These days, it feels like everyone is writing fantasy. Bookstore shelves seem to be teeming with fantastical characters, fire-breathing dragons, and foreboding mythical creatures. Winnifred Tataw, however, is taking a slightly different approach in her writing.
Tataw, who currently lives in South Carolina, has been publishing stories and novels since 2018, and is currently working on a six-part series called Gods’ Scion, starting with Child of Tempus.
“I mainly write fantasy and sci-fi romance novels, that also have a lot of action, heart, and family-dynamics that are shone and represented from neglectful parents, to overbearing parents,” Tataw said. “A lot of these books explore those different themes…pertaining to familial ties, or family, or legacy, or descendants.”
Tataw grew up as a military child, and spent several years traveling extensively around the United States East Coast and Germany with her family. Through her travels, she has gotten to hear other people share their stories, inspiring her to write her own.
“ My family comes from Cameroon, Africa so they have always been people of storytelling…My mother was in the military for 20 years, so we moved a lot, and I got to hear other stories and see how other people lived,” Tataw said. “[It helped me to understand] how even though we have our differences, we still have our similarities as well.”
In getting to learn a myriad of other people’s stories over her lifetime, Tataw believes that family and familial ties is the very thing that connects us to one another, despite our apparent differences. Tataw chooses to illustrate these aspects in her writing, which focuses specifically on familial love—or the lack thereof—and how it can affect someone for the rest of their life.
“[Family is] kind of the foundation for everybody, whether you have a good one or a bad one, whether you were raised with a family or not, it’s such an impactful thing that sets off the rest of your life. I really wanted to highlight those aspects of people’s lives in my books,” Tataw said.
Tataw’s writing process is just as meticulous as her writing. She makes a point to craft outlines for her stories, as well as comprehensive PowerPoints that contain the information she is writing about, as well as other more minute details she wants to follow through on in additional fictional works.
“I always keep the extra books next to me so I can read again and see what aspects I need to follow through [on], so I’m not leaving any plot holes open, or I’m not leaving any loose ends untied that I don’t want untied, as well as making sure the story is continuous and flowing,” Tataw said.
Ultimately, Tataw hopes her readers can connect with her characters on a deeper level, and get to
“You really get to follow these characters and watch them grow and develop. This is very character-oriented because I want the readers to fall in love with the characters because if you don’t then there’s no point of following the series,” Tataw said. “Yes, the plot can be great, but the plot is only moved by how great the characters are.”
You can learn more about Winnifred and her work here.
About the Author
Interviewed by Skirt intern Olivia Cyr at a recent Books & Brunch. She is currently a senior at Wando High School and is always looking for ways to get involved with the Charleston community. She is a part of the school’s yearbook, the vice president of Wando’s National Honors Society, and a member of the AP Academy. Outside of school, she love volunteering down at IOP, reading in her spare time, and spending time with her dog.
