Every month I’ll be interviewing an author who writes historically-influenced fiction, and introducing you to some fantastic new writing talent. Their genres vary, but all of them are writing stories set in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
This month’s featured author is Tammy Lash. Tammy writes inspirational historical fiction, and her most recent book is White Wolf and the Ash Princess. You can contact Tammy through her website, or on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.
How long have you been writing and what got you started?
My husband and I have been children’s church teachers for over twenty years. I’ve always considered myself a storyteller, not a writer. I have only been writing for five years or so. I began writing when my pastor encouraged me to write my stories down and try to share them outside the church. I started where my love for story began. The Children’s Bible Hour was my favourite radio show as a little girl. I submitted a devotional to Keys for Kids (the new name for this ministry) and one of my three short stories was accepted!
What are the best and worst things about being an author?
I love creating different scenarios for my characters in my head! It’s so fun to be able to choose a path for them to follow and see how they handle the situations I give them. The worst thing about being an author is the frustration that comes when the words don’t flow and I’m stuck on a chapter for weeks—sometimes months.
What’s your favourite historical time period to write about and why?
I like sixteenth /seventeenth century early America because things here were new. America was a wild, blank slate. I wish I could hop in a time machine and visit. I wouldn’t want to live there forever, though. I love my hot showers and coffee maker! But, then again, my character Jonathan Gudwyne is an inventor. He and my husband would come up with some pretty clever inventions to make life comfortable, I’m sure!
What’s the weirdest thing you’ve researched in relation to your writing?
The weirdest thing would be dentures. I wanted to know if real teeth were ever used. It grossed me out to find out that, yep, human teeth were indeed used, as well as animal teeth. Ick! This information was pretty valuable to my story. It’s a small mention in White Wolf and the Ash Princess, but it will make a bigger statement in the coming Letters from the Dragon’s Son.
If you could travel anywhere in time and space, when and where would it be?
Totally my early America sixteenth/seventeenth centuries!
Where do you find creative inspiration?
Something happens when I run. I don’t know what it is about it that does it, but I always solve all my story problems during a jog. Music provides a big portion of inspiration, so that may be part of it. Nature provides another big avenue of inspiration. Michigan’s Upper Peninsula is my go-to place for any wild aspects of my writings.
What’s your favourite historical resource?
I have a Native American natural medicine handbook that I got from my dentist friend who is also an outdoor enthusiast. I also use several Ojibwe dictionaries for the language that I sprinkle though out my books.
The best place in the world to write is…
In the fall and winter: in my bed with my electric blanket! In the summer: on my porch swing. My hope is that someday soon my family and I will be living in the best place on the planet—Michigan’s Upper Peninsula—where inspiration flows like an endless pot of coffee! Fingers crossed!
When you’re not writing, what do you get up to?
I love to bake so I can lick the bowl and beaters and get sick on the dough and batter! I also have one of our kids left to homeschool, so even though his work is mostly self-guiding, he still needs the occasional mom help.
What are you currently working on?
Currently I’m working on Letters from the Dragon’s Son. It’s the sequel to White Wolf and the Ash Princess. White Wolf is the story of Izzy’s journey to the New World where she uncovers painful secrets while discovering a new culture. White Wolf is an adventure and it’s a story of forgiveness, learning to love, and allowing oneself to be pushed beyond where they are comfortable. Letters focuses on Jonathan’s journey towards the same elements as Izzy, except this story is the flip side of White Wolf. How does a traveller who has lived the life of adventure learn these same lessons? By stripping everything away. Jonathan’s story is a painful one, but an important piece of the puzzle for readers to learn ALL aspects of forgiveness. Monsters (or dragons) need our forgiveness, too.
