When did you decide to start writing?
Tara: I started writing when I was very young. I got serious about it in high school and got my first writing job at a newspaper when I was nineteen. I’ve always known this was what I wanted to do.

 

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Tell us a little bit about your latest work.
Tara: Inbetween is a YA paranormal romance about a grim reaper that falls in love with the girl he is sent to reap. It is the first book in the Kissed by Death series. Kissed by Death is a companion series, so each book will be told from a different reaper’s POV.

What are some of the qualities in your latest work that set it/you apart from what’s currently out there on the market?
One of the things that make my book unique is that fact that it is told from dual POV’s. The story is told through Emma and Finn’s eyes, so you get a boy’s perspective along with the girls. Also, I approached the world building aspect very differently than any book I’ve ever read.

Who would you count among your strongest influences, and why? Some authors that have influenced me are Edgar Allen Poe, Maggie Stiefvater, and R.L. Stine. I have been a fan of Poe since I was a kid and I think that he definitely influenced me to write darker stories. I have always admired and try to learn from Maggie Stiefvater’s lyrical writing style and ability to write from a male POV. And I love R.L. Stine’s story telling ability. He was one of the authors that made me want to be a writer when I was a teen. Where do you see the supernatural themes currently popular in the YA segment taking the genre in general? Tara: Lately I am seeing a lot of death and life after death themes in the YA paranormal genre. Fallen angel stories have been popular over the few years. Now reaper stories like Inbetween are coming out of the woodwork. I definitely think we will see some awesome ghost and life after death books comes out in the coming year.

If you could cast the Dream Film (or TV) Adaptation of your work, who would you cast?
Finn (Reaper for the Inbetween): Xavier Samuel
Emma (Human and the reincarnated love of Finn’s existence): Ashley Benson
Cash (Emma’s best friend): Adam Gregory

Do you have pursuits outside of young adult fiction?
Tara: While YA fiction will always be my main focus, I am currently working on an adult contemporary romance.

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