Cara Tanamachi and Cara Lockwood are two names for the same author. Cara Tanamachi is the USA Today bestselling author of The Takeover and The Second You're Single.
She lives near Chicago with her husband and five children (two by biology and three by marriage), and their 85-pound Goldendoodle, Theodore. Raised near Dallas, Texas by her Japanese-American dad and her English-Scottish American mom, she was the oldest of two children (the debate still rages whether she or her brother are currently the family favorite).
The University of Pennsylvania (Go Quakers!) grad worked as a newspaper reporter, and then published many novels (more than 30!) under the name, Cara Lockwood, writing happy endings with Simon and Schuster, Audible, Hallmark, Harlequin, and St. Martin's Press. Her first book, I Do (But I Don't), was published in 2003, and was made into a Lifetime Original Movie starring Denise Richards and Dean Cain. She also wrote the novelization of the Hallmark movie, The Dater's Handbook, starring Duchess Meghan Markle.
Cara also ghostwrote The Sweet Life, A Sweet Valley High new adult novel, with Francine Pascal.
Cara wrote The Bard Academy YA series about a haunted boarding school, for which she was a finalist for the Gayle Wilson Award of Excellence in Young Adult Fiction from the Romance Writers of America. The Takeover also was named a finalist for the Contemporary Romance Writers' Stiletto Award.
And, because, she doesn't have enough going on, she co-hosts as podcast with her husband, PJ, called Skip to the Good Part, where they interview authors and booksellers.
A former single mom, she spent eight years dating (hilariously and awkwardly) before finding the love of her life on Bumble (yes, Bumble!). She believes we all could use a little more happily ever after.
How do you say her name?
KAIR-ah. Okay, so that's the easy one. Last name? TAH-nah-mah-chee. See? Easy. Now, you'll be saying it all the time: TAH-nah-mah-chee. Rolls right off the tongue.
Why write under two names?
Cara started her career under Cara Lockwood (her now ex-married name), but decided to rebrand as Cara Tanamachi when she went back to her roots as a rom-com writer.
Where did the name Cara Tanamachi come from?
Cara's Japanese-American Dad. It's her maiden name. Her great-grandfather was born in Fukuoka, Japan, but as a younger son on a rice farm who would not inherit, he sought his fortune in America. Her grandparents, Tom Tanamachi and Mitsuye Nimura, met and married in the Poston Internment Camp during World War II.
They'd both been born in California, but their families, like the 122,000 other Japanese Americans living on the west coast in 1942, were forced from their homes because of Executive Order 9066, for the crime of looking like the wartime enemy.
After the camps, her grandparents settled in Texas, thanks to the amazing generosity of another Tanamachi family, not related, but who, like her family, had roots in Fukuoka.
Does Cara's family appear in her books?
Yes! Mitsuye, Sora and Nami's grandmother, is based loosely on her own.
The thing about cancer is that it doesn’t wait its turn. It doesn’t wait until you’ve got a nice, calm life with plenty of time to deal with it. It doesn’t wait until you’re not stressed with work or kids or spouse. It doesn’t wait until you have more money, or good health insurance, or any health insurance, or for you to find a doctor you trust and like.
It doesn’t wait.
It cuts the line every time. It shows up, uninvited, demanding attention like the worst narcissist you could ever date. It has no boundaries. It doesn’t ask consent or permission. It does what it wants.
Doctors found my breast cancer during a routine mammogram. Granted, I was two months late for that mammogram – because, life happens. But, I’m so glad I wasn’t later.
There was no breast cancer – or history of any cancer - in my family. The only fatal case of cancer ever in my family was my great-grandfather who smoked multiple packs a day and died of throat cancer.
Doctors told me the two months hadn’t made a difference. But if I’d waited another year… well, then they’d be talking about Stage 3. Or worse. We wouldn’t be talking about how to beat cancer then. We’d be talking about how much longer I had to live.
The diagnosis – as all cancer diagnoses are- came at an inconvenient time. I was supposed to be promoting a new book, The Takeover, out in January 2024. But, I learned that I could do two things at once (thanks to Travis Kelce).
One double-mastectomy, twelve rounds of chemotherapy, and many more rounds of immunotherapy later, and I’m in remission. My family, friends, and my amazing partner, P.J. Benoit, has been an amazing support this entire time. You can't beat P.J. Benoit's pep talks. He reminded me to show chemo who's the boss.
Though, spoiler alert, it's chemo. Chemo is always the boss. Ask your bathroom when you're in it. I'm so grateful I said, bye, bye, bye to chemo.
So, cancer and I are not friends. I did my best to go Al Capone on it.
But far too many people, far too many families, deal with cancer every day. Some find it later than I did, some find it earlier, but everyone deals with the emotional roller coaster that is facing your own mortality. Spending time in infusion clinics and cancer centers, what I can tell you, is that cancer is far too common. Too many people have their lives blown apart by it, and live under the shadow of fear that it will return.
We have to do something about it.
Get your mammograms and all your screenings. Encourage your sisters, wives, girlfriends, cousins, and friends to do the same.
Don’t be afraid of the test, push past the fear and nerves, the discomfort and the excuses. Because when it comes to treating cancer, time is not your friend.
Cancer wants you to procrastinate. Cancer wants you to ignore and postpone and be too busy. In the dark, without you knowing, it organizes and it grows and it gets stronger every day.
I thought I’d done all the preventative things: I tried to eat right. I gave up aluminum in my under-arm deodorant. I exercised. I fretted about eating non-organic vegetables.
But the best weapon you have against cancer is to be vigilant and find it early.
And, for those of you who want to do a little more, give a little to Stand Up to Cancer, the group funding research so we can cure cancer once and for all.
Together, we can eradicate cancer forever. Let's Al Capone it.
I learned the power of story early. The very day I learned to read my first picture book, I begged Mom to keep the car light on on the way home from the bookstore so I could finish my brand new book. Being the amazing mom and former elementary school teacher she is, she indulged me. I credit her love of reading, her limitless trips to the bookstore and library, and her enthusiastic encouragement for where I am today. (Also, sorry-not-sorry for stealing your Danielle Steel and Victoria Holt novels off of your shelf.)
I also have to give credit to my fantastic dad, the first doctor of the family. (Thank you for not pressing me to go to med school, Dad!) While I was in college, Dad asked me what I wanted to do when I graduated, and I declared, "Write novels!" and he nodded and then, practically suggested I find a profession that might pay a living now? So I worked as a journalist and then a marketing writer, and both jobs helped me hone my craft and work under tight deadlines. Dad has since become my biggest cheerleader, and has been known to hand out copies of my books pretty much everywhere.
I believe love makes life worth living, and humor allows us all the courage to keep on going, even in the face of grief, disappointment, and heartbreak. I think being reminded of the power of these two amazing gifts we all carry in us (the ability to love and to laugh) is the key to living in our happy places.
I'm represented by the amazing Deidre Knight at The Knight Agency!
I chat with the amazing Books and Boba co-hosts, Reera Yoo and Marvin Yueh.
Listen Now!
Check out the Books and Boba Bookstore.
Read my Q&A with Chick Lit Central.
A career in publishing isn't for the faint of heart. Why failure simply makes you better.
Copyright © 2022 Cara Tanamachi - All Rights Reserved.
Author photo by Meagan Shuptar.
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