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Friday, March 10, 2006

Medieval Romance to Contemporary Chic Lit?

That's what happened to best-selling author, Tamara Leigh, when she got the call from God to write Christian chic lit instead of her trademark medieval romances.

The result? An hilarious trip inside the secret chambers of the publishing world from the perspective of Adda, an author. It's a book you don't want to miss!

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IMAGE: Tamara LeighINTERVIEW

First things first-do you blog?

Is this a joke? If not, someone really needs to inform the publisher of my well-thumbed, slightly warped college dictionary that there's an empty space between Bloemfontein (capital of Orange Free state, in the central Republic of South Africa) and Bois (city in central France on the Loire River) where "blog" ought to be. But just to be certain, I probably should "google" it (see, I'm not completely backward).

Aha!!

blog--short form of weblog; newsletter or journal updated frequently and intended for public viewing; generally represents an author's personality

Sounds important. Better look into it further. Perhaps the designer of my new website has some insight....What do you know! I have a blog. Really. And don't I feel silly....

So do I blog? Uh...yeah. Blog's my middle name.

IMAGE: Stealing Adda book coverHow many books have you published to date?

My first book, WARRIOR BRIDE, was published by Bantam in 1994 and was followed by six more medieval romances--four with Bantam, two with HarperCollins, and one with Dorchester. STEALING ADDA makes number eight!

How much of the book is based on your experience in the publishing world?

Ooh. Must not forget the "This novel is a work of fiction" disclaimer.... Naturally, many of my own experiences in the publishing world of romance served as the foundation upon which STEALING ADDA was written. Unfortunately, my experiences are nowhere near as exciting, entertaining, or devastating as Adda's. Or perhaps fortunately, hmm?

Are you concerned that publishers and editors will take offense to the insider's look you provide of that world?

Sometimes the truth hurts. The good news is that publishers and editors aren't the ones who'll be buying STEALING ADDA. Hmm...that could come back to haunt me. In which case--Nah. As the majority of publishers and editors are New Yorkers, they're hardly thin-skinned. In fact, some might think I painted a pretty rosy picture of their world.

What turned you from writing historicals to writing contemporaries?

That would be my therapist. Just kidding. Actually, I went on strike--as in burned out, disillusioned, and fed up. But that's another story Adda could tell far better than I.

Which is harder, historicals or contemporaries?

Historicals. Definitely. Though the medieval time period remains my first love and I hope to write more for the inspirational market, I've never had as much fun writing a book as I did when I tackled STEALING ADDA.

Will we see more of Adda in future books?

It's possible Adda will pop up again, as there's certainly more of her--and Nick!--to be told. We shall see...

15 comments:

Camy Tang said...

Great interview! I want to enter in your drawing for STEALING ADDA.

Camy

Anonymous said...

Thanks, Tiff and Tamara! This sounds like a fun book. Please enter me in the drawing.

Anonymous said...

Tamara, STEALING ADDA sounds like a fun read! It appears you made the leap from Medieval to Chic Lit with room to spare. :-> Camy referred me to your interview so please enter her name in the drawing again.

Janet

Unknown said...

Great interview. Camy referred me to run over and visit the blog!

Anonymous said...

I liked the interview. The book sounds like a fun read. I'm so glad Camy told me to check it out.

Anonymous said...

Tamara, enjoyed your sense of humor. I write historicals and love to read them. I'd like to check out your medieval ones, but Stealing Adda sounds like a kick too. By the way, Camy sent me here to check out your interview.. thanks Camy.

Myra Johnson said...

Camy sent me over for a visit. God's blessings for success in your new genre, Tamara!

Pam Hillman said...

Great interview, Tiff and Tamara!

Btw, who's Camy?

lol...Camy's drawing us in like flies. She REALLY wants to win a free book! lol

Missy Tippens said...

Camy sent me, too. :) You have a great blog. And I can't wait to read the book. Actually, I'm hoping to win it from Camy. :) So enter her name for this book.

Missy

Dineen A. Miller said...

LOL, just call us the Camy followers. Sounds like a great book. I think Camy really wants a copy. :-)

Cheryl Wyatt said...

Awesome interview. CAMY TANG sent me, and I'm glad she did.

Cheryl W.

Tiffany Amber Stockton said...

Well, gee...looks like it's going to be a landslide in Camy's favor unless someone else gets on the ball.

Great work, Camy. Love seeing your fanclub and loyal followers. *g*

Anonymous said...

My Aunt, Mary F. Allen, referred me to your blog. I didn't know you wrote historical fiction, but since I love it I'll certainly be checking out some of your books.

Tiffany Amber Stockton said...

Great! Hope you come back again. If all goes well, my first book will see a contract in just a few months.

Will keep everyone updated.

Tiffany Amber Stockton said...

And thanks everyone for entering the contest. As you can probably tell, Camy was our winner. Congratulations, girl!

I've got another contest lined up and will post about it soon. This time, I promise you won't have to work...too hard. :) Stay tuned!