ABOUT TAMMAR

I'm the author of 11 novels and counting for children of all ages, including The Six-Day Hero and Beni’s War, award-winning historical novels set in Israel. My favorite compliment is when readers blame me for staying up past their bedtime because they just couldn't put down the book. (Sorry, not sorry.)

I am a former school librarian and the mother of two amazing young adults. My family and I are also the companions of a strange but loveable adpoted Singaporean street dog.

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

How do you pronounce your name?  Ooo, I'm glad you asked that! It is pronounced Ta-mar. It means Date Tree in Hebrew.

Have you always wanted to be a writer?  When I was five I wanted to be a mermaid. By age nine I was slightly more realistic and wanted to be an astronaut--the first woman on Mars. I went through a brief marine biologist phase--ironic given how easily I get sea-sick--before realizing that what I really wanted was to read for a living. It was the endless adventures of books that I loved. But I didn't really see a way to make money reading books, so I decided the next best thing would be to write them. 

Me too! I want to be a writer but...how do I begin?  First of all, congratulations! I'm so glad you're interested in writing. We can't have too many good books in this world and the only way to get them is have people write them. So, thanks for stepping up! Now, the how could not be simpler. Find characters you love (or hate). Think about something interesting (or terrible) that happens to them. Then sit in front of your computer and find out what happens next.

That does sound easy! How long does it take?  Tricked you! I didn't say writing a book was easy. I said it was simple. Light Years took me five years to write. Even though I had been an avid reader my whole life, it still took me that long to figure out how to make a good story. What keeps the pace tight? How do I create characters that readers will care about? I revised Light Years about 50 times. Literally. I read and re-wrote each page about 50 separate times. High Dive took almost three years. I wrote an entire draft then I threw it away and started over. Kindred and Spoils clocked along at two years. Generally, first novels take anywhere from 1-15 years to work out.

I'm in! How do I learn more?  Hang around other writers. You learn about the craft, the discipline, the ins and outs of the business, and have other writers critique your work so that you get better and better at it. Writing is like anything else; it takes practice before you're good at it.

Good luck and keep in touch!