It is my pleasure to welcome Tameri Etherton on my blog today. We met last summer in Kristen Lamb’s blogging workshop and became fast friends. We may live hours apart, but I have no doubt that if I were in trouble, she’d jump in her car and break the speed limit to get here. She is fun, quirky, and one of the sweetest people I have the honor of knowing. Please give her a warm round of applause!
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I am so excited to be guest blogging here today and would like to give Angela a huge thank you for having me! She’s guest blogging on my site on Friday, so be sure you hop over there to see what she has to say about writing fantasy. It will capture your heart as it did mine.
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Every writer has a reason why they write ~ some because the voices in their head tell them to, others because they want to be rich and famous. For me, it’s neither the fame nor the psychosis that compels me to put words to paper; it’s a need to tell a story that takes the reader out of the mundane and propels them into the extraordinary.
I can recall the first fantasy book I read where I thought, ‘I want to live in this world, I want to know these people’. It was David Eddings’ Pawn of Prophecy. After reading every book in the series (more than once), it dawned on me that I could write a book like that. A book where the characters become friends and the story is so engrossing readers forget about reality for a little while.
That was twenty something years ago and somewhere along my path I pushed aside my wish to write a book. A husband and children kept me far too busy and it wasn’t until a few years ago that I remembered I once had a dream. By then, the fantasy genre had changed quite a bit. David Eddings’ sweet tale of an orphan boy seemed rather prosaic compared to the epic novels of Robert Jordan and George R. R. Martin. Their 800 page doorstopper books were filled with betrayal, murder, and sex. Gasp! We’re talking more than a chaste kiss on the lips, too. Then along comes Brent Weeks and his assassin series and the fantasy genre blew up.
It’s an exciting time to be a writer. Many of the stigmas and formulaic tropes have been cast off. It’s not unusual to find a badass heroine rescuing the dude in distress. Princesses are freeing themselves from the tower and slaying the dragon on their own. Better yet, they are befriending the dragon and living happily ever after with their prince charming on a nice plot of land somewhere.
I recently reread Pawn of Prophecy and was immediately drawn into Garion’s world as if I’d never left. And really, isn’t that why we all read books? To escape? I know that’s why I write them. Everybody needs time away from reality every so often.
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For some extra fun, check out the interview Tameri and I did on her blog Monday. It was a blast!
Angela Wallace, Author 
So good! We are all anxiously awaiting the release of your debut novel, Tameri. It can only be extraordinary! I’m already caught up in Angela’s Phoenix Feather. So much great reading, so little time!
Thank you, Patricia! The novel is getting there… all my WANA sisters will be the first to know when it will come out. Your support is always amazing. I can’t wait to read Phoenix Feather. It’s on my Kindle just begging me to set aside edits for it. 😉
And when you do release it, Tameri, you can come over here and I’ll interview you! 😀
Ahhhh…so true Tameri! There is nothing more satisfying than reading a book where you get completely and utterly lost in the characters and the story. Where you feel like you are right there with them, that you know them, you should at the book to give them warnings and you cry when they hurt. Ahhhh…that’s why we all read…that’s why we all write!
Love the guest post you two lovely ladies….here’s to rocking it out for many years to come and to uberliciously amazing success!
HUGS!!
I know! Sometimes I get so caught up in the characters that I’m totally sad the book is over because I need to know what happens to them after ‘The End’. I actually called a writer one time to find out if someone in her book was okay. Granted, it was a true story with real people, but I was that caught up in the story. Unfortunately, we can’t do that with fiction writers. I wish, though!
Angela, thank you so much for hosting me on my first ever guest post! I’ve been having so much fun with you this week, I think we should hang out more often. 🙂
At Disneyland!!
Most definitely!
I love your story, I too went 20 years not aiming for my dream. I was focused on my family. I dove in the deep end this January and it feels so good. I have a l lot to learn but it’s exciting.
I love your motive for writing, to create a world where a reader that he can make friends and lose himself. Your joy of writing comes out in your voice on your posts. I enjoy them.
Thank you, Ali! You’re so right – it’s all very exciting and especially now when everything in the publishing world is changing faster than we can keep up with it. It’s a great time to be a writer. I’m looking forward to hearing more about what you’re writing ~ is it a book or novella? Your posts are always so informative and full of grace, I love reading them. Thanks for your support and stopping by to comment!
Same here. I think I was running from it for a while. Afraid no one would want to read what I had to write. I loved reading your story and feeling touched by it. Thank you Tameri and thank you Angela for hosting her.
Thanks Debra. Isn’t it strange how we run away from something that brings us so much joy? I’m finally at the place where I want to show my writing to people, to share the joy.
What a great story, Tameri. It’s so satisfying to embrace our deepest dreams and reach for them. I’m really excited that you are in the editing stage. It’ll be amazing. 🙂
Angela, what a sweet and insightful introduction to Tameri. I couldn’t agree more. If there were trouble, Tameri would be in her car zooming in to help.
Exciting? Um, it would be if I’d actually plotted this beast in the first place! Trying to cut half your book is a nightmare. I’m definitely plotting out the next one. Oy.
But yes, truly satisfying to embrace our dreams! I can’t believe I let it linger for so long, but never again.
I keep my tank full just in case…
Hi Tameri and Angela!
I’m going to butcher the quote but it goes something like the beginning of a long journey begins with a single step. Writing those first wobbly words of a manuscript is mired with hesitation and exhilaration. Even after 80K words, we’re struck with imposter syndrome. Who will want to read this dreck? Believing in yourself is the hardest part of being a writer.
Finishing a book is a huge accomplishment. There are so many writers who give up and never complete a manuscript. (They hang out on blogs all day, but that’s not us, right?) Perserverence pays off! Good luck with your edits. I look forward to reading your debut one day soon.
Hey Jennifer! Oh, man that saying is too true. I rewrote chapter one 27 times. Well, I think that many. I sort of quit counting after 26. 😉
Today has been one of those impostor syndrome days. I can’t believe I wrote some of the dreck I’m editing, but that’s what editing is for, right?
Thanks for all your support and I can’t wait for you to read the book soon, too!
Hi Tameri,
I do read books for the escape, it’s something I can do where I’m not allowing my ‘to do’ list to control my every thought. Same for writing. I always thought the stories I came up with in my head were just guilty pleasures until it occurred to me several years ago to actually try to do something with them!
Hey Traci, I love that! Your stories were your own guilty pleasures ~ I’m so glad you decided to share them with the rest of us!
Well there you are Tameri! I found you! Thank you Angela for being such a gracious host!
I can imagine how thrilling it is to be fulfilling your dream to write Tameri! I just discovered my fondness for writing at middle age. I wish I knew sooner. But I enjoyed your post today. It made me want to continue on even though I don’t write fantasy novels. But I like hanging out with all of you talented fantasy people! 🙂
I’m so glad you found us, Karen! I love hanging out at Angela’s ~ she’s going to either have to kick me out or set up a spare cot in the gardening shed because I don’t want to leave. It’s warm here and the cat is way nicer than the one we have.
By the way, haven’t you heard? Us fantasy people are all the rage! We’re the most fun to have around because we hang out with unicorns and magical peeps.
As long as you found your passion for writing, it doesn’t matter how old you are and I’m so glad you found yours.
Lol, my goal is to make cat lovers of us all, muahaha.
Thanks so much for visiting, commenting and following my blog. I am here to follow back. I am following via Face book. You have a wonderful blog and I look forward to visiting often. Donna from My Life. One Story at a Time.
Thanks Donna! Nice to see you. 🙂
Angela, so lovely of you to have Tameri over for a spot-of-tea. Though I’m pretty sure I will not go over to the dark side (cat lovers).
Tameri, I really enjoyed getting to know more about why you write. I’m looking forward to it, and to becoming future neighbors down south.
Haha, well I won’t hold that against you, MJ. Thanks for stopping by!
Tameri, I can’t wait to learn more about you upcoming book! Are you almost done?
I enjoy reading and writing fantasy, although I also write paranormal and stories that are very much set in our stripped-of-magic world 🙂 I’m finishing up my YA paranormal novel. There are some elements of fantasy in there too (no unicorns, dragons or fairies though). My next novel is going to be adult urban fiction.
Sounds great, Angela! I can’t wait to read them. 🙂
[…] Continuing our week-long love affair with Fantasy, today I have the spectacular Angela Wallace on my blog! If you missed the interview I had with Angela on Monday, you can find it here. Also, if you missed my guest blog over at her place on Wednesday, you can check it out here. […]
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