Interview with Tara Fox Hall, author of Promise Me

Metal shop worker Sarelle “Sar” McGarran is the ultimate tomboy and considers herself capable
of handling whatever life throws her way. Recently widowed, she takes refuge in quiet country
life until the day she stumbles upon an unconscious vampire on her property. Unable to leave the
wounded man, she takes him in.
Danial Racklan is a sexy bad boy with a complicated past and questionable motives. Yet before
long, he has Sar completely captivated. He introduces her to his secret, supernatural world, in the
process reawakening emotions and desires she hasn’t felt since her husband’s tragic death. Soon
Sar finds herself drawn into a dark, dangerous reality in which her desire for Danial is second
only to her wariness that he may break her heart. Yet Sar must soon face there is much Danial
has kept from her, even as she begins to love him. When Danial asks her for an Oath of forever,
will Sar give Danial his greatest desire?

When your lover is a vampire, a promise of forever takes on a whole new meaning…

PROMISE ME

I had the pleasure of interviewing Tara about writing and her new release, Promise Me. I can't wait to read this book. A sexy bad boy, count me in!

• When did you begin writing? What inspired you to write Promise Me?

I always liked to write, since I was a kid. As I got older, my short story subjects moved from unicorns to ghost towns to my life in the country. But I didn’t get serious about writing until my mom had a bad health scare. I’d always wanted to write her a book, and now had a deadline of a year, at most. I began Promise Me that night. Six months later, her health issues had been resolved completely, and I had several finished books. She liked them so much, I kept writing them for her, sequel after sequel. And since the first books were already done, I decided to ask a professional editor for their opinion on whether to try to get them published or not. If the editor’s assessment had been negative, I would have kept writing but never gone public with my stories.
Per above, I wanted to write a book for my mother. But all I had for a premise was an old vampire tale I had been working on half-heartedly for years. There was only about seven pages, with the typical flimsy vampire novel plot; vampire loves girl from afar, rescues her, she has a relationship with him, they decide they can’t stay together….then with a few plot twists, they live happily ever after.  I wrote a first chapter from my notes, printed it off, and gave it to mom. She told me that night that it was boring, unrealistic, and nothing happened, “and if I didn’t make it more interesting, she wasn’t reading any more.” I was crushed, of course, having written it for her. So I let everything else slide for the next week, took a hard look at all my plot points, and decided what I had so far was drivel. I needed a story she could believe in, that was as real as I could make it. So I thought about what I would do if I found a real vampire. How would I really act? What would really happen? Then I changed the setting to a rural farm that resembled my own place, gave the heroine a lot of my attributes and world views, and decided that she would rescue the vampire instead of him rescuing her. And Promise Me was begun. ☺

• What's your favorite thing about writing?

I never know where each story is going to take me, and sometimes if it’s going to have a happy ending, or be more of a thriller. I enjoy creating new worlds, and writing dialogue that sounds real ☺What's the hardest thing about writing for you?
Finding the time to devote the hours needed to my series books. Flash fiction is easier to write, but novels require a lot more time. Everything has to fit together like a puzzle, and be reworked again and again until it’s something I think is ready. Sometimes the stories or scenes just don’t have that excitement I want them to have, which means a big rewrite. All of the book need to be engrossing, not just parts of it.

• What authors do you like to read?

I have always liked Stephen King, William W. Johnstone, Clive Barker, Fred Saberhagen, Michael Moorcock, and Tolkien, to name only a very few. But I also like lesser known authors who published a lot of wonderful books, like Andrew Neiderman and Michael McDowell. I like some authors new to the craft, like my friends T Fox Dunham, Jenny Twist, Tori Ridgewood, and Lynn Sofras, to name only a few of the many talented fellow authors I have met this past year. I also enjoy discovering new authors, both independent and large press. ☺

• How many books have you written and which is your favorite?

I wrote 2 novellas to start in fall of 2011, and also a bunch of short stories, some of which were published in anthologies. I published an e-anthology Just Shadows in Jan. 2012, and my first novel Lash came out in April 2012. Promise Me came out in May 2012, and Midnight Thirsts 2 just published with some related Promise Me stories in June 2012.
Here is a list of books to date, not counting all my horror flash fiction and short stories:
Surrender To Me http://www.melange-books.com/authors/tarafoxhall/surrendertome.html
Return To Me  http://www.melange-books.com/authors/tarafoxhall/returntome.html
"Origin of Fear" in Spellbound 2011   http://www.melange-books.com/authors/anthologies/Spellbound2011.html
"Kink" and "The Oath" in Wicked Christmas Wishes  http://www.melange-books.com/authors/anthologies/WickedChristmasWishes.html
Just Shadows: http://www.amazon.com/Just-Shadows-ebook/dp/B006V4HB2Y
Lash: http://www.amazon.com/Lash-ebook/dp/B007UJ6KGC
Promise Me: http://www.amazon.com/Promise-Me-ebook/dp/B0086G4GDC
"Night Music" and "Partners” in Midnight Thirsts 2  http://www.amazon.com/Midnight-Thirsts-2-ebook/dp/B008FJOJOQ
My favorite book? It would be a dead tie between Lash and Promise Me. I love both books very much, which is why they became series. I couldn’t stop the story at the end of the book!

• If you could choose a dream cast for Promise Me, who would you pick? 

I would let the studio pick the cast, even if given the choice. It matters more to me that people enjoy my stories with their versions of the characters, whichever actor they see mentally when they imagine the character. I would ask that the main actors chosen not be teens to try to grab the teen audience, as my story is about a woman who is 30, not in her teens or twenties. Danial, Devlin and Theo are supposed to be thirty-something in appearance, too.
Who did I imagine as Danial, Theo, and Devlin, when I was writing Promise Me? Sendhil Ramamurthy, Russell Crowe, and Rob Lowe. ☺

• Would you say you relate to any of your characters? If so, which one and why?

I relate to Sar. If you like her as a person, you’d probably like me as a person, as I modeled her on myself. It was easiest, when I was just beginning to write, so I knew how she would react to any given situation. Her fears are what I would fear, in her situation, her hopes and dreams what I would have hoped for, and fantasized about. I infused her with my own caution, and tendency to be blunt, and swear, which are not always assets. She has my affection for country living, my love of animals, and my familiarity and knowledge of both tools, guns, and life. Hopefully, she comes off as likable, and not a b**** ☺

About Tara

Tara Fox Hall is an OSHA-certified safety and health inspector at a metal fabrication shop in upstate New York. She received her bachelor’s degree in mathematics with a double minor in chemistry and biology from Binghamton University. Her writing credits include nonfiction short stories, flash, short and novella-length horror stories, and contemporary and historical paranormal romance. Her horror stories have appeared in Deadman’s Tome, Flashes in the Dark, Ghastly Door, The Halloween Alliance, Black Petals, SNM Horror Magazine, Dark Eclipse, Cemetery Moon, and various anthologies. She also coauthored the essay “The Allure of the Serial Killer,” published in Serial Killers - Philosophy for Everyone: Being and Killing (Wiley-Blackwell, 2010). Her first E-Book, Surrender to Me, was published in September 2011. Just Shadows, her first short story anthology, was published in January 2012. She is the author of the paranormal action-adventure Lash series and the vampire romantic suspense Promise Me series. Tara divides her free time unequally between writing novels and short stories, chainsawing firewood, caring for stray animals, sewing cat and dog beds for donation to animal shelters, and target practice.

 Excerpt

Danial was dying.
    He could feel it in his blood, the burning in his flesh. He pulled the truck onto a side road and accelerated. His pursuer couldn’t be far behind. He glanced at his arm, at the small gash that was even now healing. It might be better for him if he opened it up again. He’d cleaned it the best he could, but it wasn’t like he’d had time to do more than pour water on it. It felt as though a razor had cut him and was working its way deeper into his flesh.
    Had to be poison. And no run of the mill arsenic or derivative.  
    His mind worked frantically. What poison had been on the tip of that arrow? Who had that been in the shadows? Who’d known he’d been working on the Donaldson contract that he’d be there tonight, watching? And most importantly, who had dared attack him?
    It was possible the attacker hadn’t known his name. But whoever had done this knew the breed of man he hunted and had prepared a special end for him. He’d gotten a glimpse in the shadows of what had hunted him; red eyes and a masculine form moving at supernatural speed. In his world, that still left a long list of possible suspects. For certain, it had been another of his kind.   
    He came to a crossroads and went west, then to another and headed south. There were no headlights behind him, at least so far. Best to leave the most complicated trail he could.
    With some bitterness, he wondered why he was fighting so hard to survive. His life had been pointless for the last half century. Modern books and novels talked about how fun it was being a creature of the night; so romantic and glamorous. What a crock of shit.  If he hadn’t had his business, he’d have gone crazy. And as for there being so many women who wanted to be with . . . someone like him . . . for the most part, it was a phase girls in their twenties went through. Looking for a bad boy to titillate and seduce them.  Not one had been anything of substance. It never lasted very long. But the ones who wanted in for the long haul were worse. There was always the vow of doing anything for him and the promise of eternal devotion. Until they found out that he couldn’t give them what they wanted. Then it was wheedling and hints of what he would do if he really cared for them. He’d stayed away from any serious commitments lately, say the last thirty years. Why bother, when they were doomed to fail?
    Enough of depressing thoughts! God, wasn’t death at the end of the night depressing enough? He smiled at that and checked the rearview mirror. Still no lights. His attacker was either a master tracker or an amateur.
    Maybe his life wasn’t everything he’d hoped for when he was young. But he’d be damned if he’d give it up without a fight.
    He felt a wave of nausea, and swallowed. If there was going to be a fight, it had better be quick. He could already feel himself getting lightheaded, and it was getting worse by the second. He had to pull in somewhere and get out of the open. The night was more than half over. He’d never make it to the campsite he’d planned on, not how he felt.
       

***

   
    Terian paused, full of righteous triumph, a wide smile on his face. This was going perfectly. He’d hit his target, and it would all be over in a matter of hours. If he was lucky and had gotten the arrow deep enough, it might be only one hour. That poison was damn effective. Better yet, fate had done him a favor. The killer had been calling on his cell when he’d been hit, and in his shock and rush to get away, he’d dropped it.
    Slowly, red eyes gleaming, Terian held the phone in a taloned hand and crushed it to pieces. No help coming tonight.
    He still had to be careful. After all, he’d never done anything like this before. This was no time to get cocky. It wouldn’t be over until he’d either seen a body or a nice mound of ashes bathed in daylight.
    Better get a move on. The night was already half over and his prey had a big head start.
                       

***

    Where the hell was he?
    Danial looked around and saw only cornfields and wooded areas. Small houses were interspersed here and there, some with barns or paddocks. Livestock were in some of the pens; if only that would work tonight.
    The muscles in his arm suddenly contracted. He swerved, barely missing a truck coming the other way. He overcorrected, sending his truck almost into the ditch. But then he saw a turnoff. At least, he hoped it was. His eyesight was going dim, and he knew his time had run out.
    He swung the truck into the opening among the trees, evoking a loud clank from the front fender. Nothing like a metal chain to scratch paint, not to mention leave evidence of a trail. The road seemed little more than a path, and he maneuvered as best he could; but his strength was failing fast. He slumped over the wheel, and the car rolled to a stop.
    He had to get to safety. At least, in the trees there’d be darkness and shadows, where he might be able to find shelter.
    Exhausted, he pushed against the door, momentarily forgetting how to work it. He fell against the passenger side door, disengaging the lock, and opening the door. In slow motion, he fell, the ground rushing up to meet him.
    The door, at an angle, remained open for a moment, illuminating his body in a pale glow. Then the door succumbed to gravity and swung slowly shut with a soft click, leaving the vehicle and Danial’s still body in darkness.
  

Tour Stops

Sat. July 7th- A Little Bit of R&R

Sat. July 14th- Sugar Free Reading

Sun. July 15th- All The Fun Starts After Dark

Wed. July 25th- A Page Away

Thur. July 26th- The Cover (and Everything in Between)

Sat. July 28th- Delphina Reads Too Much

Tue. July 31st- Proserpine Craving Books