Meet Tia McCollors – The Last Woman Standing Blog Tour
Tia, tell us about yourself.
Wow! That’s such a broad question. Besides being an author of Christian novels, my first love (and first priority as far as I’m concerned) is taking care of my family. This November my husband Wayne and I will celebrate five years of marriage. Since the day we said, “I do,” we’ve been blessed with two children. Evidently they were sent here to keep us young and spry because we have a very lively three year old son and a daughter who’s almost one.
In my (limited) free time, I love to read, browse through home decorating books (which means I’m a HGTV junkie), and enjoy scrapbooking – which by the way I’m about one hundred and twenty pictures behind on!
What type of jobs or careers have you worked in the past?
Where should I start? I actually only had two jobs in high school. One of them was at a local drug store which didn’t last long at all. One night at closing I went to the back to clock out and the manager accidentally locked me inside the store and left to go home. That was the only reason I needed to justify quitting!
Other than that, my post-college jobs were all related to my journalism and mass communication degree. After ten years in the corporate world as a public and media relations professional, I was fortunate to be able to leave my job in 2006 and pursue my writing career full-time. Actually at that time I considered it writing part-time because I had no idea with my first child that being a stay-at-home-mom was a full time job. Somebody should tell you those things!
Who are your favorite authors?
Would it sound vain if I said, “Me”? (Laughing). That’s such a hard question because there are so many writers I enjoy. I try to expand my horizons by reading different things…though I must say I stay away from hard-core urban novels as well as erotica. I tend to enjoy literary fiction, though. Did you notice how I didn’t really answer the question?
What books are on your summer reading list?
I’m a featured author at the Faith and Fiction Retreat this year that’s being held in Orlando, Florida. That’s why the current books on my list are those written by the other authors. I’m checking out Up Pops the Devil (Angela Benson), The Bishop’s Daughter (Tiffany Warren) and The Devil is a Lie (ReShonda Tate Billingsley).
When did you begin to realize you wanted to write?
I think it originally started in seventh grade when I had an “advice column” in my school’s newspaper, called Tia Talks. When I entered high school, I decided to take “Journalism” as one of my electives…and I was hooked. But even before that I used to enter every fiction writing competition that was school and county-wide. However, I never fathomed that my love for writing would lead to a career as a novelist. It wasn’t until I was included in a round of layoffs at a job in 1999 that God I truly began to search for my passion and purpose.
Are you a full-time writer? If so, describe your day?
My days are far from mundane and that’s because I have a three-year old son and soon-to-be one-year-old daughter. At the beginning of each year I try to map out when I want to turn in proposals, and from that point I estimate how much writing time I’ll need to complete the proposals and the manuscripts. Does that technique always work perfectly? No, but for me it’s about having those written goals to keep me focused.
Right now, the majority of my days are being spent working on promotions for my August 1 release, The Last Woman Standing. But when I’m writing, I work best when I leave the house and go to my local library or coffee shop. It prevents me from procrastinating and finding household chores and projects to do! I’ll write for a couple of hours, take an hour-long break, and then go back in for another two hours or so.
How do you balance your writing time and family time?
Good question! I think my family actually balances my time for me because with such young children, I’m pulled more to tending to their needs first. I can have the best intentions of waking up and knocking out 5,000 words in a day, but never get to it. But when there’s a deadline looming over my head, I take both of my children to child care during the week and call in my hubby and mama for back up during the weekend.
ABOUT THE BOOK
Lynette Bowers had no intention on falling in love with her ex-husband, “Ace” Bowers. After all, it has been ten years since their marriage ended, and two years since the beginning of his relationship with the younger and prettier, Sheila Rushmore. Besides Sheila, everyone knows that only a fool makes the same mistake twice, especially when it comes to marriage.
Ace seems stuck between his past and his future. With his conflicting emotions, he risks losing two women who hold a significant place in his heart. It’s going to take his faith and God’s love to handle the ensuing drama.
Sheila is starting to see Ace’s ex-wife as a threat to her lifelong dreams of achieving the happily-ever-after. Sheila is used to getting what she wants – except Ace’s commitment to marriage. When Sheila realizes Lynette may be the cause, she launches a plan to play the hand of God, instead of allowing Him to bring the love all three of them desire.
THE LAST WOMAN STANDING BLOG TOUR GIVEAWAY
Tia McCollors is the author of four Women’s Fiction books. Read the question below to see if you can answer it and provide the name of the book in which it was featured.
What is the name of Monet Sullivan’s long-time (but unequally yoked) love interest in Zora’s Cry?
Leave your answer in the comment section. All post with correct answers posted to the blog comment sections will be entered in a random drawing for prizes. The more you post (with correct answers) the better your chances. Winners will be contacted via email and also posted on Tia’s Blog, “From Tia’s Pen”.
Contest prizes include:
- $5 gift card to Smoothie King or Panera Bread (Winner’s Choice)
- $5 gift card to Chick-Fil-A
- $10 gift card for Border’s
- Autographed copy of The Last Woman Standing
- Autographed copy of The Last Woman Standing
Follow the rest of The Last Woman Standing Blog Tour at:
http://bitly.com/TheLastWomanStanding
Tia’s Contact Info:
- www.TiaMcCollors.com
- Tia@TiaMcCollors.com
- www.myspace.com/TiaWrites
- http://www.shoutlife.com/TiaWrites
- Visit Tia’s blog: www.TiasPen.blogspot.com
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