After years of traveling around the world and observing people in a variety of cultures, Tammy L. Harrow had accumulated material aplenty before penning her first novel, a work of contemporary fiction titled “All the Salt in the Sea.”
The book, published Jan. 11, is the story of Abby West who discovers that her powerful, well-connected husband has been keeping a secret. Abby flees to Europe, where she meets a former American soldier-turned-photographer and begins to dream of a new life. But first, she must return to St. Augustine to settle with her husband. And, according to the novel’s blurb, “what awaits may very well destroy her.”
Though Harrow had extensive experience as a blogger, journalist and writer of nonfiction, this foray into the world of fiction proved to be no small challenge.
Without a plan, she began by simply jotting stuff down. Soon, she realized she needed some structure, and she began a laborious process of daily writing and revising.
It took about 10 years for her to complete the novel, though she would set it aside at various times during that period. The most intensive period of writing lasted about a year. In the end, the book ran 306 pages.
Her hard work paid off when she signed a contract with Red Adept Publishing.
Reviews have been good, though Harrow admits that she tries – unsuccessfully, as it turns out – not to read them.
Amazon calls “All the Salt in the Sea” a “sweeping novel that takes the reader from a malfunctioning coach on an Italian mountain top to Paris to Switzerland and to Saint Augustine, Florida. Full of heartbreak and longing, and romance, but also tinged with the distressing truth of how difficult it is to leave a relationship after abuse.”
The settings may have been the easy part for Harrow. She had her travel journals to draw from for the European sequences, and as a resident of St. Augustine, she was able to incorporate familiar local surroundings into the American portions.
But how does one go from collecting experiences to fitting them into a story?
“I’ve always been drawn to stories of women that are kind of trapped in marriages for different reasons,” she explained. “And so many of my friends and people I know on social media would love to be able to solo travel. So I just kind of put the two ideas together. I thought, you know, what if a woman that has a controlling husband really wanted to get out of there? That’s kind of how it was born.”
The characters in her novel are products of the little quirks of people she has observed.
“You know, you sit and you people-watch, but you can also sit and people-listen,” she said. “The antagonist was the best person to write. He’s just this terrible human, controlling and wealthy and just a little bit psycho.”
Harrow lives on St. George Street, and it’s not hard to see how life in the quaint, historic center of the Nation’s Oldest City, where horse-drawn carriages occasionally clip-clop past the front door, would inspire a writer.
Though she has visited so many exciting and exotic locals around the world, she called St. Augustine “the best place on Earth.”
“There’s still no place I’d rather live,” she said.
She and her husband make their home with “two freeloading cats and one disobedient dog.” Her three children have all grown and gone on to their own lives.
Harrow has two more books in the works: a second novel and a travel memoir. She hasn’t scheduled any book-signings yet, though she’s working on that.
She would like to speak to book clubs, either in person or via Zoom. Clubs that would like to book her can inquire by email at tammyharrow@gmail.com.
“All the Salt in the Sea” is available at all the places books are sold online. In addition, brick-and-mortar bookstores can order it for customers. Harrow also mentioned bookshop.org, which can send books to local bookstores when ordered.
For further information, go to tammyharrow.com.
