W for Werewolves, vampires and other fantasy writers

Please welcome a fellow A to Z Challenge participant, Tasha, who is mostly a vampire fan but doesn’t shy away from werewolves either!

Can you tell us a little about your blog and why you started it?

First I’d like to say thank you to Andrea for interviewing me.

My blog, Tasha’s Thinkings, is my semi-professional blog in that I use it to promote my books and talk about writing original fiction and publishing as well as posting recipes, reviews and what I hope are interesting posts about things I find fascinating (like vampires for the AtoZ :)). I’m a big vampire fan so you’ll find quite a few of the reviews are about vampire movies, and vampires pop up in several of my books, but there are many other things as well.

I became an author and, along with my sister, started our own independent publisher (Wittegen Press) back in 2011 and I felt I needed a place specifically to talk about that and to run giveaways and things of that nature. I do have a fandom blog where I post fanfiction and fandom related things (I’m a big Harry Potter, Loki and Teen Wolf fan) over on Livejournal, which has been alive since 2003, but that’s my totally informal place. I like to promote fanfiction since I think it is a great medium for writers, but I created Tasha’s Thinkings so I had a place separate from that to talk about original work.

Blogger also has lots of widgets which make it easier to network with all the other great bloggers out there. I cross post lots of things to my many places on the web, but Tasha’s Thinkings definitely has more of my literary leanings.

I have 25 books out at the moment including 5 novels, several novellas and lots of short stories. All of these are listed on the My Books page on Tasha’s Thinkings. I also have pages about eBook topics to help out other authors with what I have learned as I’ve gone along. For example I have one that details how I format my eBooks to create ePubs, because when I first started I was royally confused.

Are you a big music-fan or a background-radio-listener?

I love music. My twin sister and I grew up with our parents’ record collection and never really looked back.

I like listening to music when I write, because it distracts parts of my brain and makes me focus. There are specific people I listen to when I’m writing, since I find their music good in the background, even though sometimes I do burst into song and sing along. I used to run the local church choir, so I love singing as well. I often wander around the supermarket singing along to whatever music they happen to be playing – I can’t help it :).

I also always listen to music when I cook. I love to bake, but I have an ankle condition that makes standing up for long periods of time painful and I have yet to figure out how to bake sitting down. Hence the music goes on really loud and I sing along while baking and forget about my feet :).

What genre is the closest to your heart?

To listen to generally I love pop and rock. Some of my favs are Adam Lambert, Within Temptation and I love Japanese rock too, like Gackt and Yohio (well he’s Swedish, but he’s big in Japan and sings in English and Japanese) and Hyde.

I love rock for the power – I find it fantastic for writing exciting scenes. For example if I was writing an epic battle with dragons (like in my latest novel Cat’s Confidence) I’d pick rock – a good bit of Within Temptation up loud. If I’m writing horror I’d probably go with something of a darker tone with deep bass like Hyde’s later solo albums. Then romance goes well to Adam Lambert or Lady Gaga, because a lot of their music is uplifting and happy.

To listen to live, I love choral music, my favourite are The Sixteen and I’ve been lucky enough to hear them sing twice in Canterbury Cathedral.

The male alto voice is actually my favourite; there is just something about the tone.

What’s your favourite memory related to any live music?

Last year when The Sixteen sang in Canterbury it was utterly captivating. They did this one piece of modern plainsong and the way the layers of music just built and built on each other was amazing. Even though they were unaccompanied it sounded as if they had an organ resonating underneath.

Can you also choose a song you’d like to share and explain why you chose it?

The song I have chosen is Underneath by Adam Lambert. Firstly it is an amazingly beautiful song and Adam’s voice is incredible, but I also love it for its message. It’s all about the singer revealing his true self, even the darkest parts, to the person he loves. It’s about acceptance.

Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts and introducing us to your world Tasha. It’s been a pleasure.

About Miss Andi

Learning to be unapologetically me but healthier. Shamelessly personifying my dog, Mia, who is my soulmate, though doesn't let me read as much as I used to. One day I'll finish a novel that will not save the world - but might make it smile.

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