INTERVIEW & GIVEAWAY: Tara Lain (author of Golden Dancer)

Good morning, and happy Wednesday, everyone! Here to help put the 'hump' in hump day is  kick off the week in style is Tara Lain, lover of semiconductors and software and medical devices (all with a little touch of romance) and author of Golden Dancer.

Tara never met a beautiful boy she didn't love - at least on paper. A writer of erotic romance, mostly ménage and male/male, Tara loves all her characters, but especially her handsome heroes. A lifelong writer of serious non-fiction, Tara only fell in love with EROM in 2009 and, through perseverance and lots of workshops, had the first novel she ever wrote published in 2011. She's now on book seven. After an exotic life of travel all over the world and work in television, education and advertising, Tara settled in Southern California with her soul-mate husband and opened her own small marketing business. She paints, collages, and started practicing yoga "way before it was fashionable". Passionate about diversity, justice, inclusion and new ideas she says on her tombstone it will read, "Yes".

Before we get into Tara's interview, let's take a quick look at Golden Dancer:

Mac MacAllistre is obsessed; the online news reporter needs enough evidence to write a story accusing billionaire art collector Daniel Terrebone of stealing The Golden Dancer, a priceless work of art, from son-of-a-Nazi Horst Von Berg. The story promises the recognition Mac craves, but then Mac meets a real golden dancer, ballet star Trelain Medveyev, and his attraction to the man rocks his formerly straight world. When the mysterious Terrebone “collects” this beautiful dancer, too, Mac rushes to the rescue like a knight in shining cargo pants and plunges into a three-way passion that tears him between love and guilt. Can Mac keep investigating when his story could send one man to prison and another to the morgue? Will this reporter get his story or get his men?

And now, without further ado, please welcome Tara Lain!

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♥ For those who may be new to your writing, and who haven't yet checked out Golden Dancer, please tell us a little about yourself.

After a lifetime writing non-fiction, I finally got the call. A couple years ago I read a series of books by the wonderful Jet Mykles and followed those up with some Lynn Lorenz and Z A Maxfield. I was hooked. Finally, I had found a genre of fiction that made the idea of writing at night and on the weekends sound like fun! I plunged into my first novel, Genetic Attraction, a M/M/F ménage.  I’ve published three more books so far this year including my new release, Golden Dancer a M/M/M menage, and there are two more to come in November and December. And then, of course, there’s next year …. Yep. I’m hooked!

♥ Did you deliberately choose a genre because there's something specific that draws you to it, something you feel it offers that other genres don't, or was it just 'right' for the story you wanted to tell?

In the case of Golden Dancer, I’d say both. I write M/M and ménage erotic romance because I love it and it inspires me. It’s fun for me to write so I choose it. In this case, I knew I wanted to write a book about a male ballet dancer. I wanted another hero that would be different but still someone the dancer might meet. Hmm. A reporter. And what does the reporter want? A big story, so how about an art theft? And I need a really cool thief. About that time, my publisher, Loose Id, put out a call for submissions in romantic suspense. Bingo. Golden Dancer was born as a M/M/M romantic suspense. I don’t think I would have considered choosing romantic suspense if it weren’t for that special submission, but I really enjoyed writing it. Villains and betrayal and clues. It was a blast.

♥ How does your past influence your writing? Are you conscious of relating the story to your own experiences?

Yes, very much so. I have a very eclectic life. I was a military brat so I traveled all over the world as a child and I’ve traveled a great deal as an adult. I weave that into my stories. Golden Dancer takes place in Laguna Beach, Ca. and in New York City. My next book, Deceptive Attraction, that releases Nov 1, has a character who works in Senegal, Africa where I have visited. I’ve written Australian heroes in Volley Balls. Also, in my nonfiction writing, I come across many different and varied subjects. The genetic science I used in two of my books came from some writing I did for a medical company. I’ve worked in education, and a number of my books have professors as heroes. I had a very dysfunctional family life and I find that family plays an important part in many of my books --either as something the character has to rise above, or as a wonderful, warm, supporting force for good.

♥ Do you have a schedule or a routine to your writing? Is there a time and place that you must write, or do you let the words flow as they demand?

I don’t have a specific routine, I simply write in the cracks. I have a very demanding day job, so some days I can write my books at lunch and others I work through lunch. I plug in little bits before work, at lunch, after work,  and a lot of the weekends. I’m kind of a medium fast writer. Not nearly as fast as some.  I also do a lot of social media which takes time.

♥ For some authors, it's coming up with a title, and for others it's writing that first paragraph - what do you find is the most difficult aspect of writing?

I adore titles! I usually have a title before I start a book and it becomes inspiration. The hardest thing for me is getting the first scene right. I figure out where to start and plunge in but I come back again and again during the writing process to get that first scene compelling enough and in deep point of view.

♥ Is there a favorite quote or scene from your work that you feel particularly fond of? Something that reminds you of why writing is important to you?

There are a number. The description of Roan Black the first time the heroine sees him in Genetic Attraction, the breakdown scene in Volley Ballswhen my hero realizes how much remaining in the closet has cost him in his life, and the final scene in Golden Dancer which makes me cry every time I read it even though I wrote it. LOL

♥ Sometimes, characters can take on a life of their own, pulling the story in directions you hadn't originally anticipated. Has a twist or turn in your writing ever surprised you, or really challenged your original plans?

I studied theatre in college and one of my favorite plays is a drama called Six Characters in Search of an Author. Even then, I was captivated by the idea that characters have a life of their own and just need us writers to listen and take dictation! When I write, I’m a plotser -- I have a basic plot arc in mind but all the details work out as I write. For example, in Golden Dancer, Mac the reporter talks to his boss on the first page. I discovered right away that his boss was female, but as I typed I thought, “Son of a gun, she’s Chinese.” She just was, I had nothing to do with it. I recently wrote my first paranormal novel. It started out to be a novella and I had a basic idea in mind. Two men fall in love and one of them is a witch but the other doesn’t know it. Then I decided I wanted a more complex story. Wow, did plot complications show up. Twists and turns I had never thought of when I began.

♥ When writing, do you ever consider how a reader or reviewer will react, or do you write solely for your own satisfaction?

I write largely to please myself. When I read a manuscript I’ve written, I yell at myself until I feel it’s good enough to satisfy me.  But I do think about my readers when I consider certain plot points. For example, in a recent story I thought about including a M/F love scene in what is principally a M/M book. I decided not to because it wasn’t important to the plot and it took the focus off my primary couple. I didn’t think that would please my readers. On the other hand, my holiday novella, Mistletowed, is weird and quirky. It has M/M, M/F and M/M/F romances with a touch of fantasy and some light BDSM. I wrote it because the story grabbed me and wanted to be told. Who is going to read it? We’ll see.  LOL

♥ When writing, do you ever consider how a reader or reviewer will react, or do you write solely for your own satisfaction?

I don’t write stories to convey a particular message, but no writer can create a book without imbuing it with some of their own convictions. I’m a passionate believer in diversity and the right of people to live as they choose as long as it doesn’t hurt others. I believe in love as a fundamental expression of the Universe. I think that slips into my stories.

♥ What can we look forward to from you next? Is there a project on the horizon that you're really excited about?

I’m always excited about my books and hope that will be true even when I’m not such a newbie anymore. My next book after Golden Dancer is Deceptive Attraction, the sequel to Genetic Attraction and The Scientist and the Supermodel. Then I end up the year with Mistletowed, the quirky novella I talked about earlier. I’ve recently submitted my first paranormal and I’m sooo excited about it. I can’t say more until it’s accepted, but I can’t wait to be able to talk about it. My current WIP is set in the same contemporary world as Volley Balls and I think my next project will be scifi.

Thank you so much, Sally, for inviting me here today and for the wonderful and stimulating interview.  :  )

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Thanks so much to Tara for stopping by . . . but we're not done yet! Tara is offering up a series of giveways to help celebrate the release of Golden Dancer.

Simply leave a comment here, with your email address, and Tara will enter it into the drawing being held on October 1st. Then, stop by her Book Blog at http://beautifulboysbooks.blogspot.com and post a comment there to automatically be entered in all 4 drawings! Plus, there are many more ways to earn entries and increase your chance of winning. Check out the post at Beautiful Boys Books for more details, but first comment HERE!

You can learn more about Tara and her work from her website, her author blog, or her book blog; on Goodreads, on Twitter; or on Facebook.
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