Tammy Dennings Maggy avatar

Tammy Dennings Maggy

Average Rating:

As far back as I can remember I have had two dreams: become a veterinarian and a world famous author. So far I achieved the first one and have enjoyed a wonderful career as a small animal veterinarian, but something has always been missing. I have never stopped writing; that has never an issue. The problem was getting up the nerve to actually finish one of my novels and submit it to a publisher. What a scary thought to send a stranger something I had poured my heart into. Would they like it? Would they see the characters the way I saw them in my head? Writing For the Love of Quinn was like giving birth to my first child…I had to let my characters go to see if they would take off…and boy have they ever!

Having grown up in Michigan and now living in Northern California, I have had the privilege to experience life in a small town and a big city. Everyone who I have met along the way has influenced my writing in one way or another. Their experiences as well as my own help make up the characters that I hold near and dear to my heart. Helping them find the loves of their lives as well as fulfilling a few fantasies along the way is just frosting on the cake!

Q: Was there a specific person that you modeled your characters after?

A: Depends on the character in question. Some of them are combinations of people that I know or who I am close to. Quinn specifically has a lot of my own life experiences in her story so I guess you could say she is my “fantasy me.” The male characters are also mixes of men in my life…those I have been in love with and those who I am related to. I take the mannerisms and other characteristics that appeal to me and combine them into a whole new person…sometimes it’s who I wish they could be!

 

Q: How do you squeeze in writing when you have a full time career already as a veterinarian?

A: I try to always have something to write down ideas into as they come to me. Right now I keep about 6 little notebooks with me to jot down ideas and scenes. When something pops into my head I get it out on paper as fast as I can. I don’t write the story in the order that it will be in the book. I do that later.

 

Q: Why did you pick Las Vegas as one of your key settings in For the Love of Quinn?

A: Why not? I love that town and I go every year to attend the same veterinary conference that I had Quinn attend. Putting a place that I love in my writing seemed so natural to me. Same goes for Disney. I love that place too!

 

Q: Have you ever had your heart and spirit broken like Quinn?

A: Yes I have and it was a very difficult time for me. I think giving Quinn the same struggle helped me to exorcise that part of my past and now I can move on and experience the joy in my life with family and friends. The emotional turmoil that Quinn went through is very real and a lot of people go through that pain. That’s what makes her story believable.

 

Q: Do you plan on writing more about the characters introduced in For the Love of Quinn or will you try another storyline all together?

A: Don't worry. You have not seen the last of Quinn and her friends! I am already working on the stories for the ladies introduced so far, and on another book with new characters that will be more fantasy with witches, warlocks and shape shifters.

 

Q: What brought you to California?

A: My job played a big roll in that. I moved to California in January 2000 from my home state of Michigan to a very small town in northern California and then Redding where I practiced small animal general and emergency medicine. I transferred to another veterinary hospital in the San Francisco Bay area in 2003 which is where I still reside. No matter where I am I will always be a Midwestern girl at heart!

 

Q: Is that why you made Quinn from Michigan?

A: Definitely. It’s much easier to write what you know and growing up, going to school and working in Michigan helped to shape who I am today. Michigan is and will always be my home whether I reside there or not. The changing seasons, the festivals, the Great Lakes, Mackinaw Island, my large wacky family all are in Michigan. What’s not to love about it?

Read more
Books Series
Recently Added 30 Day Bestsellers All-Time Bestsellers