Meet Tiffany A. White!

Tell Me Your Story Tuesday

WELCOME

Tiffany A. White

I first met Tiffany at a NTRWA meeting. She is such a sweet person. 

She is with us today celebrating her debut release.

Football Sweetheart 

Aimee Freeman is looking forward to the start of her senior year. She knows her best friend Ella has been keeping secrets from her all summer long, but with football season right around the corner, the student trainer decides not to worry about it—they’ll have plenty of time to catch up on the field.

Then Ella goes missing, and Aimee realizes those secrets might be the key to finding her. As the case unfolds, Aimee discovers more than one person may have wanted to harm Ella. Was it Ella’s current boyfriend, a social outcast the entire city seems intent on blaming for her disappearance? Or her ex-boyfriend, the beloved star quarterback who has harassed Ella since their breakup? The list of potential suspects continues to grow after Aimee reads Ella’s journal, but she must first break her best friend’s secret code to reveal their identities.

Unbeknownst to Aimee, her investigation has not gone unnoticed. Ella’s abductor is watching and waiting. Will he decide Aimee needs to be silenced—making her the next target?

 

Let's get to know Tiffany! 

How did you get into writing?

Writing is something I have always loved.  I was “that” girl who would help my friends knock out all of their writing assignments.  In high school, I fell in love with classic literature and writing even more so, but it wasn’t until college that stories started circling around in my head.  I switched my major from Biology to English, but then got lost in the world of Corporate America.  After ten years of working as an Executive Assistant, I used my lay-off as my opportunity to do what I really wanted to do—write.  Luckily, I have a great man by my side who has given me the freedom to tackle my dreams.

Your debut release is Football Sweetheart, a YA mystery.  Tell us about how it came to be. Did you have any particular sources of inspiration?

Football Sweetheart stems from growing up in high school football obsessed West Texas.  From a very early age, I spent every Friday night under the lights.  Is everyone familiar with Friday Night Lights?  Well, I lived it—literally.  I worked as a student trainer my three years of high school, just like my protagonist, Aimee, and I remember people traveling in from all over the country to watch Midland Lee versus Odessa Permian.  One man drove all the way from Iowa just to watch a West Texas high school football game.  Seems insane, right?  But it’s normal out there…

For whatever reason, I’m addicted to real-life crime stories… Forensic Files, 48 Hours Mystery, Body of Evidence, Snapped, you name it.  When I read, I read mysteries.  When I watch television, which is a lot, I love a good two-hour-made-for-TV mystery.  Therefore, I knew that I would write mysteries.  The kidnapping in my story is also a fictionalized account loosely inspired by actual events.  Unfortunately the real-life case was never officially closed, and it took place years before the internet was what it is today, so I couldn’t find much about it.  But I took my memories, memories that haunted me as a little girl, twisted in a ton of fiction, and created my mystery.   

What has it been like self-publishing your book? What has been the biggest challenge? What has been the greatest reward?

Self-publishing is no joke.  I work longer hours now than I did working in a very high-paced corporate environment.  However, I am a bit of a control freak… a fact I am not afraid to admit.  And self-publishing gives me the control that I need and I honestly wouldn’t change a thing.

The biggest challenge for me, besides the time and the fact that you have no money coming in until you are published, was the e-book conversions.  We (my guy and I) ran into a few small snags while converting to the proper mobi file for Kindle, but that was nothing compared to the issues we had with the epub file for Nook.  I used a special collegiate font for my chapter and part headings that wouldn’t carry over, so after creating jpeg images for each one and it still not working properly, we had to embed the fonts into the text.  This is where having a computer programmer for a boyfriend really comes in handy because I would have thrown my laptop through the window.  We also had to reformat my tabs and spacing to make both formats work, but now we know...

The greatest reward has to be the fact that I have now accomplished my dream, and it’s all mine—I don’t have to share it with anyone, except the small percentages to the direct sale vendors (Amazon, Barnes & Noble, etc.).  Best feeling ever.

I hear you are slightly obsessed with TV.  What is your current "can't miss" show?

I believe slightly obsessed might be an understatement.  I watch almost everything on television.  The DVR may be the best invention ever.  And I’m lucky; my DVR records four shows at the same time, and I make it work every night to earn its keep.  Hahaha.

Making me choose just one “can’t miss” show is difficult, but I’ll try.  It’s summer time and there’s not the usual abundance of new programs between the hours of 7pm and 10pm, but there are some great television series airing right now.  So just one? 

Um…. Pretty Little Liars.  

This doesn’t mean that I don’t love True Blood, The Closer, Rizzoli & Isles, Burn Notice, and Suits just as much, but you did imply only one show…

Now in the fall… wait, you didn’t ask about the fall.  

If you were going to dinner with any TV character, who would you chose and why?

Ooo, what a question!!  My mind immediately jumped to two of the hottest men on TV today for the obvious reason—I love them:  Damon Salvatore and Neal Caffrey.  See, again I can’t choose!  Damon and Neal both sweep me off my feet on a weekly basis.  Both have unbelievably gorgeous eyes and wicked smiles.  We might not say much at dinner, but I’d be a happy, happy girl.

If I was looking for a conversation, I’d probably invite Emily Thorne.  Some may know her as Amanda Clarke.  I’d want to pick her brain… her life experiences make for some great fiction.  Revenge always tastes sweet, right?  

What does your writing process look like? Are you a super-plotter or see-what-happens pantser?

I am definitely a plotter.  I wouldn’t say super-plotter, but plotter none-the-less.  This dates back to my days in high school.  I always outlined, including Roman Numerals, before writing any paper.  Last year at DFWcon, I attended a great workshop on plotting, and I’ve thrown my outlining out the door and now use a story arch.  I open up my notebook to two clean pages, draw an arch from the bottom left corner to the right, and insert all of my major and minor plot points.  Now, that’s not to say I don’t change the story a bit as I go, we all know our characters sometimes take over, but I always reference back to my arch.  

What has been the best advice you've heard along this journey?

The best advice I’ve heard along this journey is to never give up.  I’ve really never been a quitter, but sometimes hearing that others have struggled with the exact same things throughout their journey helps someone like me push through.  Perhaps my favorite line, and one that I use often, comes from Kristen Lamb’s social media guide and the online group known as Wana – We Are Not Alone.  We’re not alone.  Someone out there has battled the very same issues we face.  And finding a community of writers to share their experiences is the best therapy session for any of us.  I’ve been absolutely blessed to have the online and real-life relationships that I do. 

What's next for you? 

 Writing…  I’m currently writing book two in The Football Sweetheart series.  The novella picks up thirty days after Football Sweetheart ends, and we catch up with Aimee and her friends during Halloween week.  Oh, and of course there’s a new mystery…

Want to get to know Tiffany better? You can find her at her Blog, Facebook, Twitter,  or leave her a comment or question below.