Library hosts romance author

Walter Sprague
Arts and Culture Reporter
 
Award-winning romance author Tara Conklin held a book signing at the Weston County Library on Tuesday, Feb. 25. The author of three books, Conklin was born and raised in Newcastle but has lived in Buffalo since 2012, where she has many family members. As a junior in high school, she started writing, and in 2017 she published her first book, “Threads of Passion.”
“I am very proud of Tara,” said Tina Conklin, Tara’s mom and a resident of Newcastle. “Last year, I went to Washington state and got to see her win an award.” 
She smiled big as she recalled the event. 
“It was awesome.”
Tara works at the Black Thunder Coal Mine during the day. There she drives a dozer, wears a baseball cap and tough work clothes. This is in stark contrast to the woman who writes romance novels, and who was dressed in royal blue and black, with hair and makeup exquisite.
Even as a youth, she loved to read and has always had a passion for romance novels, she said.
“I used to read all the time,” Conklin said. “And I always thought about how I would have written the story. Then I just started writing. Finally, I hit upon a story that I could really get into. It has now become a series of three books, and is continuing to grow.” 
She anticipates, off the top of her head, that there will be about 25 books in the entire story. 
“I will have one more book, at least, published this year, two if I can squeeze it in,” she said.
In 2017, “ Threads of Passion” won first place for Western romance in Bellingham, Washington, at the Chanticleer Reviews. It also won Best Indie Book Awards, first place in the romance category in 2018. Her novel “Promise of Tomorrow” won first place for Western romance at Chanticleer in 2018. She is also up for another award in April and is excited to see what the results will be.
In addition to “Threads of Passion,” published in 2017, and “Promise of Tomorrow” Tara has also published “Promise of Spring.” The second and third books were both published in 2018. All are available at Amazon in print but can also be purchased for download at I Books, Kobo and Barnes and Noble.