Interview with Tami Dee, Author of Dawn of Viking Sunrise

I'm excited to have author, Tami Dee, here today, author of the Mists of Time Series. I've started her "Under A Viking Moon," and I LOVE it. Onto the questions...

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#1 - How did the Mists of Time Viking Series come to you?

TAMI: One night, at a ridiculously late hour that I should have been sleeping through but was not…I had a vision of sorts, of an apartment, a single woman, and a mural of an ancient Viking ship which took up an entire wall of the apartment. When the woman touched the mural, she was transported into to the Dark Ages and into an adventure upon the high seas. The odd thing is, none of the four books within my Mists of Time Viking series are even remotely related to the woman and the mural concept. Crazy huh? Someday, I really need to write that book.

STEPH: How interesting that is. I think that would make an interesting book as well.

#2 - Tell us about your characters in "Dawn of Viking Sunrise," Davyn and Rosie.

TAMI: Davyn is a character from book one, Under A Viking Moon, Dark Age time.
As a fourth son Davyn sets his own course to support himself, choosing a profession which takes care of his physical needs, and also allows him to search for his twin sister who had been stolen during a raid. Awaking one morning and finding the body of a woman he had spent the night with changes everything. Davyn is banned from his homeland until the mystery of who killed her can be solved, and not knowing if he himself is the one who murdered her leaves him shamed and riddled with guilt. His guilt is compounded by his seizure of Castle Rose Haven, the home he made for himself in the highlands of Scotland. His is a lonely existence until Rosie quite literally falls into his life and heart.

Rosie is also a character from book one, Under A Viking Moon, our time.
She is a woman of mixed heritage, Hispanic and Chinese, and the truest friend a person could ever have. She is rich, having inherited at an early age from a beloved grandmother. She is smart, a university student studying archeology who is also well versed in Karate thanks to her cousin Singlee’s training. (Singlee is also from book one and finds his own true love in Dawn.) Rosie is also grieving the untimely death of her fiancée and battling the loneliness caused by Kat, her best friend from book one, disappearance through Time.

STEPH: I am really enjoying Rosie in book #1. It's nice to see her friendship with Katla.


#3 Tell us a little about the plot of "Dawn of A Viking Sunrise."

TAMI: Dawn of A Viking Sunrise follows two souls who find one another despite having been born a thousand years apart. Each having had their lives irreversibly torn in two, together, through time and circumstance, love grows and helps them to become whole again.. They have adventures in Davyn’s time, traveling to ancient China and rescuing Rosie’s cousin, Singlee. A surprise mini romance unfolds just before the dramatic rescue which I hope will have readers smiling. Time brought Davyn and Rosie together, but the real question is whether Time will allow them to remain together?

#4 When did you start writing? Is your muse a tall, dark, handsome Viking? Hehe

TAMI: I started writing about four years ago. I have always wanted to write, but did not allow myself to seriously try and do so until well into adulthood. I have dyslexia and it is a constant challenge and frustration when I try and let my thoughts flow from my mind to my fingertips, only to be stumped by misspellings and words jumbled together and often put together opposite than I wished them to be. Needless to say it takes quite a bit of time from the start of a book to typing The End, but, in the end, it is worth it to me, and, I hope, to those who read my stories.

STEPH: Tami, I think it's great that you can put together such wonderful, entertaining stories with your dyslexia!

As for my muse….sounds like you’ve already met.

STEPH: hehe

#5 Do you have an ebook reader? If so, which one. Do you have any tips for using it?

TAMI: I have a Kindle. It is the only ebook reader that I have ever used and I really enjoy it. A helpful aspect of my Kindle is that I can e mail my own works in progress to my Kindle and use the audio to listen to the flow of my own story.

STEPH: I love my Kindle, too. I have yet to try the speech to text feature, but I hope to, soon.

#6 - What was the last movie you saw? In the movie theatre. DVD's don't count.

TAMI: I just had winter break (dh and I both have two weeks off work) and dh and I saw: Avatar (best movie ever made—IMO) 2012, and Sherlock Holmes. We do marathon movies every winter break. Sigh… just love those two weeks.

STEPH: Sounds like fun. During the holidays I had a chance to take my son, Andrew, 7, to see Alvin and the Chipmunks. Ah, to see an adult movie with my husband again... I pray for that opportunity every day.

#7 - Who are your favorite writers?

TAMI: I am afraid to say, because there are so many and I just know I will leave someone out. As a matter of fact, I never make public announcements as too whose books I have bought and read, (especially authors from my publishing house. To me my fellow authors are more like family than strangers who write for the same company) because the truth is I wish I could afford to read EVERYONES book, but the bottom line is I just can not afford to do so and I hate to hurt anyone’s feelings by mentioning one authors work and not another’s. (winter break movies can drain a bank account. Lol)

#8 - Tell us about Half Moon Bay. Does it inspire your storytelling? How so.

Yes, it really does. The little ocean side city is only about two and a half hours away, the perfect distance for a day trip. DH loves to fish, and I take my lap top and write, write, write. Although I have never set a story there, the ocean, atmosphere and scents really help me be creative.

I will never forget the time I wrote a really sad scene while sitting atop a flat bolder of a man made pier while dh fished. A cold wind was blowing, the sky was gray, waves crashed against the boulders and I cried as I typed. My husband glanced over his shoulder, then did a double take and shook his head. He just does not get that I never know what is going to happen as I type, so if it happens to be sad… well, I cry. (Shrug—doesn’t everyone?)

STEPH: I can tell your love for the bay comes through in your writing. The first time I saw the Golden Gate Bridge, I was filled with emotion. I wanted to write a story about a winery in early 1940's during World War II.

Thanks so much for interviewing me.

STEPH: Thanks for popping in and happy writing!