Tara Wyatt | The official spiel
Tara Wyatt is a Canadian contemporary romance author. Known for her humor and steamy love scenes, Tara's writing has won several awards, including the Golden Quill Award and the Booksellers' Best Award. In addition, she was a 2018 RITA® Finalist for her romantic comedy novella, Until the Sun Sets.
When she's not hanging out with your next book boyfriend, she can be found reading, watching movies, and drinking wine. Tara lives in Hamilton, Ontario with the world's cutest dachshund, as well as her husband and daughter.
Tara Wyatt | More than You wanted to know
When people find out I’m a romance writer, one of the first questions I get asked is: “how did you get started writing?” And I usually just shrug and say, “I don’t know. I kind of always have.” Which is true. I remember being bored in class in grade 2 or 3 and writing stories in the back of my math book. When I was in grade 6, my friends and I had a notebook we’d pass around, jointly writing kissing fantasies about Nick Carter and Taylor Hanson.
So it’ll probably come as no surprise to learn that I’ve always loved romance. No matter what I was watching or reading, I was always drawn to the love stories. And I read - A LOT. Sweet Valley High, Babysitter’s Club, Goosebumps. When I was older, I graduated to Joan Lowery Nixon and Christopher Pike. And when those weren’t titillating enough, I’d sneak romance novels off my mom’s book shelf. I’d stay up reading Jayne Ann Krentz, Judith McNaught, and Linda Howard, careful not to crack the spines or dog ear the pages so I could slip them back undetected the next morning. Was I old enough to be reading these books? Oh my God, no. But I knew that I liked how they made me feel. And I liked that what the women in the stories wanted actually mattered, unlike most of the books we were reading in school.
So, when I went to university (McMaster University in Hamilton, ON), I thought I’d study literature. Maybe I’d be an English teacher. Because I was apparently allergic to fun, I did an English degree with a double minor in psychology and philosophy. The philosophy minor was a nice touch, making sure I was extra unemployable. But I still knew I wanted to do something book-related, so I decided to do a degree in Library and Information Science with the hopes of working in a public library.
And that’s what I did, for almost 15 years. But about 6 years into my career as a librarian, I started to feel as though something was missing. I’d never let go of the dream of writing a book, and over the years, I’d dabbled in different styles of writing—historical fiction, literary short stories (good Lord, Tara), women’s fiction, even a little dystopian spec fiction. But when I started trying to write romance, something just clicked. It felt like what I was supposed to be doing, to the point where I was doing it when there were other things I was supposed to be doing, like, you know, working.
I started out going the traditionally published route, and my first ten books were written for traditional New York publishers. The first was Necessary Risk, which was published in 2016. (Fun fact: Necessary Risk originally started out as a romantic comedy called Caught Off Guard. After the publisher bought it, they changed the title and had me re-write the entire thing as a romantic suspense. I should’ve run, but I was a baby author and willing to jump through whatever flaming hoops they put in front of me.) After weathering the unpredictable ups and downs that is traditional publishing for a few years, I decided to try indie publishing, and I’ve never looked back.
Over the years, I’ve written across different genres of romance: romantic suspense, sports romance, and big city family sagas, but now my focus is on cozy romance - think small towns, cozy settings and activities, cinnamon roll heroes, hot, romantic sex, and a touch of magic.
For fun, I like hanging out with my family (I mean, usually), walking my dog, reading, playing cozy video games (think Animal Crossing, Stardew Valley), watching TV (how many times can I watch The Office? It’s LIMITLESS) and trying not to fall asleep during movies. I love rom coms, cozy mysteries and comedies the most. My bestie is trying to convince me I need to watch historical dramas, so maybe I’ll add that to the list in the future. I also have a weakness for the Real Housewives, and it’s both my biggest joy and greatest shame.
My favorite food is pasta, my favorite colors are blue, pink, purple and teal, my favorite scent is warm vanilla or my dog’s paws when they smell like Fritos. Oooh, or the smell of the pavement after it rains. (Did you know there’s a word for that? It’s called petrichor. You’re welcome.) I’ve lived my entire life in Southern Ontario, but I’ve never actually lived in Toronto. I’m obsessed with all things cozy and I’m a fall girlie through and through.
Told ya it’d be more than you ever wanted to know. ;)