Hope Tarr’s Printable Bio
IN HER WORDS:
I suppose you could say I've always been a dreamer. In my mind's eye, I can still see my first-grade teacher shaking her head and scolding, "Hope, stop daydreaming and pay attention."
I tried, really I did. But how could the dreary assignment on the chalkboard begin to lure me away from the dashing Disney fairy-tale figures populating my head? Cinderella and Prince Charming, Snow White and Prince Charming, Sleeping Beauty and Pr...
Well, you get the picture. :)
In middle school, I "graduated" from romance a la Walt Disney to grownup love stories by the likes of Victoria Holt, Anya Seton, and Daphne Du Maurier. Someday, I promised myself as I thumbed through my dog-eared copy of "Forever Amber," I'd write a romance novel of my very own.
That dream has weathered a Master's degree in Psychology, a Ph.D. in Education, a four year stint as a federal government research consultant, and several years as a freelance writer. In 1994 I finally packed up my graduate school texts, purchased Kathryn Falk's small, pink paperback entitled How to Write a Romance and Get It Published and joined the Romance Writers of America. I've never looked back.
As a romance writer, I get to spin fairy-tales of my very own--life-affirming stories in which the hero and heroine find not only their soul mate but their souls into the bargain. The theme of redemption underscores my first historical romance trilogy, The Men of Roxbury House. In the first book, Vanquished (July 2006), desperate circumstances drive my photographer hero, Hadrian St. Claire to accept an unsavory bargain: he has one month to ruin suffragette leader, Callie Rivers, by seducing her and capturing her fall from grace with his camera's lens. Only lovely, soft-spoken Callie doesn't fit Hadrian's mental image of a dowdy, man-hating spinster. As the passion between them flares from spark to full-on flame, Hadrian finds himself the one in danger of being vanquished. Read an excerpt from Vanquished or purchase your copy at Amazon.com. And please look for the other two books in the trilogy: Enslaved (June 2007) and Untamed (February 2008) in book buying venues as well.
Much like fiction, real life comes with its fair share of twists and turns. In addition to my beloved historicals, I've begun writing sexy, fun contemporaries for Harlequin's Blaze line. My contemporary debut, It's a Wonderfully Sexy Life (December 2006), is set in my native Baltimore, MD where I spent the first twenty years of my life. Like my heroine, Mandy Delinski, I love good food and many of my childhood memories, which find their way into the book, are er... gastronomic. Think the smell of old bay seasoning set atop a tray of steamed hard crabs, Bertha's mussels drenched in garlic butter and served with a side loaf of the house white, and yes, the hands-down most bodacious crab cakes to be found in any city on earth.
Whether I'm writing sexy, sophisticated historicals or sexy, ballsy contemporaries, an overarching theme in all my books is "compassion for all creatures great and small," namely the four-legged companion animals with whom many of us share our homes, hearts, and lives. As many of you may know, I spent six challenging but wonderful years launching and operating a national grassroots campaign, The Pet Overpopulation STAMP OUT. The campaign's goal, issuance by the US Postal Service of a commemorative stamp to educate the public about the importance of spaying or neutering pets, was achieved in 2002 thanks to widespread public support. More than 200,000 Americans wrote to Postal Headquarters urging that "Spay/Neuter Your Pet" be issued as a commemorative stamp. Celebrities including Mary Tyler Moore, Betty White, and Bob Barker added their voices to those of veterinarians, animal advocates, and yes, politicians from both parties. The stamps, depicting the adorable, furry faces of a former shelter puppy and kitten, were introduced to a national audience on Bob Barker's "The Price is Right" TV game show in early 2002 and then later formally issued at an American Humane Association conference and gala by none other than Joe Camp and the newly discovered Benji. Printed in a quantity of 250,000, "Spay/Neuter" proved to be a sell-out item, second only to the Elvis stamp in terms of sales. Talk about a fairytale ending...
Wishing you fairytale dreams and lives filled with Happily Ever Afters,
Hope
