An Interview with Author Tammy L. Gray

I’m excited to bring you today’s Author Interview featuring Tammy Gray. If you’ve been reading the blog section of my website you’ll find me talking about Tammy here and when I met her in person.

After I read an advanced copy of her new book “Until I Knew Myself” I asked her for an interview and she agreed. And since I like to focus on the craft of writing, my questions are geared in that direction.

Here’s the blurb for her new book:

Tyler Mitchell grew up an orphan, taken in by his best friend’s family when he was only sixteen. Even though ten years have passed, and he’s been given everything he should ever want—a loving home, an adoring girlfriend, a successful career, and lifelong friendships—Tyler has always felt a foreigner in his own life.

When a surprising phone call reveals the death of his biological grandfather, Tyler’s seemingly perfect life starts to unravel. The people he loves most in world have kept from him the greatest secret of all—knowledge of his father’s family.

Now hunting for more information about his past, Tyler discovers nothing is quite as it seems. And the definition of family is far more complicated than choosing between blood and loyalty.

So, without further ado, here’s Tammy.

1. The Bentwood Series is geared to the target audience of young professionals. Why was this age group your focus?

I’m not sure I’d say it was targeted to that audience as much as the choice to write about young professionals stemmed from a void in the market. I’m no longer a young professional, and yet some of my favorite reads of 2017 were set in a bustling workplace. Unfortunately, it’s very hard to find that setting in Christian fiction.

I also like variety in my writing. My first series was set in college. Mercy’s Fight and Sell Out were more urban. Then My Hope series was set in a small town.

I wanted something fresh for the Bentwood series. And creating characters with careers and ambition and working that into their lives and romances was a new venture for me. And truthfully more authentic to that age bracket.

Hopefully, readers of all ages will enjoy this series of books, even if they’re no longer in that season of life.

2. In my opinion you do a great job at brainstorming and developing characters. (I’ve always loved your characters!) Any tips for writers on how you accomplish this?

Thank you so much. I do work really hard to create characters that feel real and could be your friend or coworker.

As far as tips go, I would first encourage every writer to buy Margie’s Lawson’s lecture packet on Empowering Characters’ Emotions. It’s chalk full of ways to use body language, dialogue cues and emotion to turn a character from two-dimensional to three.

Second, I would remind writers that there is no perfect person. I know we all read and often write about the gorgeous girl next door who has no idea she’s beautiful and every man in a twenty mile radius wants to date her. Yeah yeah. It’s cliché. GIVE THEM FLAWS. And not just simple ones like they snort when they laugh. Genuine flaws that make them human. Like maybe that same girl next door lost her father too young and now uses her looks to gain the attention she never had, but at the same time hates everything about her beauty. Now you have a story and an arc that matters.

2b. How do you write a good villain (again you do this well)?

Thank you!

Again, this answer is similar to the one above but opposite. Just like I said no hero or heroine is perfect. No villain is 100% evil. Every villain was an innocent child at some point and something in their life, whether upbringing, tragedy, or culture turned them into someone who can hurt another person, intentionally or not.

Every writer should know their villain’s story. The “why” of who they are. Even if your readers never do.

I also inherently believe that every person is redeemable, and keep that in mind when writing the story. Who knows, maybe your villain will one day be the hero.

3. Tell us what the next book in the Bentwood Series will be about.

I’m super excited about Sean and April’s story! And because I’m such a fan of Kelly’s, I’m going to give you the first view of the official book description.

Bentwood Book 2 – July 12th

Nine years to win her. Three years to love her. And one decision that destroyed it all.

April Duncan was raised with three clear truths: the family name is absolute, ambition and success rule over every emotion, and love always comes with strings attached. Image was everything in her carefully crafted world… until the mirror cracked.

Sean Taylor was April’s best friend, the one man who taught her it was okay to let her guard down and to rely on someone. She trusted him. She loved him. Which made his deception the darkest kind of cruelty.

Now, nearly a year later, she’s ready to leave her failed engagement in the past and get back her life and her estranged family, even if it means dating a man solely for his connections. She’ll never again choose love over loyalty.

Sean has spent his entire life breaking barriers, facing challenges, and never giving up. Until one impossible choice destroyed his future and left him no option but to flee from the woman who annihilated his heart.

Now he’s back in Bentwood and determined to make her hear the truth and rebuild the trust he shattered. But April has become a mere shell of the woman who claimed his heart long ago.

Winning her back is more than just seizing a victory, because if he fails… the girl he’s loved for a lifetime will disappear forever.

Trust me, you’ll want to read Sean and April’s story because of the fabulous way bits of their story were woven into the first Bentwood series book “Until I Knew Myself.”

Thanks Tammy! You can find more about her here. And…if you’re a writer like me Tammy is now offering editing services. I have read another book that Tammy helped shred, I mean shape, and trust me when I say this girl has skills. So if you need critiquing help, ask Tammy!