Congratulations to author T. L. Bradford on her recent release, Strange Love.
About the author:
T.L. always hated math, so it was a good thing she had a way with words. Since she was a shy and quirky kid; words were her best friends. She would imagine entire worlds in her head and talk to herself endlessly. Her mother wondered if she was speaking with ghosts for a while.
Her older sister was a voracious reader of trashy romance novels and would pass them down to her after she had finished them. T.L. was the only 10-year-old kid sitting in class reading “The Stud” by Jackie Collins during reading time. Oddly enough, she never got called out on it.
As she grew older, her tastes evolved, but one thing held fast; her undying attachment to love stories. One day out of the blue, she decided to write the love stories she always wanted to read instead of searching for her story. Since then, writing has been a dream fulfilled for her and she could not be happier.
She enjoys writing about love, regardless of gender and is a proud supporter of the LGBTQ community.
T.L. calls the Pacific Northwest her home and enjoys the quiet rural life of her little oceanside home with her playful/crazy husband and their giant dog Noah.
1. What inspires you to write?
For me, writing is the best way to achieve personal expression. I feel most at ease in my own skin when writing because I’m speaking from my heart. It is also the most accurate depiction of who I am and my personality.
2. When did you first consider yourself a writer?
It was when I received the initial feedback on my first book. Up until that point, I had been writing in a void, not sure if anyone else would ever read my book, much less be drawn to the characters I had created. To hear another person voice the names of my characters and emotionally connect with them, meant that the characters come to life. At least in my head, they were now real. That was when I felt I had become a writer.
3. Why did you choose to write in your particular field or genre?
I write in the m/m romance genre. It is a small, but growing sub genre of romance. I grew up reading heterosexual romance novels. As I aged, I realized I started to have a broader perspective of what constituted love. It was no longer relevant the love be solely between a man and a woman. Love comes in all shapes, sizes and forms. It was this open concept that drew me to the m/m genre.
I find the m/m genre intriguing as often times their stories are overlooked, or moved to the sidelines of an overall story. I wanted to dive into the complexities of same sex relationships and make the characters human and not the stereotypes typically seen in movies or TV shows.
4. How do you feel about indie/alternative vs. traditional publishing?
I am a great fan of indie/alternative publishing. It gives a voice and a platform to those who want to make a statement. Indie publishing levels the playing field giving writers like me, a chance to have their stories be told on their own terms.
To be honest, the reason I write indie is because I’m stubborn want to tell my stories the way I originally intended. I’m not sure I’d be interested in or have the same drive to write if I was always being told how to structure my stories and characters.
I’m aware I reach a smaller audience, but those readers I do have found me because they like my style and that’s enough for me.
5. Where did you grow up and how did that influence your writing & did any travels away from
I grew up in the Pacific Northwest in the United States. My father was a navy man, so we traveled around a bit while I was in school. When I was thirteen years old, we moved to Hawaii, which was where I feel I was most shaped as an individual.
Hawaii is very much an integrated community. I met people from all over the world and was exposed to all types of cultures, languages and customs I never would have experienced had I stayed living in one place. It rounded and grounded me as a person. I’ve returned many times since and hope to retire there when the time comes.
6. What do you consider your most meaningful work you’ve done creatively so far to you?
I would say my most meaningful work is a toss up between True Faith and StrangeLove. My stories come from existing people and situations around and within me. True Faith dealt with the main characters working to find middle ground in their relationship. They struggled to find compromise where both parties could be satisfied in the relationship. StrangeLove goes one step further by introducing the element of interracial love. Both are situations my husband and I have dealt with, loving each other through all the slings and arrows, ups and downs, and bizarre situations. The point is, we worked as a team to overcome those hardships and have come out stronger on the other side.
StrangeLove is now available on stores.
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