Tar Atore
Detailed bio
As an avid reader from a young age, Tar Atore got introduced to queer fiction fairly late and even more so to queer characters in her favourite genres - fantasy and science fiction.
Now, she focuses on writing those genres by building relationships between her queer characters that enhance the plot without taking over the genre. She's a fan of subtle romances that smack and epic scales that don't feel overwhelming. She has a habit of playing with common tropes and twisting her plots.
When not writing, you can find her still with a book at hand and cat in lap! Or more likely on her computer, designing, coding, drawing, and working with other indie authors to get their covers, maps, and typesets looking as best as they can be!
If you want to read more by her, make sure to stay tuned and subscribe to her newsletter.
Writing history
I started writing with RPs on MSN Groups (does that tell you my age? 😉) as a way to better my English. I loved it enough to go solo and let the worlds in my head grow… except for a long period of time right after starting my undergraduate degree in Professional Writing. I still remember, first class in my major, huge lecture hall of 800+ students, and the professor started our first year at school with all the reasons why we shouldn’t become writers. Inspiring 🙄
Unfortunately, I listened. I still did some small pieces of writing here and there, and I self-published a collection of short stories after graduating, but I had lost the spark and then I stopped writing completely for about 6 years.
Then, I wanted to get back into writing my story—-the one I had been working on for over 10 years before an asshole crushed my dreams. I found a Discord server with the support and people to push me.
That year, I started writing what was supposed to be a short novel about one of the minor characters from my main story just to get me back in the right mindset. 200k words later and I started a monthly word tracker. 200k words more later, and I was on “book 6” of that short novel. I started editing it and then serializing it online, and then a friend told me about a contest on RoyalRoad.
Enter our co-writing project! That was so much fun and I can’t wait for us to get back into it--but the real turn in my writing came about when that same friend convinced me to join a writing derby. I planned, drafted, edited, wrote, and published Soultaming the Serpent in 3 months! I now consider this my debut novel. Since then, I :
- Published a sci-fi short story inspired by an art contest
- Published a novella set in the same world as God of Discovery
- Gutted the GoD world completely to give it the history it deserves
- Submitted a short story for an author anthology
- And am expanding the world of Terminal Solution with both writing and art
And that’s what this site is for! If you want to read my work, see how things progress, and even learn more—find it here or in my newsletter!
Writing process
In an ideal world, this is what my writing process would look like. It's not always the case, but this is what I aim for!
Bunnies galore
Random thought written in a notepad, and then returning to it eventually
Plot & Structure
If the bunny doesn't leave me, time to outline it into a plot structure
The first draft
This one is to get the idea out - no editing, no spellcheck, no going back
The second draft
Once I clean up my thoughts, this is the version I hand off to beta readers
Usually a re-plot
Once feedback comes in, usually a replot is in order to fix the flow
The third draft
After the replot and re-write, this is the version that goes to editors
The fourth draft
Once editor feedback is incorporated, this is the one that is published
Unknown draft
Because it usually happens, there's at aleast one more draft at some point
Tar Atore
Tar Atore writes fantasy and sci-fi with queer characters, subtle romances, and epic scales. She loves playing with common tropes and twisting her plots around. When not writing, Tar Atore is still with a book at hand and cat in her lap as a designer.