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Books4Guys - Tara Hodgson · Books4Guys

• 0:14
  SPEAKER_00: Full time junior high teacher.
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_01: Junior high teacher.
• 0:18
  SPEAKER_01: Wow.
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_01: So interesting.
• 0:20
  SPEAKER_01: So my I I'm kind of tying this into your book too because there's volleyball involved, and my wife is a teacher and a volleyball coach.
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_01: Uh for so when I got your book, or I was like, oh, this is gonna be a good one.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_01: And my wife even was like, Oh, that one looks good.
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_00: I was like perfect.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I was like, Well, I'm talking to Tara on the podcast, you know, here here shortly.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_01: She was like, sweet.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_00: That's awesome.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_01: No, but Tara, such an honor and a pleasure to have you on the Books for Guys podcast and and to talk about you and your work as you've written a couple books now, which is super cool.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_01: And we've got one of them, your latest, on the Books for Guys website.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_01: At least I'm trying and uh excited to talk about it.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_01: But no, Tara, tell talk a little bit about yourself and just kind of your story and how you started becoming a published author.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, uh, well, it took me a long time to get here.
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_00: I'd never really thought of being an author as a possibility.
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_00: I think it's just one of those things, like, oh, it couldn't happen to me.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_00: Like I couldn't do that.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_00: So I've always loved to write, but I pushed it off.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_00: I guess I got a quote unquote real job right out of university, and I became a teacher, and I've been doing that ever since.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_00: And that's really what inspired me, though.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_00: If I hadn't become a teacher, I never would have, I think, thought of this story, my first story, Chasing Through Times.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_00: Um, yeah, junior high teacher for 18 years.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_00: And I just noticed that like, you know, kids were struggling a little bit more than they had been in my previous years, and it started to get worse and worse.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_00: And I was doing a lot of reflection on that.
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_00: Like, why is their mental health deteriorating?
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_00: Why can't they focus anymore?
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_00: Like, what what is going on?
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_00: And it all kind of came down to social media and phones and just this kind of complete obsession with technology that kids have.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_00: And I felt really helpless on communicating that.
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_00: So I went for a walk one day and I had this story literally just fall into my my brain, like start, middle, end, entire story finished.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_00: And it was just like bursting to get out of me.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_00: So I came home and I started writing and I didn't tell anyone for a long time.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_00: I eventually told my husband, he's like, What are you doing on my computer all the time?
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and then yeah, I published it by myself, and then I was like, Hey, surprise, everybody.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_00: I wrote a book.
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_00: And yeah, that was the start of it.
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's incredible.
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and you're so right.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_01: I uh I was telling you before we we started recording, you know, I think if you were to just look at your book title, I think some people would be like, you that's a books for guys book.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_01: No, but it is because I think the message you're sharing is very important.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_01: And that's kind of the whole purpose of Books for Guys is to open yourself up to learning about new things.
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_01: And I know, like, you're talking about a teenage girl having, you know, going through this world now, and and dads need to know that who have daughters coming of age and around there, and boyfriends need to know that, you know, and just guys in general, we think we know everything.
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, thankfully, my wife challenges me a lot on that, where she's like, hey, here's my perspective and here's my thoughts.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_01: You need to see my view here, what I'm struggling with.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_01: And so I think your book really puts a message out there that can help a lot of guys understand some of these challenges, especially these new challenges with social media and what young people go through, specifically young women.
• 3:51
  SPEAKER_01: I can't even imagine, you know, the the pressure and and stuff that kids deal with just with this.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_01: And so that's why I was really excited for you to come on and share that because it's very important.
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_00: Well, it's very timely and prevalent too.
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_00: Like I think everybody has, you know, kids in their lives in some capacity, whether it's your own kids or friends' kids or nieces, nephews, whichever.
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_00: And it definitely like I've had a lot of dads read the book and you know, see the value in that and just wow, like I didn't know that these types of things could happen, or I didn't know these are types of things that kids are encountering.
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_00: Uh and yes, it is timely as well because it's not just kids who are going through issues with technology, adults are going through them too.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_00: It might look a little bit different, but it's a universal theme, I feel like, right now.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_00: And I when I started to write it, I felt like it was missing.
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_00: Like our book, our phones are with us all the time.
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_00: There's like a main character in many people's lives, and nobody's really adding that into fiction.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_00: Like there's lots of nonfiction books about it that are touching on that, you know, reading the facts and statistics, but I wanted to bring it into the fiction sphere because it is a reality for so many people.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I was just about to say a glaring difference in how you're sharing the message is through a fiction book.
• 5:07
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 5:07
  SPEAKER_01: As a lot of people talk about the issues and the problems, and you know, it's on the news and parents come, you know, talking with each other and and teachers like, why do these kids have phones?
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_01: You know, but to be able to put it into a fiction book to where it's a something you can get lost in and then but really, like you said, understand what's going on.
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_01: You can feel it, you can see it, but you do it in a cool way.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_01: And I've become a big fan actually recently of fiction books that have a real like purpose and meaning behind them.
• 5:38
  SPEAKER_01: It feels like before there was like your science fiction, like fantasy, normal fiction novels, and then you had your nonfiction.
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_01: But I've seen this trend the last, I don't know, and maybe I'm just new to discovering this, but I've found a lot of authors who are starting to put these these real meaningful messages and purpose into fiction reading.
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_01: And I've found that to be like way way more enjoyable, I guess, to learn about it that way.
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_01: So I think it's really cool that you did that with with these messages you're trying to share with putting it into a fiction novel, um, and into you know, kind of more of a story that you play out with the kids.
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_00: More entertaining, right?
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_01: I was about to say it's entertaining.
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, which you can still learn through that and like find a meaning behind it and find value within it.
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_00: Like I know when I was a kid, we were always taught that nonfiction is real and fiction is fake, right?
• 6:31
  SPEAKER_00: Like that's how it was always taught.
• 6:33
  SPEAKER_00: And I saw a quote not long ago that's rephrased that as nonfiction is learning through facts and fiction is learning through imagination.
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_00: I'm like, yeah, that's like you can read these books and still take away so much.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_00: And maybe you almost have a more vested interest because you connect with the characters and you know, you get immersed in their story, and it's almost like you're walking alongside them as they go through these real situations that now I can take stuff away from that and maybe be more empathetic to people and you know question the world around me.
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_00: And I think fiction is such a great tool for that.
• 7:09
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I agree.
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_01: I agree.
• 7:11
  SPEAKER_01: A lot of people can a lot of people may not want to pick up a a nonfiction book about this, you know, but maybe it's a little bit easier to read through the fiction lens.
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_01: But Terry, you were talking about how like you've had some dads read it, or you know, and some guys read it and have positive feedback.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_01: What what has been some of that feedback you've heard um from individuals have who have read your book so far?
• 7:32
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so for my second book, at least I'm trying.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_00: It is a tough read.
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_00: Like I know that's I do hear that a lot.
• 7:38
  SPEAKER_00: I heard it's hard, but it's so important.
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_00: So a lot of people have said, like, thank you for talking about the things that nobody else is really talking about.
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_00: It's hard, but it's essential.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_00: I had people say that it made them no want to go hug their kids right after and just have some conversations.
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_00: Lots of people cry.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_00: I tend to make people cry.
• 7:57
  SPEAKER_00: My first book had that effect as well.
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, those are kind of my favorite feedback when people say, like, you know, I it just made me think.
• 8:05
  SPEAKER_00: It made me, you know, talk to my kids.
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_00: It made me, you know, give my kid a hug.
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_00: I that was like one of my favorite reviews I got because that's really what I want to do is I want to spark conversations even though they're hard.
• 8:17
  SPEAKER_00: So that's been a lot of it.
• 8:18
  SPEAKER_00: Hard read, but an essential read.
• 8:21
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_01: And I wanted to mention your other book too, Chasing Through Time, if we didn't already.
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_01: But Tara, what um without giving too much away, because I want people to read the book.
• 8:31
  SPEAKER_01: Can you give a high-level synopsis of some of the things that you describe in this book and some of the issues that are having to be worked through?
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_00: So basically Reese is my protagonist, and she's a 17-year-old high school girl, and she is the star student, star athlete.
• 8:49
  SPEAKER_00: She has is used to being the best at everything, and she has very high standards for herself, and her family has very high standards for her as well.
• 8:57
  SPEAKER_00: So she's never really had to cope with failure of any kind.
• 9:00
  SPEAKER_00: And so when she does start to experience some failure, she doesn't know how to deal with that.
• 9:05
  SPEAKER_00: And her parents aren't very supportive in the sense that they just want her to do better.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_00: Just do better.
• 9:11
  SPEAKER_00: So they kind of turn away when she's struggling.
• 9:13
  SPEAKER_00: So instead of, you know, working through that failure and finding somebody to talk to, she kind of veers off path and makes some new social connections, which as a teacher, I've seen that happen so many times.
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_00: You know, you have a kid kind of at the precipice, and instead of keeping going in the same path they've been on because it's getting too hard, they completely veer off and lose themselves.
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_00: And this is what happens to Reese, and she needs a new friend named Cassie, who's kind of, you know, carefree, mysterious, the bad girl, everything that Reese kind of wishes she could be.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_00: And she connects her with a man named Liam, who she met on Snapchat.
• 9:51
  SPEAKER_00: So again, very realistic to where kids are meeting people today and connecting with people.
• 9:55
  SPEAKER_00: And Reese's life kind of takes a downturn from here.
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_00: And she really she finds herself in a very, very dangerous situation um where she is being uh what's the word?
• 10:07
  SPEAKER_00: Again, I'm trying not to be a spoiler as well.
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_00: Um she's being manipulated basically and um she needs to find her way back home essentially, and it's yeah, I put Reese through the ringer, but um it basically a couple of the themes that come up is obviously, you know, trusting your gut.
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_00: I I really wanted to have that theme come through because Reese sees so many red flags along this journey, but she doesn't trust herself enough to question them, and people easily explain it away and she believes them instead of believing herself.
• 10:43
  SPEAKER_00: And so trusting your gut, trusting your instincts, don't connect with strangers on the internet, definitely, which Snapchat is a whole beast.
• 10:51
  SPEAKER_00: I'm sure as your wife as a teacher has seen it too.
• 10:54
  SPEAKER_00: It's wild, the stuff that's going on on Snapchat.
• 10:58
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, those are the big ones.
• 10:59
  SPEAKER_00: Just trusting yourself and you know, try, keep trying, find the supportive adults as well, I guess.
• 11:05
  SPEAKER_00: Finding somebody to talk to and lean up.
• 11:07
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 11:08
  SPEAKER_01: Have you had a lot of your peer teachers read it?
• 11:12
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and is it a book that you think could be put in the hands of teenage girls in particular to to kind of again learn about these potential dangerous situations, but through a fiction book?
• 11:26
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I have like I teach grade nine.
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_00: So my students are like 14, 15.
• 11:31
  SPEAKER_00: So I've had a few of my like voracious readers read the book, and they're like kind of my biggest supporters.
• 11:38
  SPEAKER_00: I definitely have kind of labeled this like older whying.
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_00: Like I, again, I kind of on the side of you know, people deciding what their kid can handle, what they can't.
• 11:47
  SPEAKER_00: Nothing in my books are graphic, that's for sure.
• 11:50
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, they deal with heavy themes, but they're real themes, nothing explicit or graphic, but I would definitely say like, yeah, 14, 15 up.
• 11:58
  SPEAKER_00: And yeah, I've had lots.
• 12:00
  SPEAKER_00: I have great colleagues and friends who have been super supportive, and like they're so the first people who read my books and um, you know, give me reviews and tell people to read them for me.
• 12:12
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah, I I definitely think teenagers can connect to this book.
• 12:17
  SPEAKER_00: I actually have a group of beta readers who are teenagers of previous students, and they helped bring Reese to life because as an elder millennial.
• 12:26
  SPEAKER_00: I need help sometimes creating Gen Z characters.
• 12:29
  SPEAKER_00: So they were phenomenal in helping shape her and just making her a really authentic and relatable character.
• 12:35
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 12:36
  SPEAKER_01: It just seems like material that could be used, you know, as things have changed, it's a new way to maybe educate that particular group of people on potential dangers.
• 12:47
  SPEAKER_01: And again, in in kind of more of an entertaining way, but also a serious way, uh, to where they're not just hearing it from their teacher, their parents, you know, or an adult where they're like, yeah, whatever, but they can read it and maybe actually soak it in and be like, yeah, okay, this maybe I need to be a little more careful.
• 13:05
  SPEAKER_01: Because you know, I'll we're all like that.
• 13:07
  SPEAKER_01: We all want to figure it out on our own.
• 13:09
  SPEAKER_01: Um but with these certain situations, you kind of hope to get them educated on it before they experience maybe some of the stuff that Reese did in the book.
• 13:18
  SPEAKER_01: And so uh yeah, it just seems like maybe there'll be a lot more people pick up your book at that age, or teachers maybe being able to recommend it.
• 13:26
  SPEAKER_01: That'd be pretty cool.
• 13:27
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's the goal.
• 13:28
  SPEAKER_00: And honestly, that is, I think for both of my books, they hit like two target audiences because it is sure they're geared towards teens, but there's so many ways that it connects with adults, and I've actually had adults resonate up with my book so much more than I ever could have anticipated.
• 13:45
  SPEAKER_00: Because I think it does just start those conversations.
• 13:48
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah, like if I'm a mom and I read it, and then I let my teenage daughter read it, and now we can talk about it.
• 13:54
  SPEAKER_00: Like, hey, what like there's a lot of warning signs that Reese ignored.
• 13:59
  SPEAKER_00: Why?
• 14:00
  SPEAKER_00: Like, what could she have done differently?
• 14:02
  SPEAKER_00: It's such a great tool to have those conversations.
• 14:04
  SPEAKER_00: Because yeah, like you said, we can sit up there and talk about it all we want, but we don't know anything.
• 14:09
  SPEAKER_00: Like parents, teachers, we don't know, of course not.
• 14:12
  SPEAKER_00: So it's yeah, a different way of doing that.
• 14:14
  SPEAKER_00: And that's really what I want people to take away is to have those conversations.
• 14:19
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 14:20
  SPEAKER_01: No, that's awesome.
• 14:21
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe kind of an unfair next question because you have probably so much room to run with these two books for people to get to benefit from and to use.
• 14:30
  SPEAKER_01: And I guess, like, what's your writing process?
• 14:32
  SPEAKER_01: You said for this book, you know, it just kind of hit you.
• 14:35
  SPEAKER_01: You were you were seeing things, and all of a sudden the story came to mind.
• 14:38
  SPEAKER_01: We're like, hey, I gotta I gotta put this out there.
• 14:40
  SPEAKER_01: Do you have uh, I guess, future work that you're that you're working on all now as like a next story, or are you kind of waiting for that idea to hit you, whatever that might be?
• 14:51
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I see I have a problem where I have too many ideas.
• 14:54
  SPEAKER_00: So I have well, I've actually finished two rough manuscripts and I have like a list of four or five different ideas.
• 15:03
  SPEAKER_00: So it's similar style books or kind of so kind of stemming off those themes.
• 15:10
  SPEAKER_00: Like I have my I did finish another YE book, but actually focused on a male point of view because I think young boys, what their experience has been with social media is very alarming as well, but in a completely different way.
• 15:24
  SPEAKER_00: So I played around with a male point of view and I'm just actually working through edits and drafting that right now.
• 15:30
  SPEAKER_00: And then I wrote a full like adult manuscript too that's just kind of sitting on my computer where I looked at the whole other side of it, like as a mom, um, you know, what technology like affects on a marriage, which, you know, how does that affect your relationship and then connections with kids.
• 15:47
  SPEAKER_00: And then yeah, I have so many more ideas for YA books and and adult books, but still very real life.
• 15:55
  SPEAKER_00: Like I love contemporary fiction.
• 15:57
  SPEAKER_00: I wish I could write a fantasy book.
• 15:59
  SPEAKER_00: Like I can't even imagine the process that would go into that where you have like a 10-book series that are 800 pages long with this whole new world and characters and creatures.
• 16:09
  SPEAKER_00: It's mind-boggling to me.
• 16:11
  SPEAKER_00: But yeah, I love contemporary fiction.
• 16:13
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 16:13
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, well, you're definitely not short on material to be inspired by ideas, I would assume.
• 16:18
  SPEAKER_00: So there's almost too much.
• 16:20
  SPEAKER_01: But I think of it again, it's very cool that you're taking on, not even the challenge, that just that you're able to do this and put these and spin them in a way that it's entertaining, but again, there's a message there that can be taken from it.
• 16:34
  SPEAKER_01: And uh, I mean, I I couldn't do that.
• 16:36
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I you've got it, you gotta have that creativity and and thought process to do that.
• 16:41
  SPEAKER_01: And so again, it's very important that you're doing the work that you're doing.
• 16:44
  SPEAKER_01: And you never know what you what this could lead to.
• 16:47
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I know you're very passionate about writing and and wanting to do this as much as possible.
• 16:51
  SPEAKER_01: And I would say just keep keep it up.
• 16:53
  SPEAKER_01: Who knows where this leads?
• 16:55
  SPEAKER_01: And and we'll have to have you back on the podcast when you get these additional books written, because especially like from the boys' point of view.
• 17:01
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 17:01
  SPEAKER_00: And that's where it's a unique challenge.
• 17:03
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, exactly.
• 17:04
  SPEAKER_01: A whole nother topic and a whole nother challenge, uh, and and a lot of other issues that can be discussed and and be beneficial for people to hear that.
• 17:13
  SPEAKER_01: Uh Tara, what are you so far?
• 17:16
  SPEAKER_01: You've gotten two two published, you're working on more, but I guess what are you the most proud of from the first two pieces of work that you've put out there?
• 17:25
  SPEAKER_00: I guess just that I actually did it.
• 17:27
  SPEAKER_00: You know, like working full-time.
• 17:30
  SPEAKER_00: I have two young kids.
• 17:32
  SPEAKER_00: And I I think, well, I actually I think maybe the most thing I'm proud of is just overcoming that imposter syndrome.
• 17:38
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I say overcoming, but I don't know.
• 17:41
  SPEAKER_00: I think it's just a daily challenge.
• 17:42
  SPEAKER_00: It's a daily struggle.
• 17:44
  SPEAKER_00: I am extremely introverted and hate the spotlight.
• 17:47
  SPEAKER_00: I hate attention in any way.
• 17:50
  SPEAKER_00: It's was very hard for me to kind of put my words out there.
• 17:53
  SPEAKER_00: It was very vulnerable.
• 17:55
  SPEAKER_00: I always describe it as like you're peeling off a layer of skin, like you're just so vulnerable to letting the world see inside your head, essentially, and see all of your words that you've shared.
• 18:07
  SPEAKER_00: So just overcoming that and not letting that fear hold me back, I guess.
• 18:13
  SPEAKER_00: I'm really proud of myself for that.
• 18:15
  SPEAKER_01: That's amazing.
• 18:16
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and I was gonna ask, where do you find the time to write?
• 18:19
  SPEAKER_01: Because having a family and animals and I don't have kids, but I have a lot of friends that do, and I'm like, how do you accomplish all of this in a day?
• 18:28
  SPEAKER_01: Because I just have a dog and I'm like struggling to do anything.
• 18:33
  SPEAKER_00: It's hard.
• 18:33
  SPEAKER_00: I will say early mornings, very early mornings, but my kids are also older now, too, like 10 and 8, where they know if I'm writing and they can kind of entertain themselves a lot more than they used to.
• 18:44
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and I also just have a very supportive partner who takes them out of the house for the day if I need, or you know, just help helps out summer vacation.
• 18:53
  SPEAKER_00: That helps a lot too.
• 18:55
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 18:55
  SPEAKER_00: All of those little times I just take the the time when I can.
• 18:58
  SPEAKER_00: And for me, it's I enjoy doing it so much.
• 19:01
  SPEAKER_00: It's not like a chore.
• 19:02
  SPEAKER_00: So I'd almost rather do that than, you know, laundry or cleaning the house.
• 19:07
  SPEAKER_00: I'm like, oh, I gotta write.
• 19:08
  SPEAKER_00: That's way more fun for me.
• 19:10
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, love that.
• 19:11
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, actually something you want to do.
• 19:13
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 19:14
  SPEAKER_01: So that's great.
• 19:16
  SPEAKER_01: Is there I like to ask this question, you know, for anyone reading your this book in particular, at least I'm trying.
• 19:22
  SPEAKER_01: What it what are one or two nuggets that you hope someone takes away from it?
• 19:27
  SPEAKER_01: Or what's one or two lessons you hope somebody takes away from it after reading it?
• 19:33
  SPEAKER_00: Well, it does deal a lot with mental health as well.
• 19:35
  SPEAKER_00: So Reese is really struggling with her mental health, and obviously, you know, her journey takes her to really dark places.
• 19:43
  SPEAKER_00: So I want to show that, to show this character going through hard things.
• 19:49
  SPEAKER_00: You know, she's struggling with her mental health, but at the end, she comes out the other side.
• 19:54
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that's really important because when you're in, you know, a dark spot or you're really struggling mentally, it's hard to see that there is light on the other side, but there always is.
• 20:06
  SPEAKER_00: And so my books are they're heavy and they're emotional, but there's always hope.
• 20:10
  SPEAKER_00: It always ends in some kind of hopeful way.
• 20:12
  SPEAKER_00: Nothing is wrapped up in a pretty perfect bowl, but there's some kind of you know, hope at the end where we know our character is gonna be okay.
• 20:21
  SPEAKER_00: So I think that's important to just show people that even though things are really hard right now, they won't always be really hard.
• 20:28
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so that's one.
• 20:29
  SPEAKER_00: And then the other is definitely, especially for young girls, is just trusting your instincts because that little voice in your head, it's not just there, you know, for fun.
• 20:40
  SPEAKER_00: It's telling you something.
• 20:41
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, when you're a teenager, you don't know yourself or trust yourself as well as you do when you're an adult.
• 20:47
  SPEAKER_00: So it's easy to ignore that.
• 20:48
  SPEAKER_00: But I I hope young girls read it and know that they can trust themselves.
• 20:53
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
• 20:55
  SPEAKER_01: And it's good to have, for lack of a better term, leaders in adults putting that message out there, you know, trust yourself, but also that everything's gonna be okay.
• 21:05
  SPEAKER_01: Like we've all, everyone goes through these these tough, tough times.
• 21:10
  SPEAKER_01: And if you just hang in there, it's gonna get better.
• 21:12
  SPEAKER_01: You're gonna look back and you'll be able to share you how you got through it with someone else coming, going through that.
• 21:18
  SPEAKER_01: And so I love that that's one of your messages as well.
• 21:21
  SPEAKER_00: We also all mess up, right?
• 21:23
  SPEAKER_00: Like my characters make mistakes, like bad mistakes.
• 21:26
  SPEAKER_00: And that's actually kind of your job as a teenager, I guess, is to mess up.
• 21:31
  SPEAKER_00: And that doesn't define you.
• 21:33
  SPEAKER_00: Like you will get through that as well.
• 21:36
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 21:37
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 21:38
  SPEAKER_01: Well, one more question for you, Tara, because from what I've read, you love to read as well.
• 21:44
  SPEAKER_01: And so I would love to know what's a book or two that's been like, I don't know, had a positive impact on you personally or professionally, or just just one that you love rereading because you liked it so much.
• 21:56
  SPEAKER_01: And then if I were to ask, hey Tara, I need a book recommendation, what would you recommend?
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_01: Recommend to me.
• 22:01
  SPEAKER_00: Well, my number one recommended book is The Invisible Life by Addie LaRue by D.
• 22:06
  SPEAKER_00: E.
• 22:06
  SPEAKER_00: Schwab.
• 22:07
  SPEAKER_00: It's it's more of a fantasy book.
• 22:09
  SPEAKER_00: It is like I closed that book and I wished I could forget it entirely and start from the beginning.
• 22:16
  SPEAKER_00: And I remember I closed it and I said, My husband's not a big reader, and I said to him, I'm like, I feel so bad for you.
• 22:21
  SPEAKER_00: He's like, Why?
• 22:22
  SPEAKER_00: Because you will never know what this feels like.
• 22:25
  SPEAKER_00: Like to finish a book and just like it's so good.
• 22:29
  SPEAKER_00: So that's my number one like favorite book of all time.
• 22:31
  SPEAKER_00: I've reread it twice.
• 22:33
  SPEAKER_00: And I yeah, I love it.
• 22:35
  SPEAKER_00: I also love the Hunger Games series.
• 22:37
  SPEAKER_00: Like I love the Hunger Games series.
• 22:40
  SPEAKER_00: Um professionally, I would say any book by Kathleen Glasgow.
• 22:44
  SPEAKER_00: She's a YA writer who deals a lot with mental health and sensitive subjects like I do, and she just does it with such grace and sensitivity, and I love her so much.
• 22:53
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 22:54
  SPEAKER_01: Great recommendations.
• 22:55
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe uh maybe the Books for Guys platform can motivate your husband to read a little bit more.
• 23:01
  SPEAKER_00: He reads my books.
• 23:02
  SPEAKER_00: He does read mine.
• 23:04
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 23:05
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 23:07
  SPEAKER_01: At least do that, right?
• 23:08
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, he does.
• 23:09
  SPEAKER_00: He's my first one.
• 23:10
  SPEAKER_00: He he devours them.
• 23:12
  SPEAKER_01: I love that.
• 23:13
  SPEAKER_01: I love that.
• 23:14
  SPEAKER_01: Well, Tara, this has been awesome, and thank you so much for for coming on here and sharing about your books and the message that you're you're putting out there and about your future work.
• 23:24
  SPEAKER_01: Would love to have you back as a guest when those those are out there for people to read as well.
• 23:29
  SPEAKER_01: Because again, totally different conversations on those books.
• 23:32
  SPEAKER_01: And so would love to do that.
• 23:33
  SPEAKER_01: But no, Tara, I'm rooting for you and rooting for you to be able to do this full time one day.
• 23:41
  SPEAKER_00: Fingers crossed.
• 23:42
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, where you can just write all day and put all kinds of work out there.
• 23:44
  SPEAKER_01: And so, but we've got one of your books on the Books for Guys website.
• 23:48
  SPEAKER_01: We're gonna get the other one on there, and then every time you put a new one out, you let us know.
• 23:52
  SPEAKER_01: We'll make sure and spotlight it for you and uh put that out there for everyone to find.
• 23:56
  SPEAKER_01: And but Tara, thank you so much.
• 23:58
  SPEAKER_01: This has been great.
• 23:59
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, thank you so much for having me.
• 24:00
  SPEAKER_00: It was great.