Can you believe it’s the end of July? Nothing seems normal this year, including the passage of time! I hope you are all well and healthy and somehow enjoying your summer months. It’s been the typical weather pattern here in South Florida: hot and humid, with afternoon thunderstorms. Oh well, at least the weather is predictable.
I have an announcement before we meet our next author; Mist By The Lighthouse, book 3 in the Beach House Mystery Series, was released yesterday. I am so loving this series! You can get your copy from Books2Read.
Now let’s discover another author…
Meet Tammie Hunter
Tammie writes Science Fiction and Paranormal Suspense. Her literary career began at the age of seven. Inspired by her favorite Looney Tunes character, Marvin the Martian, she wrote about the adventures of Jigme from the planet Doobar. Through Jigme’s trials and tribulations as he searched for his family, a great love was born. Although she continued to write over the next four decades, a successful career in the US Air Force took center stage. After a career-ending injury ended her military career, and with the love and support of her family, friends, and the VA, Tammie earned a Master’s Degree in Public Administration and once again found herself in public service. Today, she writes at night after a long day at work, after a formidable forty-five minute battle with the treadmill, and finally after ensuring the kitchen is once again safe for human visitors. Tammie continues to hope that one day her day job and her dream job will be one in the same.
What inspired you to start writing?
My mother is from the Philippines. She married my father, an Air Force jet engine mechanic. When I was ten years old, my teacher sent home a progress report which declared my penmanship to be atrocious. Yes, the pointy-nosed woman actually used the word atrocious! After Mom and I looked up the word atrocious, she mandated that every day after I finished my homework, I would spend an hour each day practicing my penmanship. As one would imagine, I was miserable and complained the entire sixty minutes. Since my mother was still learning how to speak English, she proposed that instead of lines and lines of cursive letters, I write a story. This way she could learn English and I would practice my penmanship. Thus was born Tammie Hunter the writer. I wrote four installments of the travels of Jigme from the planet Zoobar. Like me, Jigme was ten years old and had a little brother who annoyed him constantly. One day, while on vacation with his family, Jigme gets lost. I, my mother, and Jigme experienced several ups and downs during his journey to his family. Along the way, my penmanship improved and my mother passed her US citizenship test with a score of 100%.
Writing can be an emotionally draining and stressful pursuit. Any tips for aspiring writers?
I have three that have become my mantra: (1) write every day, even if it’s not on your book. Maybe a journal entry, a list of things you are grateful for, or a cherished memory from your childhood. Just write. (2) Read. Stephen King once said, you can’t be a writer if you don’t read. He’s spot on, I believe (3) And, most important: Never quit. I didn’t publish my first book until I was 50 years old. I began that book three days after my 15th birthday. In those thirty-five years, I was an airman with the US Air Force, a student who earned a Master’s degree, and a lost women forced to start a new career after a devastating injury at the age of thirty-three. Life may slow the writer in you down, but it can’t stop her. Never, ever quit.
Who is your favorite author and why?
My favorite author is Clive Cussler, may he rest in peace. I want a book to transform me to another world, to lose myself and live the character’s adventure. Mr. Cussler has been just that for me for almost forty years. After a long day of treatments and therapy, I could always trust Dirk Pitt and Giordina to transport me away from my painful reality long enough to give me the strength to face my life again. Through Mr. Cussler’s prose, I have saved the world many times whilst traveling to the Sahara to the deepest oceans. His books stay with me long after I’ve read the last page. I hope one day that my readers will love Travis and Annabelle (my protagonists) with the same intensity and devotion.
How do you develop your plots and characters?
While some of my characters and plotlines come from my dreams, most come from everyday life. I am a devoted people watcher with a wild and uncontrollable imagination. I’ve created not only characters but also entire storylines inspired by the people I see in grocery stores, airports, and doctor’s offices. I once wrote a short story about a woman I saw in Boston’s Logan Airport. Dressed head-to-toe in glowing lime green, in my imagination she was an undercover CIA agent following a known terrorist who had a fondness for vivid colors and vivacious women.
Book summary:
Annabelle spent her life labeled an Imperfect…
An alien humanoid race invades Earth and enslaves its inhabitants. Annabelle and her sister survive genetic testing at the hands of Silas Tricbar. Separated from her sister, Annabelle escapes the genetically modified Lixtar soldiers and finds refuge amongst Earth’s rebel forces. Twenty years later, she learns the truth about her genetic testing and joins newfound alien allies. Once considered imperfect, Annabelle becomes Earth’s best hope in the struggle for freedom from Tricbar’s tyranny.
…Now she’s their only hope
Be sure to follow Tammie on Amazon to get release updates. The Imperfect is only book 1 in a trilogy.
Pen In Hand, Words on Page 