Kathleen Tailer Interview

Q: How long have you been writing and what other careers or jobs have you had?
A: I started writing in middle school and write for the sheer enjoyment of it. I won my first writing contest in high school, and a few years later published a few magazine articles in Fostering Families Today. I love creating characters and putting together a story of suspense and triumph as the hero and heroine find true love and overcome their adversities.

For my full-time job, I am an attorney and work for the Office of the State Courts Administrator in the Florida Supreme Court.

Q: Would you tell us about your current book release Undercover Jeopardy?
A: I was a foster parent and have adopted children with special needs, and my early legal work focused on helping abused children. Because of this background, I wanted to feature a character that was able to rise above a difficult upbringing and succeed. I have also been intrigued by those in law enforcement who do the very difficult job of going undercover and protecting us from those who have little disregard for the sanctity of life. This story blends these two themes, while also allowing me to use the names of my daughter, Bethany, and her new husband, Daniel. While my characters don’t resemble Bethany and Daniel except in name, I took great delight in using these names as I weaved my story.

Q: Where did you get your inspiration for this story?
A: I am constantly performing research, and got many of my ideas for Undercover Jeopardy from a news story about a man who had gone undercover in southern Florida and crippled a criminal biker gang at great personal expense.

Q: What is the main thing you hope readers remember from this story?
A: God is the God of second chances. If something has not turned out as you hoped, there is still time to effect change in your life and the lives of others around you. God is good, all the time.

Q: How do you choose your settings for your books?
A. I love to travel! While most of my books take place in Florida, my home state, some are set in places I have visited and enjoyed. I usually try to include some landmarks that residents will recognize, or at least include some of the local flavor of an area. This is especially true of Perilous Refuge, my book that took place in Maui, and I took pages of notes about places I visited while on vacation.
For Undercover Jeopardy, two of my daughters attended Covenant College in Lookout Mountain, Georgia, near Chattanooga, and I became very familiar with the area. We celebrated Bethany’s graduation in Coolidge Park where the Carousel is found that is featured on the cover.

Q: Do you base your characters on people you know or are they totally made up?
A: I borrow names from people I know, and hope that they are honored by being included in a manuscript. However, my characters and their problems and successes are all pure fiction.

Q: Would you share with us what you are working on now?
A. I have another book set for publication in June 2019 entitled Perilous Pursuit, and hope to have another one published later in 2019 that it tentatively entitled Interpreting Danger. Both of these books feature minor characters from my previous publications that now get their own stories. I have toyed with the idea of writing longer novels but have so enjoyed writing these for LIS that the shorter works remain my focus.

Q: If money were no object what vacation would you like to take and why?
A. I have gone to Africa on 3 missions and will return to Uganda in July 2019. While these trips have all been quite rewarding, I really don’t get to play a tourist while I’m working, and there are several parts of Africa that I would like to explore for the sheer joy of discovering more of God’s beautiful creation.

Q: What is the silliest thing you have ever done?
A. That’s a tough question. I’m not silly by nature, but do love spontaneity and have no problem packing a bag at a moment’s notice and hitting the road for a quick adventure.

Q: What is the hardest thing you have ever done?
A. My husband and I have 8 children, 5 of which are adopted from the state after they were removed from abusive situations. After being raised with and becoming the legal guardian for my brother, who has Downs Syndrome, I told God I didn’t want to adopt a child with mental limitations because it was just too hard, especially after already committing to caring for my brother. Even so, God gave me a son to adopt who was not only non-verbal and severely mentally disabled, but also autistic with a life-threatening blood disease. Yet as difficult as this has been, loving Joshua has been incredibly rewarding and has brought great compassion into our home.