Reviews

Meet Tammy Hinton

Today, Tammy Hinton joins us to talk a little bit about herself and her latest work.

Tammy Hinton says the greatest compliment she has received regarding her writing was “I never liked history until I started reading your novels.” Her family history has been the inspiration for both Unbridled and Retribution. Unbridled was a finalist for a Spur Award and Willa, and both books won a Will Rogers Medallion Award and a finalist of Western Fictioneers. Her novels contain family stories laced with actual events that took place in the area of the story. She challenges a reader to google scenes to see if the events were real or a figment of her imagination.

Can you share a little of your latest novel with us?

Retribution begins in war torn Georgia. A young woman is forced to grow up fast to help keep the family intact. Not only is her father facing their enemy in Virginia, but those left behind cope with the wrath of a Georgia Homeguard’s sergeant.

As Reconstruction further cuts deep scars in Georgia, the young family heads to Texas for a new life. Death rides the same road. Emilee demands justice. She’ll not be denied. A handsome local marshal complicates her settling of scores.

My love scenes are reminiscent of 1940’s movies where they take you to a certain level then fade to black. Nothing an author can put on paper can compare to what’s taking place in the reader’s head.

Where do you get your inspiration?

It all started with doing my genealogy. Three of my great-great-grandfathers left Georgia after the War Between the States and settled in Texas. Two then moved into Indian Territory. I have some pictures from the University of Oklahoma history library of my family taken in 1898. It shows them standing by a dugout they carved out of the side of a hill. That was home until they could afford to build a log cabin. Just think about living in a cave like an animal because you couldn’t afford anything better.

What makes you happiest?

Taking trips to places I’ve never been along with my sidekick, my husband. He’s good about stopping and even has come to love cemeteries. On our trip to Chattanooga we went to the Chickamauga Battlefield to see where my Great-great-grandfather Phipps fell on September 19, 1863. The guide told us the governor of Illinois had the bodies dug up in 1866 and moved to what is now the National Cemetery. We drove over there and my great-great-grandfather had a grave. No one in the family knew that. We all thought he laid in an unmarked mass grave somewhere. I kneeled at his headstone and told him who I was. I’m still thrilled just thinking about that moment.

What scares you the most?

How the public is going to accept the newest novel. An author puts months sometimes years into a book and we hope the reader feels the same passion when they read it.

What books did you love growing up?

I love biographies. Queen Elizabeth 1^st was my favorite subject. What a woman to have survived her own father and lived to become the queen during such a volatile period of history.

Is there anything else you’d like to share with my readers?

Thank you for inviting me to share this post and to your audience, keep reading. You’re part of the process as you mull over our words to envision each character in your mind. Each story is personal and subjective as it plays on that HD player in your psyche.