Today, I'm happy to welcome to the blog fellow Canadian author, Tara A. Lake! Tara is the author of The Age of the Almek, along with other short stories, which she talks about a little later in the interview.
Tara and I connected through Instagram (as I have with most of my writing friends <3). We talk writing process, inspiration, and future projects. So, without further ado, Tara A. Lake.
1) Can you tell me a little bit about yourself and your book(s)?
I’ve been fascinated by story ever since I was a kid. I loved movies, creating imaginary lands for play and writing lyrics for songs. In school, classes that involved writing was where I truly excelled. I never understood why my peers hated being assigned essays so much. I hadn’t realized at the time that the interest and skill to string words together was innately a part of me.
The kind of content I write often involves world-building and darker themes. Age of The Almek––first in The Almek Series––is my debut dark adult dystopian novel, which explores a future where man-made pollution makes earth’s air too toxic for human consumption. It’s an oppressed world, filled with lore and a vast cast of characters. I’m currently working on the second book in the series and I’m planning for it to be a trilogy. It’s environmentally, politically and socially centred. I’m also working on a standalone novel, it, too, is an adult dystopian, more in the vein of cult literature, with a larger focus on personal growth, found family and romance than The Almek Series.
2) How did you first get started writing?
When I was seventeen my father passed away from cancer. It was by divine intervention that I was in a creative writing class at the time. We had an assignment to write a series of songs, short stories or poems. I chose short stories. I believe my anthology was called A Circle of Horror and was the catalyst that would eventually make known my unearthed passion for writing. It was a hugely cathartic experience writing those stories, though I still wonder what that teacher thought of my dark stories and if he knew what I was going through at the time. It wasn’t until I was 21 that that experience finally clicked and set things in motion. I started writing my first novel, which was YA fantasy and I have deemed it unsalvageable – it will never see the light of day! Still, I am thankful for that story and the fact that I felt compelled to write it.
Fast forward through marriage and children, a full house renovation and an illness that took hold of my life for the better part of a decade, and I finally felt able to return to writing. In 2017, I completed a writing program with Algonquin College and started Age of The Almek. I self-published it in 2020.
3) What's the most unique part of your writing process?
I think the most unique part of my writing process is that I have yet to find a consistent process. The discovery writer in me struggles to plot, and yet, I continue to search for ways to grow as I realize the time it takes to write nine drafts per novel is maybe (no, definitely) not ideal.
4) Do you have any favourite craft books or resources?
My most recent tool is Plottr. I’m a visual gal and being able to see each character’s plot points and the stories’ bigger beats right in front of my eyes is pretty great. I’m reading Save The Cat right now and finding it helpful, too.
5) What made you choose to self-publish Age of the Almek? Had you considered traditional publishing?
When I started writing Age of The Almek I had planned to self-publish it. It was a means to getting my feet wet in the publishing world and learn more about writing. The long-term goal has always been to seek the opportunity to traditionally publish. As of now, my plan is to query my culty dystopian standalone when it’s ready.
6) What drew you to starting with a dystopian novel? Do you think you'll ever branch outside of that genre?
I know I’m not alone when I say I fell in love and was inspired by The Hunger Games. That series sparked my love for the dystopian genre. I’ve always leaned into darker works, I think because I love the way those kinds of stories offer messaging about the human condition. I am slowly getting pulled into fantasy, and seeing as I love world-building, I could definitely see myself dabbling in that realm of genre one day.
7) What's your favourite part of writing and exploring darker concepts?
I like the grit and the rawness that comes with writing darker concepts, coupled with a general exploration of the human condition – both the good and bad. We are emotional creatures with needs and wants, habits and belief systems that are linked directly to our perceptions of our personal experiences. I feel genres like sci-fi and fantasy do an excellent job at peeling back the layers of their characters to expose their humanity. I’m interested in the human psyche, and I think dark fiction just takes it to that deeper level that my mind craves.
8) What were your publishing expectations? How did they differ from your experience?
I was mindful of going into my first publishing experience without expectations. I put a lot of weight into trusting the process, that the right readers wound find my work, and most importantly, I believed in my book and the message I had to share. So I think it was more of a mindset focus then anything. I was blown away by the response. Indigo Barrie (Indigo is the biggest bookstore chain in Canada!) accepted my novel on a consignment contract.
To see my book in a bookstore was one of my dreams. That experience and the feeling of pure joy defied all expectations that I could have imagined. I got to do my first ever book signing event at Indigo and that was also a dream come true. In one afternoon, I sold 37 books. I remember walking into the store that day hoping I could sell 10. (Full disclosure, I recently received notice that they were closing the contract for Age of The Almek since sales had dropped and it only sold six copies in the last year.) I met that news with resistance initially, an ego fueled reaction. But it took me a day to reflect and realize this is part of the plan.
Self-publishing was always meant to be a stepping stone and I’m manifesting, trusting and working toward a different direction (toward traditional publishing). So what could have been a knock to my ego became a moment of acceptance and peace. All this to say that there will be difficult moments, our mindset surrounding those difficult moments are what really counts.
The part about publishing that I really did not expect to be absolute agony is marketing my work.
9) What advice would you give to those just starting out with the goal of publishing?
Writing a book is a labour of love and a self-driven project. Publishing is something else altogether. I come across many people who say: “I’ve always wanted to write (or publish) a book!” My best advice would be: be okay with being new (and not great) at something, make a consistent writing practice and get feedback on your work but view it as an opportunity for you to grow as a writer. You can do it, I have the utmost faith in you!!
10) (Without spoilers) What has been your hardest scene to write?
The hardest scenes for me are the ones in between the action. For whatever reason, action comes naturally for me, it’s making those slower scenes interesting and impactful that I’ve struggled with.
11) How do you balance writing, marketing, etc. with other life stuff?
Balancing all of the things is really difficult. I experience inspiration for marketing in waves only for it to taper off. I am still learning how to market and how to juggle the many job titles of being a self-published author. It’s much easier for me to find consistency in the writing than any other part of it. However, I try to dedicate a bit of time each morning to marketing and then spend the rest of the day writing. I have had to set boundaries to keep my writing from taking over my life, I don’t usually write on week nights and weekends. I’m very grateful to be in a position to be able to do that.
12) What do you do for work outside writing? (Or what would you be doing if not writing if your writing now supports you full-time?)
I write full time, though I do help my husband with administration for his business. My background is in banking (makes zero sense, I am not a number’s girl at all). I’m still scarred from the monotony of balancing branch cash every day for years.
13) What would your author mascot be?
My author mascot would be an owl. Though I have to set boundaries, I really do prefer to write at night. The biggest trait that I connect with of the owl is its intuition. My writing process is extremely intuitive. Owls have the ability to see hidden or concealed things, this resonates, too. Both are skills I’m actively working at nurturing. They’re also curious creatures, and my writing mantra is to “stay curious”. If I stay curious, I will keep learning and growing. It’s a good and humble reminder that there is always much to learn, no matter where one is in their writing journey.
A big thanks to Tara for joining me on the blog! We look forward to Age of the Almek 2.
Bio
Tara A. Lake was born and raised in the (once small) town of Collingwood Ontario, Canada. Now living in the country with her husband, two children and their animals. Tara can often be found playing board games, training her Aussie pup or hiking with her family.
A full-fledged creative, Tara enjoys exploring art in different mediums such as landscape painting, nature photography and felting. Her love for writing was sparked in a writing course in high school. She has since completed a creative writing program through Algonquin College and published her first novel.
Tara leans into her unconventional and intuitive process as a writer. She believes that staying curious is an important aspect to her work and exploring the human condition is at the peak of that curiosity. As a multi-genre writer with interest in exploring darker concepts in her work, she primarily writes for an adult audience. Her debut novel, Age of The Almek, has received praise for its pull on readers, leaving many eagerly awaiting the next book, of which she is currently working on. Tara is most active on Instagram (@tara.a.lake), and she is on Facebook (Tara A. Lake). Tara also has a newsletter! If you want the inside scoop on book release information, cover reveals and free short stories, visit www.taraalake.com and subscribe to receive updates from Tara.