Tara Ford
Tara lives in Hampshire, UK with her husband, children
and a naughty husky called Meika. In between writing she enjoys taking care of
her numerous Koi fish but occasionally she also has to live with a frustrated
heron that frequents the garden fence and peers longingly into the well
protected pond.
Tara’s writing career began at the tender age of 15 when
she wrote a beautiful love story as part of her English literature homework...
Her writing career came to an abrupt end at the tender age
of 15 when the teacher tore up her story, exclaiming that the content of the
essay was highly unsuitable material for school. Although it had not been in
the realms of 50 Shades of Grey,
Tara’s first attempt at a short story had been shunned.
Over 3 decades of child-rearing, fish-fostering and dog
walking later, Tara has realised her dream of writing. Her first book, Calling All Services, a women's
fiction/humour story, was released in July 2013. She has always wanted to write
in this genre but until a couple of years ago, she could never quite think of a
good storyline. Then a sudden and frightening illness and some time spent in
hospital gave her the beginnings of a novel which would eventually turn out to
be the first book of four in the Calling
All... series.
Tara has completed the second book in the series, Calling All Dentists, which she hopes to
publish, early 2014. Her third novel, Calling
All Customers is currently an early stage, work in progress and her plans
are to release this in 2015. Tara has ideas for a further series, again in the
women’s fiction/humour genre, to be written in the future. Her ultimate dream
would be to write a new book each and every year.
Tara’s debut novel, Calling All Services is a peep into the
lives of one family, over the course of one unusually, eventful week. A
rollercoaster of emotions will have you laughing, crying and cringing as the
week unfolds to reveal one disaster after another. Will the members of the Frey
family ever be the same again?
Calling All Services
Alex Frey, successful businesswoman, wife and mother to a
busy and demanding family, doesn’t find it easy to take a break. So when she’s
hospitalised with a mysterious illness, paralysed and afraid of what the future
might bring, frustration meets fear and she can’t wait to escape the hospital,
get back in control of things and return her family to the normality of salmon
paste sandwiches.
At home, her husband Grant is determined to manage the
kids, Alex’s parents, his sister and anything else life can throw at him while
his wife is away recuperating. But what else can possibly go wrong while Alex
is in hospital? The Frey family is about to find out. . .
Questions for Tara Ford
I usually come up with ideas at the most inconvenient moments, in the most unexpected places. Hoovering is a good one. It takes me 3 times longer to hoover now as I have to keep stopping and grabbing a pen and notepad to jot things down. The worst place it can happen is when I’m at school. I have to make sure that everything I wear has pockets, just so that I can scribble little notes quickly or key words to remind me later.
Sadly, most of my little bursts of wisdom, scribed onto
scraps of paper, are quite often found in the form of papier-mâché once
retrieved from the washing machine. Thankfully, this is enough to remind me of
what I had written in the first place.
The writing! I suppose that’s not a good enough answer is
it Michael?
Seriously, I think one of the hardest things has been the not knowing. Not knowing whether my writing was good enough. Would readers like it? Were the ‘funny bits’ funny? Were the characters believable?
Seriously, I think one of the hardest things has been the not knowing. Not knowing whether my writing was good enough. Would readers like it? Were the ‘funny bits’ funny? Were the characters believable?
It was quite a scary process to have a book published as
I felt like I had bared a part of my soul and my deepest personal thoughts, for
the entire world to see. I believe that you give a small part of yourself away
with each new book released.
The other challenge is the marketing of the book both
before and after publication. This in itself can feel like a full-time job.
Once the book is written – it’s done, finished. However the marketing side of
things and a constant internet presence through the social media sites, in
order to gain fans, followers, readers and recognition, is a never ending and
sometimes arduous task.
A bit of both really. I’ve been around for a while now (Ahem, coughs and sucks cheeks in to lift jowls) and have many life experiences, some
mundane, others more notable. My imaginative and sometimes warped mind tends to
turn these experiences into something quite different.
I always see the funny or brighter side to life (even
when there isn’t particularly a funny or bright side) and will twist and change
my own experiences, throwing in a wry sense of humour, to fit in to my writing.
The rest I make up.
My second book, ‘Calling All Dentists’ is out in a couple
of weeks. It’s the second in a series of 4 books about the members of one
family (the family members are portrayed either directly or indirectly within
each story) and their lives.
I have firm foundations for the 5th and 6th
books which have nothing to do with the ‘Calling All...’ series but would fit
in to the same genre as the first four. Guess I’d better get on and do some
writing then!
Write! The more you write, the easier it gets. 2 years
ago I would never have imagined that I would be here now, answering your
questions Michael. I have found along the way that it’s actually my characters
that end up writing the stories – I’m sure that I’m just their personal typist.
I’ve heard this before, from other authors who swear that the characters in
their books take over and write the story for them. When I first read about it,
I thought it was completely ridiculous. Now I know it to be true.
Last words to budding writers – don’t give up, even if
things get tough, it will all be worth it in the end. My initial aim was to
please myself, to feel like I had accomplished my dream. I did that for myself
and now I enjoy the thought of sharing my work with anyone that might be
interested in reading it. Tip: Unless you are the 1 in a million, don’t write
believing that you will be the next JK
Rowling. Write because you want to, because you can and because it’s fun.
That’s all it takes.
Thank you Michael, for giving me this wonderful
opportunity to be featured on your cool blog.
Tara Ford signing
out.
Links for Tara Ford
Website - http://taraford.weebly.com/
Twitter - https://twitter.com/rata2e
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/#!/Tara.Ford.Author
Goodreads - https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7125535.Tara_Ford
Pinterest - https://pinterest.com/rata2e2/
LinkedIn - http://www.linkedin.com/profile/edit?trk=tab_pro
Twitter - https://twitter.com/rata2e
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/#!/Tara.Ford.Author
Goodreads - https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7125535.Tara_Ford
Pinterest - https://pinterest.com/rata2e2/
LinkedIn - http://www.linkedin.com/profile/edit?trk=tab_pro
Book Links
Calling All Services UK - http://amzn.to/11zjwVi 19 – 4 & 5* Reviews
Calling All Services US - http://amzn.to/196dCAp
Calling All Services US - http://amzn.to/196dCAp
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