New kid on the block - Tara Lyons

That's me! Beaming when my paperbacks arrived
It's always a tad intimidating being the "new kid" in any scenario. But this year has already brought me a lot of new and first situations, and thankfully it's not beginning to feel so daunting any more.

I have been welcomed into the Authors Electric's small but perfectly formed group and this is my first post on the website. So, I'd really just like to take this opportunity to tell you a little bit about me.

I am 30 years old, a single mother and indie author. So far this year I have released my debut solo novel, In the Shadows, co-authored a novella called Web of Deceit and am currently in the process of co-writing a new crime series (the first book, The Caller, is available for pre-order on Amazon).

My love of reading books and writing stories stems way back to when I was a little girl. I carried a small hardback book with me to write me tales in. At some point my poor mother was given it as a birthday present because I thought I was so creative. However, it's nice to know she actually held on to it for all these years. The idea of losing myself in another world was fascinating and I would sit for hours reading Roald Dahl, Lewis Carroll, Sweet Valley High and the Goosebump series. My passion stayed with me throughout school, and when it finally came to choosing my university degree I was stumped. I knew what I enjoyed doing, but at still a young age of 18 I wasn't completely sure where I wanted my life to go. So I opted for a three year English Literature course, because I knew I would complete university if I studied something I enjoyed.

Studying English Literature opened more doors for me than I thought possible and introduced me to so many more authors and genres. I studied war, fairytales, feminism, creative writing and journalism in connection with fiction novels. And, to cut a long story short, I completed my university degree and was very lucky to secure a position on an inhouse magazine for a huge retail company. That job, and then later giving birth to my son, kept me busy for the next 10 years and I'm sad to say also kept me away from reading and writing.

During the past two years however, a combination of redundancy and my grandfather passing away changed my life completely. My love of reading was rekindled (no pun intended, although it was because I was gifted with a kindle), and once again I immersed myself in reading fiction novels. I was drawn into other people's stories and this time found a real interest in crime and psychological thrillers. Just over a year ago I started having ideas of my own for a thrilling novel, but I brushed them aside thinking it was a dream too far out of my reach. I actually brushed the thoughts aside for months. Until, for my 30th birthday in June, a group of friends surprised me with a laptop and an online crime writing course and told me to write my book. And that's just what I did.

The Caller - the first in a new crime series by myself and M.A. Comley
I've had a surreal 12 months; I've joined online book clubs, interacted with bloggers and other writers and have joined forces with an amazingly talented and experienced author, M.A Comley. She encouraged me, helped me understand the world of independent publishing and shared her amazing contacts with me. Due to that, I wrote and edited my first novel by January of this year, shared it with my extremely skilled editor and proofreading teams and In the Shadows was published in March. So, I suppose I am still very much the new kid on the block - but I'm sure that won't last too long.

I'm suddenly very aware how long my personal story actually is and I'd hate my first blog to bore you to tears. But, if you are still reading this (yay!) and would like to know more, please feel free to get in touch with me. Likewise, if you're interested in finding out more about my books, the links are below.

Amazon author page - with all the links to my books

Faceboook author page - interact and sign-up for my monthly newsletter

Follow me on Twitter - quick and snappy way on staying in touch

Tara Lyons webpage - love sharing what books I'm reading each month

Follow me on Instagram - who doesn't like snaps of books and reviews



Comments

Bill Kirton said…
Welcome, Tara. Sounds as if you have a nice group of friends - that was a terrific birthday present. Good luck with the novel and the many others still to come.
Chris Longmuir said…
Losing yourself in a world of books strikes a chord with me because I did the same as a child and my love of books has never left me. Mind you, all those years ago I never thought I would ever write a book, and here I am now with 6 books under my belt. I've read Web of Deceit, intriguing plot, and I have In the Shadows in my Kindle waiting to be read. Good luck with the books, it's a fascinating way to spend time as well as building a writing career.
Unknown said…
I'm extremely lucky to have such a supportive network. Thank you, Bill.
Unknown said…
I felt the same, Chris, I always thought it would remain just a dream of mine. So it's incredible to say I've started my journey. Thank you for reading Web of Deceit, and I hope you enjoy In the Shadows when you read it.
Jan Needle said…
Welcome on board, Tara!
Hello Tara, and welcome to the blog! The book looks great, and there are other crime authors here to keep you company :-)
Lydia Bennet said…
Welcome to AE Tara! You do seem to have some good support, which is important for us all. Most of us I think on here are reading compulsives - I see you mention Goosebumps, I think our very own Dennis Hamley wrote some of those! (am I right, Dennis?)
Good luck with your first solo novel.
Unknown said…
Thank you, Jan!
Unknown said…
Hi, Katherine! Really pleased to have joined you all and getting to know everyone. Thank you.
Unknown said…
Thank you, Lydia. I'm extremely lucky and it's so important for a supportive network, you're right. Wow... Really? How amazing, they were my favourite books as a child.
Dennis Hamley said…
Sadly, Valerie, you are not right. The publishing editor at Scholastic once called me in to her office and said she wanted to make me the British RL Stine and thus a millionaire within a year, but after reading a few Goosebumps (which I was brought up to to call 'gooseflesh' but I doubt if the Americans would have accepted such a series title. After all, they made me take a couple of suicides out of a Point Crime) I felt I was losing the will to live and so demurred. Over the years I have rather regretted that, because she never asked me again.

Tara, what a lovely blog. Welcome.
Unknown said…
Thank you, Dennis. And does that mean you wrote Point Horror? I forgot to add them to my childhood reading list!
glitter noir said…
Welcome, Tara. That's a model introduction--and it's inspired me to have a look at your work a.s.a.p.
Unknown said…
Thank you, Reb! I'm delighted you enjoyed what I had to say and I hope my work entices you further.

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