Today we’d like to introduce you to Tara Gilboy.
Hi Tara, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I have wanted to be a writer for as long as I can remember. From the time I learned to read and write, I was always daydreaming about characters and scribbling stories in notebooks. I was the kid who always wanted to be inside reading rather than out playing with friends.
However, as I got into my teens and twenties, I began to doubt that this was a possibility for me. I think many people go through this phase, where they feel pressured to give up on their dreams and get a more practical job.
I enrolled in college with plans to become a high school English teacher, but after I took my first creative writing class, I changed my major and never looked back. I was really supported and encouraged by my creative writing teachers, and I interned at the university’s literary journal.
After I graduated, I still didn’t feel completely confident writing, and I was afraid of getting off track, so I decided to go to graduate school. I earned a master’s degree in creative writing, and during that time, I wrote my first novel. While I never published that book, the process of completing it taught me a lot about writing. I kept working and writing, and I published the next novel I wrote, Unwritten, along with a sequel. Incidentally, during that time, I also started teaching again, only this time teaching creative writing for San Diego College of Continuing Education. Now I love both writing AND teaching.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
No, it has definitely not been smooth! A big part of becoming an author is becoming comfortable with lots of rejection. Most of what you send out to agents and editors is going to be rejected. It doesn’t necessarily mean that the writing isn’t good: sometimes it just means that the editor recently published something that was similar or about the same topic, or that it just wasn’t the right fit for them. It’s important to be persistent and keep trying.
Writing is also something that usually doesn’t make a lot of money, so it’s important to have a day job. I think this can be a good thing because it puts less pressure on the writing. But it is important to find a job that you are able to balance with writing time, so that you don’t end up putting the writing aside. I’ve worked jobs in the past that left me too tired at the end of the day to get any writing done. Luckily, that is not the case now, and I am able to do both things.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I specialize in writing children’s books, particularly middle grade, although I’ve lately been working on a young adult novel-in-verse that I am having a lot of fun with. When I first started writing seriously, my focus was on writing for adults, and I found myself writing these very serious stories with lots of big words. Then I took a class in graduate school on writing for children, and it helped me remember how fun and playful writing can be. Kids don’t have the patience for long, beautiful descriptions of meadows — they want to just get to the story! I try to give kids a good story and keep it exciting. I also like that you’re not limited; in children’s literature, you can make up these really magical stories about things like talking animals and chocolate factories and basically anything that you want. You’re not limited as long as you can pull it off.
I’m most proud of the feedback I’ve gotten from child readers about my two books, Unwritten and Rewritten. I also love hearing from parents and teachers how hooked the kids were. If a kid stays up all night reading my book to find out what happens at the end, then I’m happy.
Can you talk to us a bit about the role of luck?
There is a famous quote that says something about how luck is basically preparation meeting opportunity, and I think that is very true. I have definitely had my share of luck, but I also know that I wouldn’t have had that luck without working so hard for so long. I’ve spent years reading lots of books, taking classes, attending workshops and conferences, and practicing writing, so that when the right opportunities came along, I was ready for them. One of my writing teachers once told me that she had seen a lot of very talented writers over the years, but it wasn’t the most talented who were successful and published books. It was the ones who worked the hardest and were the most persistent. That has always stuck with me. So when luck comes my way, I’ll be ready for it!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://taragilboy.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/taragilboywriter/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/taragilboy.Unwritten
- Twitter: https://x.com/taramgilboy
