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...
by Tamara Palmer | Apr 13, 2021 | Uncategorized
For our 20th wedding anniversary, we were looking for a trip of a lifetime. We wanted to commemorate the achievement of making it through the years together, a trip that could serve as a true celebration of our relationship. My mind drifted to visions of Europe, spots...
by Tamara Palmer | Nov 20, 2020 | Uncategorized
“Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?” — Mary Oliver This week, I lost my aunt and, in doing so, I lost my publisher. Judi was one of those rocks in my life that I had assumed was permanent – bedrock, tethered deeply into the earth....
