Friday, August 04, 2006

A Ramble from Tara Wentz

Tonight we've got something slightly different. We promise to get back to the nifty Pheasant McNuggets Contest entries tomorrow. Thanks to all the entries so far and we look forward to more. Keep sending them in please they are making us giggle and that's a good thing!

However tonight, we have a new author who was kind enough to share her time and words with us.
I have to admit that when Elisa asked me to do a ramble for UberEtc., two emotions hit me at once. The first being that I felt honored. I'm very new at writing and this is the first time anyone has really asked me to talk about it. That being said, the second emotion was fear...well, okay, not really fear, but I was pretty darn nervous.

I have no idea what to ramble about, so bear with me while I work my way through this. I've always been a voracious reader. When I found the online fanfic community, I read my way through it until I came across an author that I couldn't seem to get enough of. That author is none other than Radclyffe. I've read everything she's written and must say that she was an inspiration. She started doing these Author Challenges on her yahoo list and I always wondered what it would be like to participate. I got up the nerve to finally ask her if amateur authors could join. She told me to send her the story I would like to contribute and we'd take it from there. This was the first time I had ever sat down and attempted to write something other than some poems I had done. Rad helped me through the process of making it a better short story and posted it on her list in October of 2004. I had so much fun with it that I took that short story and made a full length novel out of it. After two years of some great beta reading and rewrites, I am very ecstatic to announce that Intaglio Publications will be publishing it in the fall. The name of this novel is called Traffic Stop.

I have learned so much in the last two years and know that I have so much more to learn. The ladies who beta read for me can attest to where the story started and where it ended. (Trust me, it wasn't pretty at first!) What impresses me the most about this genre of writing is how helpful the other authors are. It doesn't faze them to answer question after question and offer advice. I feel very lucky to be a part of such a wonderful group of women.

When I finished Traffic Stop, I felt empty inside. I had spent so much time with the characters that I didn't want to leave them. After awhile I started wondering whether any other characters would start speaking to me. Just when I was about to give up hope, a storyline started developing and the characters started speaking to me. The tentative title for this new story is Deception by Design.

A very good friend encouraged me to start a yahoo group of my own and another friend is putting a website together for me. It all seems very surreal, but I feel very blessed to be a part of all of this; from the online community and beyond!

Deception by Design and information about Traffic Stop can be found on my yahoo group: groups.yahoo.com/group/tarawentz/.

If you've made it this far in the ramble then my kudos to you. Thanks for listening and a big thank you to all who make this community a possibility. (How's that, Elisa?)

Tara


Tara, that was great! And you know what I liked most, it showed how much we can affect another, something to remember. Also I do want to note Tara's new story that she's posting at her Yahoo group is worth your time. She's only on chapter 3 so check it out and give her the feedback she deserves.

Tomorrow we'll return to more keen Pheasant McNugget Contest entries.

Until then, enjoy the updates and have a grand night,
Elisa

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