Interview with Author Tamera Alexander!

We're visiting today with award-winning author Tamera Alexander. Tamera's debut novel Rekindled was a RITA® finalist for 2007 Best First Book, a RITA® finalist for 2007 Best Inspirational Romance, a 2007 Golden Quill Contest Finalist, named Library Journal’s "Top 5 Picks for Christian Fiction 2006", and a nominee for Romantic Time’s "Reviewer’s Choice" Award 2006 for Best Inspirational. (And on top of all that, it's a truly great story!)


Before turning to writing, Tamera’s professional background was in business management and corporate conference coordination. She’s led women’s ministries, has been active in music ministry, and enjoys facilitating small groups and Bible studies, as well as mentoring other women. She enjoys traveling the country speaking to women’s groups and encourages them to allow God to ‘dust off their discarded dreams’. Tamera earned a business degree from Harding University and now lives with her husband in Tennessee, where they enjoy life with their two college-age children and another important member of their family—a seven-pound Silky named Jack.

Tell us a bit about your newest release. What led you to choose to write this story?

First off, Jill, thanks for this chance to visit! It’s always a pleasure.

From a Distance is about daring to dream God’s dream for your life. Here’s a quick peek:

Determined to become one of the country’s premier newspaper photographers, Elizabeth Westbrook travels to the Colorado Territory to capture the grandeur of the mountains surrounding the remote town of Timber Ridge. She hopes, too, that the cool, dry air of Colorado, and its renowned hot springs, will cure the mysterious illness that threatens her career, and her life.

Daniel Ranslett, a former Confederate sharpshooter, is a man shackled by his past, and he’ll do anything to protect his land, and his solitude. When an outspoken Yankee photographer captures an image that appears key to solving a murder, putting herself in danger, Daniel is called upon to repay a debt. He’s a man of his word, but repaying that debt could bring secrets from his past to light.

Forced on a perilous journey together, Daniel and Elizabeth’s lives intertwine in ways neither could have imagined when first they met…from a distance.



What is your most memorable moment as a published author?

So far, it would have to be a moment that happened about two weeks ago. My husband and I are having some landscaping done, and one afternoon the landscaper asked me what I did for a living since I was “always home.” I told him I was a writer, and he shared that his wife loved to read. And that she was currently on bed rest, due in three weeks with their fourth child.

I gave him a set of Fountain Creek Chronicles (Rekindled, Revealed, Remembered) for his wife. Well, I got an email the next night saying that his wife was loving Rekindled and was telling him every single scene when he got home from work, so he wouldn’t have to read the book—his wife had already told him everything.

The next day he arrived. I met him in the backyard to discuss some details and he said, “Before we start, I just want to thank you for writing that book.”

“Rekindled?” I asked.

He nodded. “My wife finished it last night. She loved it.” He got a little quiet. “She came up to me and told me, after she finished reading the story, that it made her love me more, and that she was more committed to our marriage now than she had been.”

There are moments in your life when you wonder if you’re doing what God made you to do. While I have no clue whether I’ll be writing ten years from now, I have no doubt that I’m doing what God designed me to do…for now. And I’m grateful to share the hope in Christ that He’s entrusted to us.



In the same way, what is your most humorous moment?

Most humorous, I’m not sure it’s my most humorous, but it’s a fun one that comes to mind. I was attending an ACFW Conference a few years back and was seated beside the lovely and oh so gracious Deborah Raney for a meal. It came time to pray, and I realized that Deb had apparently been sneaking bites of her dessert. She had icing on her fingers and quickly slurped it off then reached out to hold my hand for the prayer. Ummm…gross!

I looked at her, and she got tickled. I started laughing too and just licked my fingers and grabbed her hand. We’ve been best buddies ever since! And carry sanitizing lotion in our purses.

With more than one book under your belt, what lesson have you learned that you wished you’d known early on?

That writing is just flat hard. And it doesn’t get any easier. Each book is a bigger challenge. Now that I know that, it’s not so paralyzing anymore. It’s still hard, don’t get me wrong. But knowing what I’m up against helps some. I now expect those moments “mid book” when I panic and begin wondering—despairing sometimes—if I can really do this again. Then I pull my eyes back to Jesus, fix on Him, and keep writing.



What is your favorite type of “setting” research – in other words, online searching, books, videos, music, museums, archives, or a visit to the actual place? Why?

Visiting the actual place. And with a local historian along, to boot! Wonderful experiences! Living in Colorado for seventeen years afforded me opportunities to visit all the places in my books and that really helps make the setting and the character’s struggles more real for me. I’ve spent many a week up in the Rockies, writing too. When readers say they feel they’ve visited the Colorado Territory after reading one of my books, I think having visited those places helps with that.

Thanks, Tammy!

Come back tomorrow for part two of our interview with author Tamera Alexander. And don't forget to leave a comment to win a copy of Tamera's newest book From A Distance! To learn more about Tamera, visit her blog or her website.