Tag Archives: bluebird on the prairie

About Tasha Hackett

Hi! I’m Tasha Hackett. I write books and I know stuff.

While at York University completing a B.A. in English and English education with a minor in theatre, I married my best friend. Now, instead of analyzing Shakespeare’s plays, I write with hope and humor to encourage and entertain.

I wrote my first novel, Bluebird on the Prairie, over the course of three years, stopping periodically to have a few more babies. Yearning for rest, yet still “wanting it all” I dug into entrepreneur business strategies and altered the advice to fit homemaking and writing in order to stay afloat. Friends say I am an endless ball of energy, but they forget that I’m usually in bed before nine. Though my schedule isn’t perfect, I run a tight ship. My four children have learned better than to bother me when I’m locked in her tower, knowing I’ll be 100% available when I reemerge. In my free moments, I’m busy developing a course to teach other homemakers the formula I’ve developed. 

Recently, I’ve published a unique kindergarten math curriculum that focuses on play and one-on-one teacher/student conversation, and my second novel, Wildflower on the Prairie, will launch this summer, 2023. Although I spend a good deal of time plotting new stories, washing dishes, cooking for six, sewing, and folding laundry, my favorite thing is family. They give me the kind of love people write books about.

Twelve-year-old Tasha totally saw this coming.

Coincidentally, Twelve-year-old me would not be surprised to see my name on the cover of a book. She’d say, “Well, sure! That’s what writers do. They write books. Duh.”

Somewhere between twelve and thirty life happened and the author vision was lost.

But one evening with 34 prom dresses to be altered and the kids asleep for the night, I sat near a pile of red satin, carefully trimming four layers of tulle when my husband asked, “If you wrote a book, what would it be about?”

Only three and a half years later, I completed my first manuscript: Bluebird on the Prairie. I set out to create a historical romance while exploring themes of hope and grief and finding love again. 

I almost quit writing.

After finishing my first novel, I made the decision to wait a good, long time before tackling another one. Because motherhood is more important… and being a homemaker is more important… I just couldn’t do it all. It’s true! If I had to choose, I would and I could.

Then my husband said, I think you should keep writing.” 

You guys!!! My heart filled to bursting. This feeling in my chest was an honest-to-goodness physical response. Like an opening in my heart that grew and spread and filled up with all the happiness it could hold. It bubbled up and pushed out a few tears.

He told me in six words that he doesn’t mind doing his own laundry. 
Hackett Prairie

This is me

Sometimes I think I’m the bee’s knees. And then I cringe. Who even says “Bee’s knees?!?!”

I do, apparently, except not really. Only when writing the first blog post on my author website. That in itself is so overwhelming I don’t even want to think about it. The first post on my AUTHOR WEBSITE. People are going read this and judge me and wonder about what I write and who I am and what if they read my blog and think I’m some weird kind of girl who uses completely random and old fashioned phrases like, “Bee’s knees.”

Coincidentally, this is me.

Writing is something I’ve been doing since forever. Only wish I hadn’t waited forever to start taking it seriously. One book isn’t enough to get all the kinks out. Word on the street is it can take an author seven books before they really get the hang of it.

My husband once accused me of being a quitter.

On the surface, you may agree with him. Though I took great offense at his accusation. Yes, honey, I “quit” 14 jobs the first five years we were together… but it’s not like that. You have to look at the bigger picture here.

I’m a starter. Not a quitter.

When you begin something new, it’s only natural that not everything else can come along for the ride. Obviously, when I started waiting tables at The Country Kitchen, I wasn’t able to also wait tables at The South Side Grill. Of course, when I started making pizza at Pizza Hut, I stopped waiting tables at The Country Kitchen.

Once I started substitute teaching, I didn’t have time for my work at Pizza Hut. And you can understand that when I started having children, I didn’t teach anymore.

Altering dresses was something I started when we were broke and wanted to pay off debt. It was a great side hustle, but when I started writing… it left precious little time for sewing.

When I had my fourth kid, I started feeling sick and overwhelmed. Therefore, writing was left behind for awhile. (See what I did there? I didn’t quit.)

Love finds a way.

My characters never quit on me. Their story never died. All the dreams and plot twists and excitement of my imaginary world only grew stronger until I started again.

It happened like this:

  1. Realized I had to get the story out or it would claw its way from the inside.
  2. Wrote for 30 minutes a day.
  3. Pandemic
  4. Took advantage of the extra time with the husband working from home.
  5. Finished the manuscript and realized: I CAN DO THIS AND I LOVE IT.

So hey, this is me. I like to start things. Being an author is the start of something great for me. Just imagine how many stories I will start (and finish!).

New characters have already introduced themselves to me before I’ve begun writing their story.

Zeke and Eloise will always have a special place in my heart as my first two main characters. They taught me amazing things. Getting to know them was one of the most interesting things I’ve ever experienced. To have a character that I thought I had created start talking for herself on the page? It’s truly fascinating.

This is one of the reasons I’m not quitting. I can’t wait to see what else these characters have to say. Who knows, maybe one of them will start talking about the bee’s knees… I doubt it… but nothing’s impossible.