Straight Chatting from the Library: Tina Hogan Grant

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READ THE INTERVIEW

Any weird things you do when you’re alone?

That depends on what you consider weird. I have two dogs, a Britney and a Jack Russell. Both high energy dogs. When I return home, you’d think I’d been gone for a week. The excitement level is loud with continual barks of excitement and non stop jumping. I am as excited to see them as they are me and a game of chase around the house is part of the routine when I come home. That’s not weird? Right?

What is your favorite quote and why? I have many that come to mind. All remind me why I love books and some inspire me to keep writing. This the first one that popped into my head is; “We Can Make Anything By Writing” by C. S. Lewis. This is so true, wherever I want to go or do I can accomplish through writing.

Who is your favorite author and why?

There are so many great ones to choose from. But if I have to choose just one then it has to be Lisa Gardner. She never disappoints me with her mystery thriller. I love her style of writing and the suspense build up in every novel. Her books usually pull me in within the first page and I find myself engaged throughout the entire story. For me, her books are hard to put down. Now that’s a good book.

What, in your opinion, are the most important elements of good writing?

A piece of writing, an essay or a novel are expected to have excellent grammar, and read well. The story should flow and be engaging. There is nothing worse than trying to read a story with bad grammar and continuous spelling mistakes. It must deliver and it must live up to our expectations and we finish reading the story feeling satisfied.

Where did you get the idea for this book?

My book Reckless Beginnings is fiction based on true events from my own personal experiences. Having had the idea mull around in my head for fourteen years, more experiences occur in the book due to the long time of actually getting around to writing it. I began writing it for therapy and healing from trauma and disappointments in my own life and it evolved from there. I decided to make it fiction because I didn’t want it to be all about me or sound like a memoir. I wanted it to read like a story.

READ THE BLURB

Tammy Mellows, a fourteen-year-old native of England, was shocked when her father and troubled older sister, Donna, moved to the States.

With her family now separated by divorce and divided by an ocean, Tammy felt helpless when she learned Donna had run away and couldn’t be found.

Thanks to her father insisting she stay behind in England to finish school, Tammy could do nothing for the next three years but pray that Donna would be found safe.

When Tammy’s lifelong dream of moving to the States was finally fulfilled, she had high hopes of looking for Donna. But with no leads and faced with turmoil in her own life, there wasn’t much Tammy could do.

After a forbidden secret love affair and a catastrophic dispute with her father, Tammy eventually meets Steven, settles down and has his child, only to discover he is a heroin addict. Thrown into a life of drugs and violence. Shadowed by his addiction, she becomes the silent and forgotten one. Living in fear of what Steven might be capable of and struggling alone to provide for her young son.

What consequences might she face if she leaves Steven? Is she ever going to find her sister alive? Will she have enough courage to conquer the impossible challenges of her twisted world and still come out on top?

READ AN EXCERPT

“What should I do?” Tammy asked. “Should I come over there or should I call him on the phone?”

Joanne sighed. “Well, your father doesn’t want to see you right now.”

“What?”

“He needs to calm down and accept this in his own time. It may take him a while and, if I were you, I wouldn’t rush him. Let him call you when he’s ready.”

Tammy couldn’t believe her father didn’t want to see her. “Does he hate me?”

“No, he doesn’t hate you. You’re his daughter. He’s just upset right now. He’ll come around eventually. Just give him some time.”

Tammy was astonished. She didn’t realize how much this was going to hurt her father. Their relationship had always been good and they’d never experienced any conflicts, up until now. Lost in her thoughts, Tammy’s head buzzed with questions and fears. Mainly, she feared her father would never forgive her.

MEET THE AUTHOR

Tina Hogan Grant was born in England and grew up in a small town on the Yorkshire Moors. She is the youngest daughter of science fiction author, James P. Hogan. After moving to California, she became a commercial lobster fisherwoman, fishing off the coast of Southern California for ten years with her husband Gordon.

For fourteen years, she’d had a notion of writing her debut novel “Reckless Beginnings”. But it wasn’t until the sudden death of her father in 2010 and a battle with breast cancer a year later that she made the decision to get it done. Seven years later, she finally completed it. She is now working on a sequel titled, “Better Endings.”

She currently resides with her husband in the small mountain community of Frazier Park in Southern California. Together they enjoy anything that involves the outdoors, fishing, hiking, kayaking and riding quads.

Website: http://www.tinahogangrant.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Tina.Hogan.Grant.Author
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TinaHoganGrant
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tina_hogan_grant
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/tinahogangrant
Book Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1BilNEwsCI&t=5s

Buy Links may be found here: https://tinahogangrant.com/tina-hogan-grant-press-kit-book-reckless-beginnings/

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