Interview with Tammy Barley

Tammy Barley has lived in twenty-seven places in eight states (so far) and have visited nearly all. When she’s not writing Tammy judges a number of top writing contests and loves working as a manuscript editor and biographer. She is also Mom to two sons, one daughter, a rescued American Eskimo dog, thirteen parakeets, and an aquarium full of fish. The children are homeschooled; the dog she taught to sit. The dog also barks at parked cars. In Tammy’s spare time, you’re likely to find her baking, gardening, behind a camera, or hugging a horse.

Her new novel, Faith’s Reward which releases on January 4, 2011 (though you can order and have it shipped TODAY from Amazon), received a four stars rating, “Compelling. A page-turner” by Romantic Times Book Reviews!

The year 1865 starts out as a nightmare come true for Jessica Bennett. The cattle she and her husband, Jake, fought to save from drought the summer before now face the threat of freezing to death. Her fears worsen when Jake contracts pneumonia.

Springtime brings trials of a different kind—the snowmelt causes the ranch to thrive so much that Jake must sell off the last of their cattle to make room for their horses and the young foals to be born. In the meantime, Jess endeavors to recover her rightful inheritance, which mysteriously disappeared from the bank. When she discovers a link between the banker and a group of murderous Unionists, who continue to target Southerners even though the war is over, Jake launches an undercover investigation.

The conspiracy runs deeper and wider than either of them could have imagined. Jess must put her life—and the life of her unborn child—at risk to stop the ringleader and save the lives of many others. Yet, Jess refuses to give up hope in the God she serves—a God of love who often provides above and beyond our greatest dreams.

Tammy, congratulations on the release of Faith’s Reward, book three of The Sierra Chronicles trilogy! I hear there is a contest surrounding the release of this book, can you tell us about it?

Sure! Announcing:

Faith’s Reward Day-of-Your-Dreams Contest!

If you were given the chance to dream up your perfect day, what would it be? A day at the spa? A fabulous massage? A mani-pedi? Hours of free shopping at the stores of your choice? All of the above? How about anything you want, and the ability to take your best buddy with you? You got it!  =)

Read Faith’s Reward for a chance to win the day of your dreams!

More details coming soon at http://www.tammybarley.com/Bookshelf.html!

Sounds like an awesome contest! What intrigued you about historical to write them instead of contemporary fiction?

I grew up touring historical homes and places with my family, so much so that the past often seemed more real to me than modern times. I longed to visit those places during those times. Writing historical fiction was a natural extension of that desire to live in another time, which is why I write with so much realism that the reader feels like she is living it firsthand.

I grew up with horses and see there are horses in your novels. Also, you like to “hug horses” in your bio so I wonder if you ride horses yourself? If so, can you tell us a funny story relating to you riding a horse?

Yep, I’ve ridden halfway across Arizona on a ten-day-trip with other horse-loving enthusiasts. I’ve ridden in western mountains, along beaches, across Midwestern prairies.

Funny story? Pick one! Horses have stepped on me, pooped on me, tried to roll me in a lake, and nearly scraped me off onto a large saguaro cactus. LOL! Since those stories tend to make appearances in my novels, I’d best save them for then.  =)

We’ll have to keep our eyes on your novels then to hear the funny stories 🙂 I love plotting and am always looking for tips. How do you plot a novel? How close to the final version does the first draft read?

I plot each character’s story line point by point, then combine all characters’ story lines together in the order each plot point must take place. My final versions fit very closely to original drafts, because I watch the story play out in my mind in advance, like watching a movie in my thoughts, and I know what happens next.

Okay, you are my plotting hero! But moving onward : You have a rescued American Eskimo dog—congratulations on adopting a rescue! We also have a rescue, a Jack Russell Terrier who loves to hunt, snakes mostly. I’ve never heard of American Eskimo dogs, can you tell us a bit about the breed?

They are very intelligent (sometimes they prefer to do their own thinking and ignore yours), and many are highly trainable. For decades Eskies have been used as circus dogs because of their incredible balance and ability to remember tricks and skits. Mine knows my kids by name, and will go to whomever I ask her to go to (if I’m holding a piece of chicken and therefore she is motivated).  =)

Hmm, what it is with dogs and food for motivation? If only kids were that easy to motivate, but I digress! Tammy, thank you for visiting my blog today! Congratulations again on Faith’s Reward. Readers can sign up for Tammy’s newsletter “Lassos-N-Lace” on her main page (scroll down and look to the right).

Thank you so much, Heidi, and a great big howdy to fellow horse-lovers, pet-parents, and historical romance fans!  =)