Tara Taylor Quinn - Guest Blogger

It's a pleasure to welcome Tara Taylor Quinn back. She has a very unusual story to tell about herself, her husband, and her latest book, It Happened On Maple Street, so I'm not going to spoil it. Thank you, Tara.

A huge thank you to Lesa for having us back! We’re on a fifty stop blog tour and finding great things at every stop. This one is a five star visit. Please take time to look around, to scroll through and read previous posts. If you’re anything like me, you’ll blink and find out an hour had passed without your knowing about it.

We’re here today talking about It Happened On Maple Street – a true, domestic violence survival story, written by me, a bestselling author of romance. In some ways my life is the biggest irony of all. But I’m changing it into the shining light of truth.

My husband, Tim Barney, and I met at 18. Fell in love. And because I didn’t tell him the truth about something that had happened to me, we went our separate ways. But I’d had a taste of true love. I’d met my true love. I knew that the love existed. And so I spent the next twenty-seven years writing about it. Successfully. I have 56 books in print with Harlequin and MIRA books. I’ve hit the USA Today bestseller list. I’ve won awards. And in my deepest core, I was living a lie. The only person I could love wholeheartedly, honestly, was my daughter. Because she didn’t have to know about my past. It had nothing to do with her. Parents weren’t supposed to saddle their children with baggage so keeping my secret was the right thing to do. Or so I thought.

I didn’t see, couldn’t see, that my baggage was in our home. It enveloped the choices I made. The people I associated with. In keeping my secret, I was setting an example for her that I regret with all of my heart. I told her to always listen to her heart. To act on the dictates of her own heart. I believed that I was doing the same. I was not. The only part of my heart that was open and healthy and capable of fully loving was the huge part that she owned.

My daughter is not the only person hurt by my silence. There are so many. And I bear the weight of that every single day. And so I bring you It Happened On Maple Street, the complete truth of my relationship with Tim and the abuse I suffered, with circumstances changed in the middle years to protect the innocent. I hope that in the telling of this story those I have inadvertently hurt will gain some understanding. And I hope that the one in four women in the United States who suffer from domestic violence still will find the strength and the will to take control of their lives. To dare to speak up. To dare to reach for the joy. Because the bottom line, the end of the story is that there IS joy. Wonderful, all encompassing joy. A joy that holds my hand through the hard moments. A joy that holds on to my life when I cannot see the value in it.

I’m here to testify that standing up is worth every single bit of the pain of doing so. I took my stand, twenty-seven years late, but I took it. In January of 2007 I verbally spoke my intention to take control of my life. And less then twenty-four hours later, I was blessed by an email in my inbox when I sat down to finish the work I had in progress (Behind Closed Doors, MIRA Books.) The email was from Tim Barney, my very first love. It was the first I’d heard from him in twenty-seven years. Six weeks later I’d moved cross country. And now, four years later, married to Tim, I am living the love I’ve spent more than twenty years writing about.

This past fall, at the invitation of HCI books (non-fiction publisher of the original Chicken Soup for the Soul books) Tim helped me write It Happened On Maple Street. It is our love story. And it’s so much more…

This post is brought to you as part of the It Happened On Maple Street International Blog Tour. For a complete tour schedule visit http://www.tarataylorquinn.com/. All blog commenters are added to the weekly basket list. Gift Basket given each week to one randomly drawn name on the list.

If you or someone you know is a victim of domestic violence, or if you suspect someone is, please contact http://www.thehotline.org/, or call, toll free, 24/7, 1-800-799-7233 (SAFE) or 1-800-787-3224 (TTY). The call can be anonymous and is always confidential. There is not one second of life that is worth wasting.

Next tour stop, Tuesday April 19, Fresh Fiction: http://freshfiction.com/pages.php?id=blog.

To get your copy of It Happened On Maple Street, visit your favorite bookseller, or http://www.maplestreetbook.com/.

Don’t miss The Chapman Files! Still available at: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Tara+Taylor+Quinn.

It Happened On Maple Street is soon to be available on Kindle and Nook, too! http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0757315682/ref=s9_simh_gw_p14_d2_i1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=0SKJ9D86BB5XG2BPT4MV&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=470938631&pf_rd_i=507846; http://search.barnesandnoble.com/It-Happened-on-Maple-Street/Tara-Taylor-Quinn/e/9780757315688/?itm=15&USRI=tara+taylor+quinn. 

Thank you, Tara. It takes a great deal of courage to write and speak about abuse. Thank you for sharing your story in It Happened On Maple Street.

Tara Taylor Quinn, Guest Blogger

It's my pleasure to welcome romantic suspense author Tara Taylor Quinn as guest blogger today.  Although, actually, Tara has turned that job over to someone else.  But, no matter who is doing the blog, they're discussing Tara's The Chapman Files series, particularly, the third book, The Third Secret.  Thank you, Tara.

Today, November 1, marks the beginning of the third month of The Chapman Files International Blog Tour! Expert witness psychologist Kelly Chapman and I are on tour this fall to promote the release of the first four Chapman Files.

Today is the official on sale date for The Third Secret!

I, however, was pushed out of the way today. Kelly decided it was time for her to interview Tim. And I learned a couple of years ago not to argue with Kelly when she got that particular tone in her voice. So I’m turning you over to Kelly and Tim.

Kelly: Tim, thanks for doing this. Just to let everyone know, you’re on the tour with us, and on physical tour with Tara. You’re official title is Tour Guide and Business Director, is that right?

Tim: That’s right.

Kelly: And you’re Tara’s husband.

Tim: That’s correct. I am her husband and her lover.

Kelly: Tim, what’s it like living with a romantic suspense writer?

Tim: There’s never a dull moment. There’s plenty of conversation for all seven of us.

Kelly: (with a grin) I thought the two of you lived alone.

Tim: We do. But every night there are at least half a dozen characters that show up for dinner.

Kelly: Have you ever read any of her books?

Tim: I haven’t read the physical books because I know them from discussing them daily with her. I have read parts of them. And we’re listening to The Chapman Files on audiobook. These were Tara’s first books to be released in audio format.

Kelly: What can you tell us about The Third Secret that we wouldn’t find out anywhere else?

Tim: There was a lot of angst over a shot glass.

Kelly: Do you ever help her with her work?

Tim: Yes. Tara gets stuck on plot details and that’s where I come in. Like, what kind of farming chemicals would be associated with making Methamphetamine? How do you connect three people together with one piece of evidence? And how do you get a body off a path without any evidence left behind? I’m also her technical resource, especially regarding firearms. If I she has a question and I don’t know the answer, I’ll look it up on the internet.

Kelly: When you do work out these plot details? Or how do you do it?

Tim: Most of our plotting is done either on the skate path, on our nightly walks, or over a glass of wine. It’s always in the evenings when the rest of the world can be put aside.

Kelly: So she never works at night?

Tim: She’s on the job twenty-four seven. We try to end the work day by five. But when she’s on deadline, she works at night, and I’m in there with her, either doing my own work, or helping her.

Kelly: What do you do for a living?

Tim: I’m an engineer.

Kelly: Is that something you plan to do in the future?

Tim: No. I plan to leave that line of work and do some things I’ve always wanted to do.

Kelly: What can you tell us about Rick, the hero in The Third Secret?

Tim: The character was a combination of Jack Bauer from the television series, “Twenty-Four,” and Tim Barney.

Kelly: (laughing) So you think you’re the inspiration for her heroes?

Tim: Yes, I know I’m her inspiration.

Kelly: Aside from the writing, what’s Tara like to live with?

Tim: It’s great. We have the same interests, the same passions.

Kelly: I hear Tara’s not the only author in the family anymore, can you tell us about that?

Tim: Tara and I are doing a joint project together - our love story. I’m writing thirty percent of the book, Tara’s doing the rest. We’re collaborating on all of it. We actually just finished this weekend.

Kelly: How did the project come about?

Tim: Tara was approached by HCI books this summer during a writer’s conference. HCI was launching a new line of books about true love and they wanted a story from an author’s perspective – a romance author who doesn’t just write the words, but actually lives the life.

Kelly: HCI, they’re a non-fiction publisher, right?

Tim: Yes they are. They published the original Chicken Soup For the Soul books as well as hundreds of other bestselling self help books.

Kelly: Do you have a title yet?

Tim: Yes, It Happened On Maple Street. It’s to be released in April of 2011.

Kelly: Can you tell us a little bit about the charity Tara’s involved with?

Tim: Tara is committed to raising awareness for the fight against domestic abuse and she is working tirelessly to that end. We’re hosting a charity skate in Phoenix in December and we’ll both be skating in it. We’ve also made a business decision to donate 5 cents from every retail sale of The Fourth Victim in the month of December to Strengthen our Sisters, the first domestic abuse shelter in the United States.

Kelly: Do you have anything else you’d like to say?

Tim: All of the readers out there who like The Chapman Files should let MIRA know they want more of them!

Kelly: I agree with you there! And I’m not beneath begging. I have a lot more files I’d like to share with Tara and the rest of the world. I’m meeting so many wonderful people on this tour and out in the world. Please, anyone out there, if you like the series, let people know! I don’t want to sink back into the oblivion of being just one more character that inhabited Tara’s mind!

Tim, one more question. Is Tara a good cook?

Tim: Yes. She’s a great cook. Her favorite thing to make is reservations.

Kelly: Thanks, Tim, for doing this. Tara’s one very lucky lady to have you.

Tim: And I’m a lucky man.


This post is brought to you as part of The Chapman Files International Blog Tour. Over the next three months, as we celebrate The Chapman Files, expert witness psychologist Kelly Chapman and I are going to be asking for help. If you can, join us in our fight against Domestic Abuse. If you’d like to help, go to http://www.tarataylorquinn.com/ and click donate. Or just comment here to show your support.

There’s an item from our new book, The Third Secret, hidden on the tour with us. Guess the item to enter the drawing to win it! Today’s clue: People Have Them But Hardly Ever Use Them. Send all guesses to staff@tarataylorquinn.com. To see previous clues visit blog sites listed at http://www.tarataylorquinn.com/. Guess as many times as you’d like!

Don’t miss The Chapman File tour party on December 4th at http://www.eharlequin.com/! We’re giving away a KOBO e-reader and many other cool prizes! All you have to do to be entered to win is leave comments on the tour!

E-books of all of The Chapman File Stories are available for pre-order at amzn.to/bmJzp4.

Next tour stop: Tuesday, November 2, 2010. Novelist’s Inc http://www.ninc.com/blog/index.php. We hope to see you there! The more blogs you visit with us, the more chances you have to win! Every time you comment your name is dropped in the bag for the prize drawings.

For weekly blog tour dates, visit http://www.tarataylorquinn.com/. Or to have the weekly schedule sent directly to your email, send request to staff@tarataylorquinn.com.

And, thanks to Tara Taylor Quinn, Kelly and Tim for today's guest blog.

The Third Secret by Tara Taylor Quinn.  MIRA, ©2010. ISBN 9780778328346 (paperback), 400p.