. It was truly a pleasure to give you far more information than anyone could possibly want!
To wrap up this interview, let’s give you a few book links:
And as a special treat, for taking the time to read my ramblings, I’d like to offer a prize. With Dawning of Light coming out in two weeks, I figure I should give you a chance to read Into the Light… for free! So, if you love paranormal, and you want to give a new series a try, just go to my Facebook Author Page, like it, and note it in the comments here. In one week’s time, I’ll pick, hmm…. THREE WINNERS. Three people will receive a complimentary e-book of Into the Light, the first in the Lightbearer series. Sound good? Well get to it!
Sounds good to me. I am entering. Thank you, Tami for being here.
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