Interview with author Tess Oliver!

When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer? 
About ten years ago my sister and I teamed together to write some romances for Samhain Publishing. After that, I couldn't stop.

Do you read much and if so who are your favourite authors? Which writers inspire you? What book/s are you reading at present? 
I almost always read romance but occasionally I step out of my comfort zone. I love Gabaldon, Austen, Penelope Williamson. I recently finished Poldark by Winston Graham and now I'm loving the BBC miniseries to go with it.

What book that you read in your early days of literature do you most attribute to your success as an author? 
"Heart of the West" by Penelope Williamson. Her style and characters and vivid descriptions really captured my heart.

While you were writing, did you ever feel as if you were one of the characters?
Occasionally I hear a piece of dialogue that reminds me of something I said or something my husband said. My characters are purely fictional but occasionally I see traits that match people I know. I'm never sure if I do it consciously or not. Who is your favorite character from your books? I think my first book, Camille, still has my favorite characters, Camille and Nathaniel. 

Where do you get your information or ideas for your books? 
The ideas come from my head but when I need information, I go straight to the books and the internet.

Would you like to have a movie made based on one of your books? Which would that be? 
That would be a dream come true. I guess I'd have to go back to my book Camille again. It's set in Victorian England, a great place for a movie to take place.

For your own reading, do you prefer ebooks or traditional paper/hard back books? 
I like both. 

What is the hardest thing when writing paranormal books for teens?

Plotting is always the hardest thing for me. I love coming up with the characters but making up the storyline is hard. 

What do you like to do when you're not writing? 
I love to hike and hang out with my family and my many pets. I've got five dogs, a cat, three goats and two ponies. When I'm not writing, they keep me busy. 

What steps did you take to get your first book published? 
Most of my books are self-published. My daughter helps with all the editing, formatting, covers and marketing. The few books I have with a publisher (different name) I went through the usual painstaking process of querying and submitting. I prefer the self-published route. Lots more freedom.

You write a lot of amazing love stories, so tell us: Do you have an amazing love story of your own? 
I do. I've been lucky in love. I'm married to a man who I'm still just as nuts about as I was when we first met. And we're heading toward our twenty-seventh anniversary. Passion is still going strong!

What was the hardest thing about writing your latest book? 
Making the plot work is always my biggest hurdle.

What are you working on now? 
My current project is Heart of Stone, book 2 of the Stone brother series. I'm writing it with an author friend, Anna Hart. It is the love story between Hunter Stone, a rough-edged bad boy and Amy Linton, the girl he's known and loved since childhood.

Where do you see yourself in 10 years? 
Hopefully as happy and healthy as I am now but with a few more wrinkles, I suppose. 

Who designed it? Why did you go with that particular image/artwork? 
My brilliant, talented daughter Nikki makes almost all of my covers. She searches out the images and creates the cover. She has a great eye for design.


What advice do you have for young writers starting out? 
Stick with it and make sure you write the stuff you love. Don't try to squeeze out stories if they don't come from the heart.

A few words for the readers of our site and generally for the readers who love you. 
Thanks so much for reading my stories. There are no writers without readers!