Meet TammyJo Eckhart!

Hey, folks. Meet TammyJo Eckhart.

Tell us a bit about your latest work.

Right now I'm waiting for my literary agent to sell one of two projects.

While she is doing that, I'm working on book four in for one of those projects, a science fiction series that is similar to the feminist science fiction of the 1970s.  I'm also finishing up a collection of short stories focused on the what I fear is the real possibility of the creation of debt slavery in the USA in the next generation if we continue following the same political trends.

The last published book I was part of is a history anthology that came out in the fall of 2016 entitled Our Lives, Our History. I wrote the chapter on ancient Greece and Rome.

What are the themes and subjects you tend to revisit in your work?

I look at power, authority, and the fact that all relationships and anything worth having in this world takes work, ongoing work. I don't pull my punches with sex or violence but I also don't just add those in for shock value.

What would be your dream project?

Honestly if my agent can sell the science fiction series I mention above, that's a 10+ book series that I have been writing parts of since I was in the fifth grade. Yes, the fifth grade! It is the project of my life.

If you have any former project to do over to make it better, which one would it be, and what would you do?

I think I could probably improve any short story or novel I've written but I learned a long time ago that you have to let go and give it your publisher and editor. If you just pick, pick, and pick at something you never get it out to others to read. Perfection is a killer to creativity.

What inspires you to write?

Generally I set myself a challenge to tackle X. X can be inspired by my relationships or events I see in the world around me. Then it is a matter of which idea my muses feel like working on and making time every weekend to do that work.

What writers have influenced your style and technique?

I don't think I've been influenced in terms of style or technique. But in terms of topics and not pulling  my punches, I love Octavia Butler who left us far too soon and Laura Antoniou who is arguably the biggest kink author in the world for the past decade. Readers have said that I remind them of the "good" books from Laurel K. Hamilton and Joey W. Hill but I require my readers to think more. *grin*

Where would you rank writing on the "Is it an art or it is a science continuum?" Why?

I think it is 70% art and 30% science. I do not believe that you can teach someone creative writing. You have the ability to be a storyteller or not, to be creative or not. But if all you do is keep those thoughts in your head or struggle to put the thoughts into understandable sentences, you'll never share your creativity with others. So you need to learn how to manage your time, how to write coherently, and how to accept editing and publishing guidance.

 Any other upcoming projects you would like to plug? 

Only that I hope folks come see me when I'm at conventions and that they heck out my website.