G. Wayne Miller: Tabitha, you have published stories and novels in many genres, and you also produce podcast fiction, among other endeavors. Congratulations on such a successful career!
Tabitha Lord: Thank you, and thanks for featuring me today!
GWM: We’ll get into your work shortly, but let’s start at the beginning when you were a child. On your website, you write: “When I was a little girl, I wrote poetry, horse stories, adventure tales.” Please elaborate.
TL: I’ve been writing for as long as I can remember! I loved to write stories as a child. In fact, years ago, when I was sorting through some of my grandma’s things after she passed, I came across a whole collection of poetry and, yes, horse stories that I’d written when I was about nine. It was very sweet.
GWM: You also write: “I daydreamed about far off planets, brave heroines, epic journeys.” Again, tell us about that.
TL: I’ve joked that I write science fiction because of Star Wars, but there’s actually some truth behind this! I was seven years old when I saw the movie for the first time and it impacted me in countless ways – from my toy collection to the books I read, to my later love of astronomy. My tastes in reading are diverse, and now most of my other works-in-progress are in different genres, but sci-fi is like the default setting for my imagination. It’s where I go when I want to be inspired, to play with possibilities, to ask what if, and then create brand new worlds where I can explore the answers. For me, the sci-fi genre is also a place to consider serious, meaningful issues in a different context, slightly removed from the real world.
GWM: Where was your childhood?
TL: I spent my elementary years in Scituate and my teen years in Cranston.
GWM: Did you have any writing mentors – or authors you admired?
TL: I have a literal mentor right now for my grad school thesis! I’ve just started working with her, but I’m eager to pick her brain. Before now, I’ve had several people who’ve helped me improve my writing and navigate the publishing world. I’d say the person who helped me take my biggest leap forward with regard to good writing craft was my editor for the Horizon series, Amanda Rutter. Amanda is currently an acquisitions editor for Solaris Press, and she takes on regular independent editing projects, lucky for me. Her notes, prompts, questions, and straight up understanding of what good storytelling looks like helped me get Horizon, and the subsequent books in the series, into shape for publishing. That the series won so many awards is a testament to her work as well as mine.
GWM: Back to your website, where you write: “Then life happened. A good life, full of love, laughter, tears, children, work, play, and real adventure! Time passed, but the stories were still there, and one day I began writing them down again…” There’s a lot encapsulated there. Can you give us an overview?
TL: I dreamed of being a writer when I was a little girl, as I mentioned above. But I also wanted to be an astronaut, a doctor, and an archeologist! And then life happened, in a good way. I’m married with four kids, and early on a lot of my energy was taken up raising those kids, and in my career in education, and running a household. There just wasn’t much left over for creativity. I am not implying you can’t have young children and write. I know people who do it very successfully, but it was all I could do to string a sentence together!
Then my kids got older, the dynamics in my family shifted, and I began to consider changing careers. While I pondered what was next for me professionally, I took on a yearlong writing project at work, thinking it would give me the change of pace I needed. Turns out it was one of the most satisfying things I’d ever done professionally. Since I was in the habit of writing every day for work, I challenged myself to write creatively every day as well. A year later when the work report was finished, so was the first draft of a manuscript.
GWM: OK, now let’s get into your work. Start with your award-winning Horizon novel series. Briefly, what is it?
TL: Here’s my quick and dirty elevator pitch when I’m at a Comic Con… The Horizon series is like a World War II resistance story set in space! But here’s a little more. I wanted to explore the idea of what would happen if one segment of an already small, isolated population on a distant world evolved differently, either naturally or by design, from the other. What if they were empathic and could sense each other’s emotions and thoughts? What if some of them could heal with their mind? How would the unchanged people feel about their neighbors? It created such an interesting premise I knew I had to find a way to make it into a story. In many ways, Horizon is a traditional space opera, complete with battle scenes, adventure, and romance, but I think this initial concept sets it apart and gives it a unique flavor.
GWM: What about your short fiction and podcast fiction?
TL: I’ve written a lot of short fiction! I often use the opportunity to experiment with a different voice or genre or point of view. For example, I’m not a mystery writer, but I just had a short, historical mystery story released by Inkd Publishing for their anthology Detectives, Sleuths, and Nosy Neighbors. I don’t write a lot of horror, but I’ve sold three short pieces to the Tales to Terrify horror podcast: “Goodbye Charlie” (episode 404), “Lady in Blue” (episode 467), and “Monster” (episode 699). You can find most of my short fiction and podcast links on my website.
GWM: You write romance too? Tell us more about that.
TL: I write romance under the pen name Maggie Clare! I started during COVID when the world felt scary, and I couldn’t seem to focus much on my usual writing fare. I also couldn’t attend book signings, Cons, or any other events where my audience gathered. The final book in my original sci-fi trilogy launched just before COVID, and everything I had planned for promotion was cancelled within weeks. My whole creative vibe felt flat, and while I didn’t want to stop writing, I couldn’t seem to focus on the big themes, or the intricate world-building needed for speculative fiction work.
I found myself gravitating more toward romance as a reader. I needed the hope and the assurance of a happily-ever-after in the midst of the world’s uncertainty. In addition, my author brain understood that from a practical perspective, reaching romance readers might be a whole lot easier with the many online reading and writing platforms. The Tactical Solutions International romantic suspense series was born during COVID, and I released the first three titles during that time. The fourth is out, and I have several more planned, but once the world recovered, the other side of my writing brain came back online. Now, I split my time between Maggie and Tabitha.
GWM: You are a Rhode Islander, but we see this on your website: “I’m currently pursuing my MFA at Western Colorado University while roaming the country with my husband and menagerie of fur babies in an RV.” Another story here! What is it?
TL: After our last child went off to college, my husband and I felt like two old ghosts rattling around in our big house! Not to mention, once our daughter left home, all four kids were on the west coast–a five hour flight and three hour time difference away. So, we sold our house, along with most of our stuff, bought an RV, and hit the road. The whole plan was one of those wake-up-in-the-middle-of-the-night-with-a-crazy-idea moments, but we looked at each other and asked, “Why not?” We’re almost three years into our nomadic life now, and almost ready to settle down again, but it’s been an amazing adventure. If you scroll around on my Instagram page, you can get a good sense of our travels.
Regarding the MFA… The program I’m attending at Western is really unique in that it offers a genre fiction concentration–perfect for this genre fiction writer! I’m currently working on my thesis, which is a full-length fantasy romance novel, and I’m really excited to have the great mentorship this grad program offers. I’d also eventually like to teach at the undergrad or graduate level, and you need the advanced degree and paperwork for that!
GWM: We typically ask established writers this question, so can you please answer it? What advice do you have for someone, at any age, who is contemplating a career as an author?
TL: Finish what you start! I stand by this advice ninety-nine percent of the time. In fact, when new writers ask me for a piece of advice, this is it. Why? Because an unfinished manuscript will never become a book. Every writer will experience a lack of momentum, a conundrum about a plot twist, or a crippling moment of insecurity sometime during the writing process. The shiny newness of writing the first few chapters will eventually wear off, and we’ll have to power through the tough days to hit the finish line. I believe it’s worth powering through even if it’s only for the sake of getting to the end. We may have to rewrite, or even trash, some of our manuscripts, but until the whole story is out, we won’t know what we’ve got.
GWM: What’s next for Tabitha Lord?
TL: I have a couple of works-in-progress going at the moment. First, I’m finishing the manuscript for my thesis, which, as I mentioned above, is a fantasy romance novel featuring feathered dragons, lots of magic, and a nasty bad guy! I’m also working on edits for a contemporary romance novel featuring a runaway bride, her emotional support dog, and a hot firefighter, and I have three more romantic suspense novels on deck at various stages in the writing process for the TSI series. Finally, I’m pitching Dreamwalker, a contemporary thriller with a supernatural twist featuring a vigilante assassin and an undercover FBI agent. Lots happening in the next year or so!
Copyright ©2025 Salve Regina University. Originally published by OceanStateStories.org.
