Author Spotlight Tamatha Cain

1/25/2024

Bio:
Tamatha Cain is a former musician and bandleader. She graduated summa cum laude from the University of North Florida with a degree in English. Her work has appeared in national and international publications. Awards include: 2022 Florida Book Award, 2020 Royal Palm Literary Award, and grand prize in The Experience Poetry Competition. She writes reviews for Southern Literary Review, and is a member of Women's Fiction Writers Association, Women Writing the West, WFWA Historical Fiction Affinity Group, and Florida Writers Association. She is a wife and mother of three and lives in a hundred-year-old bungalow in North Florida, in close proximity to the historic locations found in her debut novel Song of the Chimney Sweep.
Learn more about her on her website or follow her on Twitter or Instagram.

Interview with Tamatha Cain

Thank you to author Tamatha Cain for taking the time to answer my questions.
It was a joy to get to know you better.

When did you know you wanted to become an author?

It first occurred to me that I was a writer when several teachers encouraged my writing.

When did you first consider yourself a writer?

I can't remember not thinking of myself as a writer. I was other things as well, but always a writer.

Who is your biggest inspiration?

I love to research a wide variety of topics, and the stories behind them get my imagination going to all sorts of places.

How do you come up with your ideas?

I keep a note on my phone to jot down ideas. One thing in my writing life which never gives me trouble is coming up with ideas.

Are your characters inspired by or based on real-life people?

Very, very often they are inspired by real people. Sometimes it is only a mannerism or a particular part of their personality, but I collect interesting traits for future use.

What comes first, the plot or the characters?

The main character usually comes first, but not always. The idea for a book concept comes first, then I need characters to live it out.

What would you say is your most interesting writing quirk?

I cannot listen to music while writing. As a former musician, I find it way too distracting.

How did publishing your first book change your writing career?

It was great to have that book to show people, and when that first book won a Florida Book Award, it was an uplifting and encouraging experience.

Have you ever gotten writers block? How did you work through it?

Not really. I have more of a problem with procrastination and perfectionism. If the story is fully fleshed out, then the scenes tend to come rather easily. I have hit roadblocks when faced with edits as I still haven't found the most comfortable way for me to make changes without getting lost in the manuscript. I enjoy using Scrivener, but sometimes it's too easy to move files and suddenly the flow of the story is upset in ways I can't see. That is not fun.

What are you working on now?

I recently set aside an idea I've been researching for several years to work on a new idea I'm terribly excited about. It's in that phase where one is terrified someone else has already done it, but I'm going for it anyway.

What advice would you give to aspiring authors?

Try to tune out all the noise of the publishing world as much as you can, at least while you are writing. Social media makes it seems as though everyone is getting a book deal and it's easy to compare yourself and your progress. Focus on your work and making it the best it can be and then tune back in to the world of queries and pitch events.

What do you like to do when you're not writing?

My husband and I love to watch British mystery shows, lots of PBS Masterpiece Theatre lately. Also, we travel to watch our favorite baseball team. Trying to see them play in every stadium.

Tell me, what are three things that are unique about you?

My dad was in the Air Force, so I lived in four countries and seven different states before I turned 18. I live in a house that is over 100 years old. I used to be a bandleader, and I also used to own a custom cake shop.