I’m excited to introduce author Tammy Ruggles to my website. If you have any questions for her, that I don’t cover in my interview, please comment below and she will respond.
- What is your name and do you write under a pen name? Tammy Ruggles, but I’ve written as Miss Tammy for my children’s book, and some fan-fiction too.
- Obviously, we know you are an author, but some writers have other jobs as well. Do you have another occupation? Do you believe you’re any good at it? Do you like what you do? I used to be a social worker in the child/adult protection areas, and I loved that job, but had to retire from it due to becoming legally blind. That’s when I started writing professionally.
- If it doesn’t bother you, can you let us know what your childhood home looked like? Trailers mostly, but a couple of apartments and houses too.
- Do you have any hobbies, other than writing? What do you enjoy doing? Cooking.
- What is your greatest dream? To be remembered fondly by my grandchildren.
- What kind of person do you wish you could be? What is stopping you? I wish I could be a perfect person, but making mistakes stops me.
- Not to pry too much, but do you remember your first love? Yes, he died, but I still think of him often.
- What or who inspired you to start writing? And how long have you been writing? No certain person inspired me to write, I just started on my own at about age 12.
- What was your dream growing up? Did you achieve that dream? If so, in what ways was it not what you expected? If you never achieved the dream, why not? Yes, I had 3 dreams come true. One, to be a social worker. The second to be a professional writer, and the last one was to become a mother.
- Who is your role model? Jesus Christ, though I never measure up.
- What is your greatest fear? Losing loved ones, which is always hard.
- Do you prefer e-books, paperbacks, hard-covers or audio-books? Back when I could read regular print, it was print books. But the larger fonts of eBooks makes it easier. And audiobooks are SO wonderful for a visually impaired person.
- Have you ever read a book more than once? And if so, what was it? The King James Bible. And “The Road” by Cormac McCarthy.
- What is your opinion of novellas? I love them, as I lean toward shorter works.
- Have you ever read a book just based on its cover? No, I don’t think so.
- What is your favorite film based on a book? I don’t have a favorite.
- What is your favorite book genre at the moment? I don’t have a favorite.
- What books have made it onto your wish list recently? And why? EL James, because she started in fan-fiction too.
- What book are you reading at the moment? And in what format? I am on hiatus from reading, but it would be audiobook most likely. My most recent is fan-fiction by various authors.
- If you could invite any four (4) celebrities (alive or dead) to your dinner party, who would you invite and why? Edgar a. Poe, Emily Dickinson, Peter Benchley, Harold Robbins. I like their writing.
Let’s shift somewhat and talk about your latest story.
- What is the name of your most recent book and if you had to sum it up in 20 or fewer words, what would you say? Starsky and Hutch Next Gen Series, Episodes 1-8. The sons of Starsky and Hutch carry on the legacy in their own unique way.
- Is the above book part of a series? I’m not sure yet. It could stand on its own.
- How did you come up with the cover? Who designed the cover of your book(s)? I tried to find pictures that matched the characters, and I put it together myself.
- Did you listen to any particular songs while writing your book(s)? No, I prefer silence when I write, but if I like music when creating in other ways, like A Perfect Circle, Beck, Bob Marley, Tool, and some southern gospel. Even American Idol’s Wade Cota once in a while.
- How did you come up with the title for your book(s)? Based on the characters being the next generation of Starsky and Hutch.
- Do you have a book trailer? If so, where can we watch it?
- In your latest novel, who is the lead character and can you tell us a little about him/her? There are two leads, Davis Starsky and Kent Hutchinson.
- What is your character’s greatest strengths? Davis’ would be his resilience and willingness to learn and change. Kent’s would be his empathy and willingness to help others.
- And what are his/her greatest weaknesses? Davis’ would be that he’s impulsive, and Kent’s would be that he feels guilty about things he has no control over.
- What are some of his/her favorite foods? Davis’ would be pizza, and Kent’s would be Triscuits with goat cheese.
- What’s a positive quality that your character is unaware that he or she has? Davis doesn’t realize his inner strength, and Kent doesn’t realize that it’s okay to be vulnerable.
- Will readers like or dislike this character, and why? I hope readers like them and see them as individuals instead of copies of their dads.
- What first gave you the idea for your latest book? I wanted to explore the world of the next generation of Starsky and Hutch.
Let’s talk now about your writing process.
- What is your writing style like? Are you a pantster or a plotter? I’m somewhat of a plotter, but not heavily so. I start with a beginning, middle, and end, then write a scene list of things I’d like to have happen, and them fill in the blanks as I go. I am definitely open to change, though, and have made some eureka changes along the way that take the story or character in a completely different direction.
- Have you come across any specific challenges in writing or publishing? What would you do differently the next time? I think writing is the easy part. It’s promoting that’s hard. I think if I had it to do over again, I would just hire one PR person instead of trying to do it all myself. It’s very time-consuming, but it has to be done.
- Are you a self-published/Indie author or did you publish through a traditional publishing company? I am a published Indie author now, but my very first book was a paperback traditionally published.
- If you’re a self-published/Indie author what made you go that route instead of the traditional publishing route? I have so many books, I think it was just easier and faster to go the indie route. I’m kind of impatient, and put out a lot of work, so Indie works better for me.
- What’s the best advice that you have been given when it comes to writing? Write for yourself. It may be cliché, but it works for me.
- Where can your readers follow you? Please list links to any applicable websites and/or social media accounts:
- You mentioned fan-fiction writing. Do you think it helped your journey to publication? Not really, since I kept my fan-fiction writing separate from my professional writing. I even wrote under different names. In the early days of fanfiction, it wasn’t something to put on a resume or discussed in an author interview like this. But the success of EL James and others has made it easier for writers to discuss it.
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#WritingWednesday – In this weekly post, starting January 30th, I will be sharing a weekly writing prompt. Of course, if you want to share in the comments what you write, I would love to read what the writing prompt inspires in you. If you prefer to keep your writing private, I hope you will use the prompts to help boost your creativity and push you toward more active writing.
Nina Soden 