Interview with USA Today bestselling author Tara Taylor Quinn The Friendship Pact + review(s)

Tara Taylor Quinn is a very special author to me, one that really knows how to put a story together, who writes her stories straight from her heart. This may be her first visit to the blog but she's been a favorite of mine for years. Some of her novels have never left me like her own true story that I reviewed on the blog It Happened on Maple Street, (click the link to read my review) plus several of her series and stand alones that I still remember vividly today. Tara is here today to talk about her just released today, The Friendship Pact and her very special, Where Secrets are safe series for Harlequin Super Romance which debuted with Wife By Design.
Tara the floor is yours!

• ISBN-13: 9781459256163
• Publisher: Harlequin
• Publication date: 6/2/2014
• Sold by: Barnes & Noble
• Edition description: Original
• Pages: 400

 

Overview

This is a story for every woman who has a best friend…
Bailey Watters and Koralynn Mitchell consider themselves "sisters of the soul." Their circumstances growing up couldn't have been more different; Kora came from a wealthy, privileged family, while Bailey's home life was hard. They'd do anything for each other. "I'd give you a kidney," they always say. There are no secrets between them—until there's one secret Bailey can't share.

Tara HI! Welcome to The Reading Frenzy!

Thank you!  I’m very happy to be here!

Tara tell us a little about your new release The Friendship Pact.

Ahh, The Friendship Pact!  Now this is brand new venture for me.  It’s got relationships in it, but it isn’t a romance.  There are secrets, but it’s not suspense.  This is the story of two very opposite women who forge a friendship before they learn to read and maintain that friendship through many of life’s tragedies.  Until a vow they made to each other forces one to keep a secret from the other.  This story spans thirty years and any woman who has a best friend or has ever longed for one is going to be able to relate to it.

Tara you’re a staunch supporter of victims of domestic abuse rights and even have links on your website for support groups.
Can you tell my audience why?

I am a survivor of domestic violence and a spokesperson for The National Domestic Violence Hotline.  Part of my tragedy stems from my inability to speak of my situation.  I thought I was to blame and so I didn’t think it was really domestic violence or any sort of crime.  And I was afraid of retribution if I brought the situation to light.  No one, including my mother, knew of the abuse until thirty years later.  Many many people, besides myself, were hurt by my silence.

And what can ordinary people like us do to help?

Be aware.  One in four women are victims of domestic violence in the United States.  That means that there’s likely someone you know who is suffering in silence.  The more we ask questions when we have doubts, the more we speak openly of this very real epidemic, the more we open doors to women who are crying inside for escape.

I also read and reviewed the debut in your new Where Secrets are safe series, Wife By Design. click the link to read my review)
Tell my readers just a bit about the novel.

Grant and Lynn are two strong and capable people who are struggling to maintain control over that which they can’t control.  They have mentally injured adults (Grant’s brother and Lynn’s babysitter) in their care who are determined to marry each other.  That’s the miniscule version, anyway!  Of course, it’s a ttq story so there are all kinds of nuances and subplots involved!

Tell us about the series/trilogy as a whole.
Are you writing them all and what are the other titles and release dates.

Yes, I am writing them all.  This is my series, created solely by me, at the recommendation from one of my editors.  The next two in the series are Once A Family, 6/14; and Husband By Choice 9/14.  There are three more books contracted for the series that will be out in 2015.  I’m working on book four now.

I’d like to note that while these stories are in a ‘series’, they are unconnected.  The thing that ‘series’ them is The Lemonade Stand, a unique women’s shelter.  Residents don’t stay long at the Stand, and not all stories even take place there.  Every story, however, has someone who is somehow related to the Stand.

Tara you’ve published over 70 novels, wow and congratulations. That is quite an accomplishment.
What’s the biggest challenge for authors today that didn’t exist when you first started writing?

For me, it’s the publicity.  I’m a writer, not a marketer.  When I started writing the publisher handled most of the promotion end of the business.  I am still writing four books a year, but have to find the time and talent to market those books as well! With E-books opening doors to independent publishing there are a lot more books for readers to choose from so marketing is more essential than ever before.

You’re a USA Today bestselling author and have acquired many awards in your long career and in fact you’re up for RT’s Reviewer’s Choice Awards for 2013.
What one award is still on your wish list?

The RITA!!  I’ve finaled for the RITA several times, but I’ve never won one.  But then Debbie Macomber didn’t win one until long after she’d been number one on the New York Time’s list so I figure I’m in good company!

Tara, thanks so much for taking the time to answer my questions.
Good luck with the new series, the new Mira and all your many wonderful endeavors.
Will you be attending any signings/author events?

I’m going to be at the Reader’s For Life Literacy Autographing in San Antonia on Wednesday, July 23, 2014 at the San Antonio Marriott, Riverwalk.

I’d also like to mention that right now, in celebration of the launch of the Where Secrets Are Safe series, we’re holding a contest to give away a year of ttq Books – a book a month.  One winner is being chosen for every fifty original entries at www.tarataylorquinn.com.  You can enter as often as you like!

Connect with Tara - Website - Twitter - Facebook


MEET THE AUTHOR:

An author of more than 65 novels, in twenty languages, Tara Taylor Quinn is a USA Today bestseller with more than seven million copies sold. Known for delivering deeply emotional and psychologically compelling novels, Ms. Quinn won the Reader’s Choice Award, is a four time finalist for the RWA Rita Award, a finalist for the Reviewer’s Choice Award, the Bookseller’s Best Award, and has appeared often on local and national TV including CBS Sunday Morning.

My Review of The Friendship Pact

When Koralynn Mitchell defended Bailey Watters in grade school little did they know that it would be the beginning of something big. It didn't matter that they were total opposites, that Kora came from a loving stable home and that Bailey’s was anything but. It didn't matter that Kora was the optimist and Bailey’s glass was only half full, or that Kora knew her high school sweetheart was her one and only true love and that
Bailey’s abusive childhood wouldn't let her believe in fairytales. They were sisters of the heart, they could finish each other’s sentences, and they made a pact, they promised they would always be there for each other, that they would “give each other a kidney” if they needed it. But when it’s time for the organ to be cut out that’s where the real tests are proven. When secrets cause hurt and covert actions feel like betrayals is when the “pact” is hard to live by.
Koralynn and Bailey will have their friendship tested, their loyalties questioned.
Will their Friendship Pact survive or fall under the battles to come?

Tara Taylor Quinn’s latest release is a mix of women’s fiction, romance and suspense, a haunting, heartbreaking page-turner and a one sitting non-stop angst filled read. Starring two incredibly strong, caring and genuine women with a fine cast of co-stars that will fill in blanks and add depth and meaning. Her narrative flows with edge of your seat intensity, honesty that’s often brutal, and loyalty that’s pure. Its a prime example of literature imitating life because its based on and dedicated to the author’s own special BFF. Her story within a story is complex and rife with life-changing obstacles, tragedies and triumphs. And as I neared the end all I wanted was more. Tara you have taken me on some incredible journeys before but none can compare to the passion of this one. I can’t wait to see where you take me next.