Author Bio – Talia Jager is a young adult writer. She started writing in the mid-1980’s and has loved it ever since. She has two published books, Damaged: Natalie's Story and Teagan's Story: Her Battle With Epilepsy. Her third book is due summer 2011. She lives in Texas with her husband and their five daughters.
K.S. Hello and welcome to the blog. I am very excited to have you here. Why don’t we start off with a small introduction? Tell us a little about yourself.
T.J. My name is Talia. I live in Texas with my husband and five daughters.
K.S. Any interesting writing quirks or stories you would like to share with my readers?
T.J. I get some of my best idea in the shower, while driving, or waiting to fall asleep. When I finish a book, I have to print it out and then edit it with a red pen.
K.S. When did you realize you wanted to be a writer? What sparked the desire to pen your first novel?
T.J. I’ve always known I wanted to be a writer. I remember writing stories in elementary schools. I would hide notebooks under my classwork in high school and hide under the covers at night with a flashlight so I could write my stories.
K.S. What genre do you write?
T.J. I write young adult.
K.S. What would you say has inspired you most in your writing career? Or, who is your favorite author and why?
T.J. There are so many wonderful authors out there. Growing up, I looked up to Judy Blume, Christopher Pike, VC Andrews, Lurlene McDaniel, and Francine Pascal. I wanted to be like them when I grew up. Somewhere along the way I got discouraged and while I never stopped writing, I did stop thinking it would happen. Then came Stephenie Meyer. For some reason, reading her books, hearing her story, made me think, “I can do this. I can be a mom, housewife, and an author.”
K.S. What does your family think of your writing?
T.J. They are very supportive. As long as I feed them, clean them, dress them, entertain them, support them and make sure they’re happy, they are fine with me writing.
K.S. What was one of the most surprising things you learned while creating your book/s?
T.J. Story lines don’t always go the way you want them to and characters can surprise you.
K.S. What inspires you?
T.J. My children, music, TV shows, movies, other books, and real life stories. Sometimes it’s just a sentence I hear or a lyric in a song. But, something small will spark an interest and that leads to a book.
K.S. Can you tell us a little about any of your novels?
T.J. Damaged: Natalie’s Story is about Natalie Jarrett, a seventeen-year-old girl who falls in love with the wrong boy. When she finds herself in the hospital after one of his violent attacks, she can no longer turn a blind eye. Suffering from severe injuries, her doctor tells her she will never be the same again. Although injured and feeling guilty, alone, scared and most of all, damaged, everyone seems to expect her to return quickly to her normal life – but how can she bounce back when she blames herself for all that’s gone wrong?
Teagan’s Story: Her Battle With Epilepsy is about Teagan Kavanagh’s whose life is shattered when her parents are killed in a car accident. She must move in with her brother and is forced to attend public school for the first time in her life. As if starting a new school her junior year wasn’t hard enough, she continues to battle epilepsy and the constant unknown of when and where her next seizure will occur. As this new chapter in her life opens, she gets more than she bargained for. Torn between playing it safe and risking her life to be normal, Teagan must make a life changing decision.
My third book is about Caelyn Noel, a teenage girl who collapses in school. Her world changes when she is told her heart is failing and if she doesn’t get a new heart soon, she will die.
K.S. Where can we buy your novel?
T.J. Right now both of my books are for sale on Amazon and Barnes and Noble.
K.S. Do you have a website, fan site, or Blog that we can visit?
T.J. My blog is http://taliajager.blogspot.com
My Facebook fan page is http://www.facebook.com/taliajager
My Twitter page is http://www.twitter.com/taliajager
K.S. Do you have any closing advice to aspiring writers?
T.J. I tell people three things. Write as much as you can as often as you can. Write for yourself, not anybody else. Believe in yourself and never give up.