Hey y’all! I’m BA Tortuga, resident redneck and all-round lover of words.
I was tickled as all get out that Andy asked me to come play in his sandbox today. I love new beginnings, the spark of a new idea, all the amazing energy in the new relationship.
*sparkles*
I’m incredibly fortunate to be the queen of new things, of first times.
I started my writing career in a strange way. Seriously. I started as a poet.
*waits for everyone to process that*
Seriously. I published my first piece in 1976 and published poetry almost exclusively until the late 90s. I performed slam poetry in the 80s and 90s and had a ball. A bit of a whiskey-soaked ball, but a ball, nonetheless.
I moved from poetry to short stories in the late 90s. I had a son, three jobs, and I simply didn’t have the energy to perform nightly. So, I started doing the magazine and academic journal scene. I was working as an advertising copywriter, writing my butt off, and then I met two women that would change my life – my best friend Sean Michael and my wife, Julia Talbot.
They both wrote long pieces – novellas and novels.
I can’t do that, I said.
There no way, I said.
Quit asking me, I said.
I can’t write more than 5000 words. I don’t have a novel in me. I don’t write narrative. I’m a poet.
2004 came around and I said, Will y’all beta read Stress Relief.
My first novel.
Fourteen years and more than 100 novels later, I guess I have a few books in me…
Much love, y’all.
BA
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About BA Tortuga
Texan to the bone and an unrepentant Daddy’s Girl, BA Tortuga spends her days with her basset hounds and her beloved wife, texting her sisters, and eating Mexican food. When she’s not doing that, she’s writing. She spends her days off watching rodeo, knitting and surfing Pinterest in the name of research. BA’s personal saviors include her wife, Julia Talbot, her best friend, Sean Michael, and coffee. Lots of coffee. Really good coffee.
Having written everything from fist-fighting rednecks to hard-core cowboys to werewolves, BA does her damnedest to tell the stories of her heart, which was raised in Northeast Texas, but has heard the call of the high desert and lives in the Sandias. With books ranging from hard-hitting GLBT romance, to fiery menages, to the most traditional of love stories, BA refuses to be pigeon-holed by anyone but the voices in her head. Find her on the web at www.batortuga.com
Glad to hear about your first. You certainly did have a lot of stories in you. I’m Texan myself, not has to the bone as you, but I love my cowboys and westerns, including historiclas. So I was wondering, b/c I didn’t see, if you’ve even written a historical western? Maybe another first? For example, growing up in Texas I loved reading about the Tx Rangers, and that seems like the kind of story you’d be good at.
I’m really wanting to do a historical! I’ve done a few novellas, but never Texas Ranger!
Thanks for sharing your firsts as a writer. I love that you started out as a poet. And that you were so successful at something you originally thought you for sure could not do.
Thank you!
Ah B.A. I remember when I first met you – it was a Google Hangout – here’s a link:
https://youtu.be/8N65IYAxs2U
Since then I’ve filled my iPad with your stories and always love to hear you got a new one coming out or a new to me re-release. Seeing snippets of you and Julia and your life always makes me smile. Here’s to another hundred stories. <3
Thank you so honey!