Interview with Author Tamera Alexander - Part Two!

We're back with more from award-winning author Tamera Alexander. Yesterday I mentioned Tamera is an award-winning novelist and only spoke of her finalist status in several contests for her debut novel Rekindled. Her second novel Revealed is where she got her first award - Tamera won the prestigious RITA® Award for 2007 Best Inspirational Romance, and for that same book was also a 2007 Golden Quill Contest Finalist. I've read this series - those awards are well-deserved! If you have not yet read them, don't wait!



How do you go about layering your stories with all of the senses? Do you put them in as you go or when you rewrite?

I layer as I go, editing and rewriting. Then on that final read through, I watch for places to add those sensory details.

What types of books do you like to read for pleasure, when you’re not researching your genre or era?

Right now I’m reading Leif Enger’s So Brave, Young and Handsome, and Mosaic: Pieces of My Life So Far by Amy Grant. I recently finished Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert, The Widow of the South by Robert Hicks, Between Sundays by Karen Kingsbury, and The Perfect Life by Robin Lee Hatcher.


I read a wide variety of genres, and something that may be a bit surprising…I’ve long enjoyed Dean Koontz and Stephen King! Go figure…

What one tool do you need at your side as you write – some authors need background music, while others need silence. I need a nail file, for those times when I’m staring at a blank page. What non-writing related resource helps you?

DOTS. I love DOTS. They provide inspiration like nothing else! I write to background music, most of the time anyway. But there are those moments when nothing but silence will do!

Do you work in a designated office or in various places? What spot is your favorite writing area and do you have a set time you go there?

I have a designated office in our home and write in there most mornings. Then around noon, I’ll grab something to eat and move out to the deck with my laptop, weather permitting, of course. I love writing outside when it’s pretty!

What one marketing strategy have you used to help promote your books that you think might help other authors?



Write the very best book you can. Write the very best book you can. Write the very best book you can. Write the very best book you can.

Just this week I had lunch with a writer whose debut novel hit the shelves a couple of months ago. She confessed that she’s been doing booksigning after booksigning, mailing out postcards, sending email blasts, coordinating blog tours, talking to radio stations trying to get interviews, etc… And watching her numbers on titlez.com. Then she asked what else I thought she could do to help promote her book.

My response? Go write another book—the best one you can with where you are right now.

Bottom line, I think that’s the best thing a writer can do for promotion. Write that next book and get it out there in a timely fashion (however that translates for each writer). There’s no way that the marketing dollars I have to spend as an author are going to match what my publisher does. And I’m a marketer at heart! My business background is in marketing. I love it! And yet, I still hold that the best thing I can do marketing wise is to write the best book I can, and then assist my publisher by saying YES to every marketing idea they bring to me!



One more note on this. I’m often asked if I blog. I do have a blog but I’m not an everyday blogger by any means. I post maybe three or four times a month, if I’m on a roll. I’d rather be putting those words towards a book. But that’s just me. Blogs are great fun, but—for what it’s worth—I often wonder if more books might be written if we weren’t so intent on blogging.

Thanks so much, Tammy! Your advice is wise, and I for one, plan to heed it! Thanks for joining us this week on Favorite PASTimes!

For our readers, don't forget to leave a comment to win a copy of Tamera Alexander's newest book From A Distance. If it's half as good as her first three novels, you won't be disappointed!

And to learn more about Tamera, visit her blog or her website.