I’m delighted to welcome a new author today. Tammy Tate has just released her debut novel, THE SPIRIT PATH, a time-travel romance. If you’ve followed my blog for a while, you know I tend to get hyper-jazzed over time travel novels. I absolutely LOVE the cover of this one. Stunning and gorgeous doesn’t begin to cover it. Be prepared to drool, but first let’s meet Tammy! 

Tammy, you’ve got an extremely cool bio and clearly have a diverse background—from Police Dispatcher, to Powder Puff racing and driving an 18-wheeler, you’ve no doubt got a plethora of ideas to use in novels. But let’s talk about your writing background. What initially got you penning stories and how long have you been at it? 

My love for writing actually started in high school with a story about a girl that ran away from home and it was clearly a ‘why you shouldn’t run away from home’ masterpiece! She stumbled across every dangerous situation you could imagine. My teacher at the time was so impressed he wanted to share it with an influential acquaintance. The problem was, I never finished it. For some reason as a senior I thought about football rallies, prom and graduation first. Go figure…

LOL! I remember being a bit “distracted” myself in high school. What attracts you most to your chosen genre?

I’m a romantic at heart. But I don’t stop there! I like to toss in a dash of humor and sprinkle it with action. I make my characters work for their roles in my books and the fun part is watching them spring to life right before my eyes. The hard part is getting it down fast enough as it pours out onto the keyboard. That’s when they make me work equally as hard to keep pace with them.

Characters are definitely a demanding sort. Much like cats and women. 😉  Without giving too much away, please share a bit about your favorite scene from THE SPIRIT PATH.

One of my favorite scenes has to be when Nicole and Flaming Arrow camp beside a lake with a beautiful waterfall and she removes her long sleeve shirt, exposing her cami. In modern day, it’s considered appropriate attire. But in 1812… it’s a brazen choice. She doesn’t realize the impact until she looks up to find him staring as though she just stripped completely naked. Her reaction is priceless…

I like the sound of that set-up! THE SPIRIT PATH is on my TBR list and I look forward to discovering more about it. Right now I’d like you to share a single sentence – – yes, only one! – – of dialogue or description you love.

His gaze latched onto the thin straps at her shoulders, down to the slight hint of cleavage of her well-rounded breasts, and then roamed lower to the bare skin just above her Wranglers.

And I wonder what Flaming Arrow’s reaction is going to be in THAT scene 😉 This sounds like a fun and sexy read, Tammy. When you’re not writing what do you do to unwind?

That’s easy, I’m riding on the back of our Honda Goldwing with my husband on the front. We pick a direction and ride till noon, eat lunch and ride back. The world looks so much different on a motorcycle compared to viewing it from a car window. You see it, smell it… taste it in a whole new light.

I have a very close friend who loves motorcycle riding. She and her husband are both avid bike riders. I remember riding with my husband when we were younger and always enjoyed the experience, especially in the evening on back roads. You could feel the change in the air temperature when passing streams or dense woods, and the smells . . . just so lush and green.  

I’ll move onto pets now, because pets and writers naturally go together like peas in a pod. If you have pets, tell us about them and whether or not they shadow your writing time and space.

My heroine has a palomino horse and a rottweiller just like the palomino horse and rottweiller I owned when I lived in the country. I actually wrote a much smaller version of The Spirit Path during that time in my life for a journalism/short story class I was taking. The version you’re seeing today is an expanded piece of work. It’s also part one of a three part series. I’m excited to say my contract is for the series so the other two will follow.

That’s fantastic, Tammy! And palominos are just beautiful.  From the time I was a little girl, we had a saying in my family whenever anyone blew out the candles on a birthday cake:  “Wish for a pony!” Even today, we still say that. I think everyone wants a pony when they’re little. How wonderful that you had a horse—and a dog! I did have a few of those, LOL. 

What is your: 

Favorite season:  Summer

Favorite type of music:  Country

Favorite color: Pink

Favorite animal: Horse

Sunset picnic or night on the town: Sunset picnic

I would take a sunset picnic too. And my sister would love you. Her favorite color is pink and she’s a summer girl. 🙂  

Tammy, thanks for being my guest today. It was wonderful to have you visit and I wish you much success with THE SPIRIT PATH. I’m looking forward to reading it!  

You can connect with Tammy at the following haunts:
Blog
Twitter
Facebook
Goodreads 

AUTHOR BIO:
Tammy Tate was born and raised in Hollywood, Florida, lived in Las Vegas for 7 years and Texas for 18 with her husband of 34 years. Her secret to a long marriage?

It’s easy when you marry your best friend. When she’s not writing and breathing life into her characters, she enjoys reading, motorcycles and thinking up ideas for her next book. Among her favorite movies are romance, science fiction, fantasy, comedy and thrillers. Before writing, she was an Executive Secretary, a Computer Consultant/Technician, and a Communications Officer (Police Dispatcher).

She doesn’t mind a challenge which has allowed her to race a late-model in a women’s powder puff race, run barrels and poles in a play-day rodeo and drive an 18-wheeler. Somewhere in between, she and her husband raised 3 wonderful children.  

BLURB FOR THE SPIRIT PATH:
Nicole goes horseback riding, not knowing that the events of the day would forever change her life.

After she falls off her horse and hits her head she wakes up to unfamiliar surroundings only to find she has traveled back in time to the year 1812.

She swung into the saddle, took a deep breath and then mustered the strength to ask him a question that she had been putting off.

“What year is it?” She exhaled slowly, preparing herself for his response knowing that when she woke up this morning it was 1997.

Flaming Arrow started to ride off, and then turned his horse to face her. “It is 1812”  

PURCHASE THE SPIRIT PATH  FROM:
Amazon
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