#WriterWednesday Author Interview with Tara Hodgson

I’d like to welcome Tara Hodgson to the blog for #WriterWednesday.

Favorite thing to do when you have free time: Go for walks outside no matter the weather

The thing you’ll always move to the bottom of your to do list: Putting the laundry away - I’m good at the washing and the drying, but HATE putting it all away!

Things you need when you’re in your writing cave: An assortment of beverages (coffee, water, sometimes a smoothie) and some background noise. This is usually Gilmore Girls on repeat. Not sure why it works, but I trust the process!

Things that distract you from writing: My phone and chores. The pile of laundry sometimes refuses to be ignored.

Hardest thing about being a writer: Finding the time to write in between my day job and other realities (aka. being a mom to two young kids, sleeping, cleaning) Easiest thing about being a writer: When the words flow and you create something from nothing. It’s a magical thing when that happens.

Favorite snacks: Pickles and sliced cheese

Things that make you want to gag: Blue cheese and olives

Something you’re really good at: Saying ‘no,’ setting boundaries, and protecting my peace. Something you’re really bad at: Leaving my house to socialize

Something you wanted to be when you were a kid: All I wanted to do was be a marine biologist. For some unknown reason, this was the career to aspire to in my rural community.

Something you do that you never dreamed you’d do: Public speaking because I was painfully shy growing up

Something you wish you could do: Play a musical instrument or sing well

Something you wish you’d never learned to do: Nothing!

Favorite places you’ve been: Costa Rica

Places you never want to go to again: Las Vegas

People you’d like to invite to dinner: Taylor Swift, Betty White, Stevie Nicks

People you’d cancel dinner on: Any current politician.

Favorite things to do: Have a cold beer on the boat in the middle of my favorite lake and jump in the water when it gets too hot

Things you’d run through a fire or eat bugs to get out of doing: Confrontation of any kind

Most daring thing you’ve ever done: Skydived on my 27th birthday

Something you chickened out from doing: I usually suck it up and do it anyways even if I’m dying inside while doing it

The most exciting thing about your writing life: I have the opportunity to highlight current, societal issues that are affecting teens by communicating them in a fictional manner. I love using my fiction as a means of sparking conversations and making people think

The one thing you wish you could do over in your writing life: I wish I had started writing seriously sooner. I have so much to say and feel like I missed out on so much time!

About Tara:

Tara Hodgson is the YA contemporary author of Chasing Through Time and At Least I’m Trying. As a long-time teacher, she is passionate about communicating the potential implications of a technology-centred world and spark necessary conversations about these impacts on teens, using her fiction to do so. She lives on an acreage in Sturgeon County, Alberta with her husband, two children, and a crew of cats and dogs. When she isn't teaching or writing, she is reading. She loves all genres of books, but especially YA Contemporary, Fantasy, and Dystopian (but she’ll read anything, really!) She spends her down time walking, camping, boating, and relaxing at home with her family and animals.

Let’s Be Social:

Website: http://www.tarahodgson.ca/