by Tamara Palmer | Feb 26, 2023 | Uncategorized
In 2022, I read 98 books. “Wow,” you may have just said. “I wish I could read that much!” You shouldn’t be wowed. Reading that much isn’t commendable—it’s an addiction. I turn to books, not Netflix. Don’t ask me if I’ve watched your favorite show because I likely...
by Tamara Palmer | Feb 16, 2023 | Uncategorized
Corporations were not on the job market radar for me, a liberal arts major who only cared about when the next Dead show was, how best to get there (friend’s battered Volkswagen, Greyhound or hitchhike), and which hot hippie girl would be invited to tag along....
by Tamara Palmer | Nov 12, 2022 | Uncategorized
Ten years ago, I boarded a one-way flight from Colorado to Chicago with my three-year-old daughter in tow and my aging black cat in a carrier. My husband and father-in-law would be heading out the next day, driving our two cars loaded with plants, personal items, our...
by Tamara Palmer | Oct 24, 2022 | Uncategorized
For most of my life I had a dream to be the next Judy Blume — to win the “literary lotto” with a six-figure, multi-book deal. I wanted to be the glamorous romance writer Kathleen Turner played in the movie Romancing the Stone. I wanted to quit my day job and work full...
by Tamara Palmer | Sep 16, 2022 | Uncategorized
One of the most frequently asked questions of writers is “Where did you get the idea for your book?” I’m so excited that this time I can pinpoint the answer and tell you the story. It was four in the morning when inspiration hit. I was startled awake with the title:...
by Tamara Palmer | Jul 14, 2022 | Uncategorized
On a warm day in May with the car windows down and sunroof open, I was driving along, feeling guilty for snagging a last-minute opening to get my nails done—instead of helping with a PTO event. I hadn’t canceled with the school, I had called to ask if I could be late,...
by Tamara Palmer | Nov 11, 2021 | Uncategorized
In T minus 11 days I turn 50. Until two weeks ago I had relished the idea, excited to enter a new “club,” to be distinguished in a way that the 50s appear to offer to those of us in younger decades. Throughout my 49th year, I’ve told people that I was entering my...
by Tamara Palmer | Sep 1, 2021 | Uncategorized
Every so often people share with me that they don’t read fiction. As a fiction writer and an avid novel reader, I find these discussions immeasurably sad. Regardless of intention, my brain interprets such comments as little jabs. The implication being that somewhere...
by Tamara Palmer | Jun 3, 2021 | Uncategorized
What drives ideas? What creates … creativity? Do ideas exist and then enter our minds to be sculpted into a form, be that a manuscript or a canvas or any other creation? J.K. Rowling has said, “Sometimes the ideas just come to me. Other times I have to sweat and...
by Tamara Palmer | May 15, 2021 | Uncategorized
Perimenopausal hormone chaos has taken my beloved coffee from me. About two years ago I had to admit that the rushing heartbeat and strains to catch a full breath were no longer bodily sensations I could ignore and simply “deal with.” Caffeine was going to give me a...
