Interview with Tiffany E. Taylor, author of the WHIMSICAL DREAMS series

 

I am so excited for today's interview! I've read a couple of this author's books and I found them to be interesting with a great butch/femme dynamic. Tiffany E. Taylor writes a few different types of books but I am enthralled by her romantic suspense series, Whimsical Dreams.

If you're interested in how she celebrates after writing a book, her cooments on the butch/femme dynamic and those identities in her book, and where the idea for the Whimsical Dreams series came from. At the end of the interview you can find links to follow Tiffany E. Taylor as well as links to buy her books.      

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Can you explain your background a bit for those who might be unaware?

My previous careers as an e-commerce business analyst and a curly hair specialist gave me a great foundation to become a full-time author. Business analysts bridge the gap in companies between their IT and business departments by serving as "translators," so the departments can understand one another. That experience taught me how to research virtually anything and learn how it works, which is extremely helpful in writing fiction. Hairdressers meet so many people and learn such interesting things from them, it adds another layer of knowledge and idea inspiration. In my personal life, my spouse Donna and I celebrated our 25-year anniversary in December and our daughter Katie turned 18 a week later. Donna's a butch and I'm a femme, so there's a lot of our life written into in my sapphic romance.

Congrats to your and your wife on the anniversary! And congrats to your kid on turning 18, that's awesome! It's so cool how your previous careers gave you a foundation for your current one!

Do you think you would have signed with Painted Hearts Publishing and become a full-time author if you hadn't had your stroke and/or the pandemic hadn't happened?

I don't know if I would have become a full-time fiction author, but I would have definitely been a part-time one since I had already been submitting manuscripts to different publishing companies before then. (I’d actually self-published two nonfiction curly hair how-to books well before my stroke, which are still in print.) I became a full-time author when I had to retire from hairdressing, but writing has always been in my blood.

That is amazing! I love that no matter what writing was going to be involved. It's great that you found something you were so passionate about.

I’ve read a couple of your books now (specifically the first two of the Whimsical Dreams series) and one of the things that stands out to me is that you have a very interesting way of portraying your butch/femme couples.

I think people who are relatively unaware of the butch/femme dynamic are surprised to discover the richness and breadth of the gender identities on that spectrum: from soft butches to stone butches, from tomboy femmes to stone femmes, and the whole gamut in between. The types of butches I write-that my readers like to call "alpha" butches-react very differently to circumstances than a soft butch would. Just like a tomboy femme isn't going to approach a situation in the same way a high femme would. What's interesting is how any book's impact can change simply by playing with the gender identity dynamics in the story, whether you're writing butch/femme romance or not.

It is such a diverse spectrum and even I wasn't aware of some of it before this. It's wild! I also love your "alpha" butches. They are just so amazing!

How did you get the idea for the Whimsical Dreams series? Or any of your other books really?

Book 2 of the Whimsical Dreams series, Whimsical Princess, is what started it all for that series. I was a big fan of the show Unforgettable, starring Poppy Montgomery, about a police detective who had hyperthymesia, a condition that allows for perfect memory recall, regardless of time, date, or place. (Poppy's character is actually based on Marilu Henner of Taxi fame, who is one of less than 100 people in the world who has this condition.) One day, Kelly Holland, the femme protagonist of Princess, popped into my head because of that. I had already been toying with creating a series about a butch-owned protection and security company and the two ideas converged. When I was writing Princess, however, I realized I needed a series "kickoff" novel first, and that's how Book 1, Whimsical Haven, came to be. My book ideas come from all over, including dreams, conversations, things I happen to run across by chance, etc.

Ooh, I love that it started with Book 2 and not Book 1. That's an interesting process. I actually find it really interesting how you got the idea for this book!

I’m particularly curious about the Whimsical Dreams series because of the fact that you’ve already released 3 books in the series with a 4th in the works, and you’ve got a total of 9 main butches that you could theoretically write books around. I’m just curious about what spawned that idea.

After I wrote books 1 and 2, Whimsical Haven and Whimsical Princess, it became clear to me that each one of the nine butch protagonists needed to have their own book. What I love is how each book builds on the one before it so readers become more and more familiar with life in Whimsy and the different personalities involved. There's actually going to be a final tenth book called Whimsical Dreams that's going to tie all the storylines together and end the series. It's going to be a pretty intense read and the opening line of the synopsis is already rattling around in my head.

I am so super excited for the rest of the books in the series! I don't know whose I'm most excited for: Blake, Trill, Drew, or Teagan's!! I'm slightly obsessed with all of them. I'm also really, really looking forward to the final book of the series! It's sure to be one hell of a ride.

Do you have a writing schedule? If so, what does that look like for you?

I write five days a week between the hours of 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sometimes I'll write six days if I have a deadline coming up. This is like any other job I've ever had where I had to go into an office and be there for a specific amount of time. The only difference is that I make and keep my own schedule.

That's a really good idea, treating it like any other job and having a set amount of time to work. Also, kudos to you for having that motivation and restraint and managing to do that. I probably couldn't do the same.

Do you do anything to celebrate when you've finished writing a book?

There is a little Italian trattoria where I live that has the best sauteed calamari with a butter, lemon juice, and white wine sauce. I am positively addicted to it. I always have some of Pia's calamari to celebrate when I send a final manuscript to my publisher.

That sounds so delicious!!! Amazing way to celebrate!

You mentioned (to me if not in an answer to a previous question) that there really is life after a stroke. Do you feel comfortable sharing how your life is different now than it was before?

Physically, I have a lot of challenges now because the right side of my body doesn't function much anymore. I'm in a wheelchair as a result and can't do a lot of things I used to do, like drive. I also can't use a traditional laptop and have to voice almost everything I do. My short-term cognitive memory took a hit as well so I can't multitask as I once did: I'm very single-task-oriented. I am beyond thankful that I have my spouse and my daughter, however, because I have no idea how I'd manage without them. Frankly, I'm just blessed to be alive, given the severity of what happened.

Thank you for sharing!

Do you have any comfort books that you've read multiple times?

Comfort books, no. If I ever reread anything, I have a tendency to lean more towards books like And the Band Played On by Randy Shilts or The Color Purple by Alice Walker.

I've not read either of those before. Might have to give them a chance soon.

Are there any final words of encouragement or just any final comments you'd like to share with anyone reading this interview? Whether they're an aspiring author, a reader, or maybe someone struggling after a stroke or similar situation.

This may sound like a tired old cliche, but I'm here to tell you that the mantra of "You can do anything you set your mind out to do" is absolutely true. Having a solid support system is crucial as well. My book, One More Chance, was rejected by every single lesbian publisher I sent it to when I first tried to get it published in the mid-2000s. I could have easily gotten discouraged and given up, but I just kept going and going until I finally found Painted Hearts Publishing. I had the stroke in July 2017 when I was halfway done writing Whimsical Haven but was able to finally pick it up again after an 18-month recovery period and a lot of determination. Don't EVER lose your belief in yourself, no matter what happens or how dark things look sometimes. You will always be your own best champion.

That is amazing!! It might be a bit cliche, but that doesn't mean that it's not worth repeating. Thank you for your words of encouragement and also for sharing your story with us. Congratulations on everything you had to celebrate this year (at the very least your anniversary, your daughter's birthday, and the release of A Very Whimsy Christmas). It was a great pleasure having you here, thank you so much for participating.

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You can find Tiffany E. Taylor on Facebook, her Facebook group, Instagram, Mastodon, and Amazon.

You can buy Tiffany E. Taylor's books from Painted Hearts Publishing, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Smashwords.

If you can't buy her books but you still want to read them, consider requesting them to your local library or suggesting them on Overdrive!