Friday 15 May 2015

Spotlight - Tess Woods




Hi everyone.

The lovely Tess Woods is with us today to answer a few questions and tell us a bit about her novel, Love at First Flight. Tess lives in Perth, Australia with one husband, two children, one dog and one cat who rules over all of them. Love at First Flight is her first novel for HarperCollins.

Welcome Tess!

 

What inspired you to write this story?

I've always been inspired by the tragic love story, the story of great love that just can't be. My favourite book The Bridges of Madison County stayed with me years after reading it and played on my mind. Then I read Twilight and out of nowhere I had to write my own book. Before this I had never entertained the idea of writing. But the longing in Twilight and the knowing that the one you love is the one that is dangerous for you resonated with me and I just had to write about that. So with the themes of desire and danger, I wrote a book about a married mother, because I wanted to write of what I know. I wanted to bring the great love story into the world of the typical suburban mum who is chasing after kids, working and running a home. I wanted her to have that Romeo and Juliet moment. So I wrote 'Love at First Flight'.

 

Are you working on anything at the present?

I’m writing my second book and I’m very excited! I am writing a contemporary romance called Flat White With One which is about my main character Mel’s son as an adult (he is a teenager in Love at First Flight). Nick is Australia’s most popular football player, a real playboy who falls for a young, conservative Egyptian girl named Anna with a tragic past who is anything but the typical footballer’s girlfriend. Flat White With One is their love story. Nick and Anna are tested by her family, Nick’s football community and the Australian public as nobody seems to approve of them being together.

 

How do you come up with the titles to your books?

I actually didn’t come up with the title for my book! I came up with Flight. But I got a memo from my editor, Anna, that Flight could be about birds or kites and she wanted something that sold the story more. I received that email while I was having lunch with my friend Emma on her birthday. I complained and moaned about needing to change the title. Emma came up with Love at First Flight. I emailed Anna. She thought I was a genius. I happily took the credit! I’ve been told by my literary agent that she is letting me keep the title of my next book Flat White With One for now so we’ll have to wait and see if I don’t end up naming that one either, hey!

 

 

What is your favourite book?

The Bridges of Madison County by Robert James Waller captured my heart like no other love story could. I read it in one sitting, I simply couldn’t put it down. That such a passionate love story could take place between two quite outwardly plain, middle-aged people in sleepy Iowa, where not much ever happens, was amazing to me. The connection between Francesca and Robert and their tragic Romeo and Juliet ‘not meant to be’ love pulled at my heartstrings. They made me believe in love at first sight and I went on to write my own book inspired by their intense love. I thought Robert Kincaid was the most romantic male character I have ever come across.

“But, I am, after all, a man. And all the philosophic rationalizations I can conjure up do not keep me from wanting you, every day, every moment, the merciless wail of time, of time I can never spend with you, deep within my head. I love you, profoundly and completely. And I always will.”

 

What made you want to be a writer?

I’ve always been a hopeless bookaholic. I was inspired by other writers and other stories. Books like Tully, The Bridges of Madison County and The Horse Whisperer stayed with me and inspired me. But when Stephenie Meyer wrote Twilight, something shifted inside me when I read it and I just had to write a book myself!

 


Love at First Flight – Blurb

A family is threatened by an irresistible attraction in this compelling debut that will appeal to fans of Liane Moriarty and Anita Shreve.

 

Looking back on it now, I can see it was instant. The second we locked eyes. Boom. Just like that. The me I had spent a lifetime perfecting began its disintegration from that moment. And despite the carnage it brought to all our lives, I still don’t regret it. 

 

What would you risk to be with the love of your life? And what if your soul mate is the one who will destroy you? 

 

Mel is living the dream. She’s a successful GP, married to a charming anaesthetist and raising a beautiful family in their plush home in Perth. But when she boards a flight to Melbourne, she meets Matt and her picture perfect Stepford life unravels as she falls in love for the first time ever. 

 

What begins as a flirty conversation between strangers quickly develops into a hot and obsessive affair with disastrous consequences neither Mel nor Matt could have ever seen coming. Mel’s dream life turns into her worst nightmare. 

 

Love at First Flight will take everything you believe about what true love is and spin it on its head.

 

 

Here’s a snippet –

‘Alright, love, have a good night.’

‘You too, hey? Be safe. Don’t talk to strangers. See you tomorrow. Love you.’

His voice was warm. No suspicion there whatsoever. Of course there wasn’t, Adam trusted me. I’d never given him reason to be suspicious before.

‘Love you too, Adam. See you tomorrow, darling,’ I croaked.

I dropped the phone into my bag and walked back into the bathroom, with a sudden sharp headache behind my left eye.

‘How’s Hercules?’ Sarah looked up from painting her toenails.

‘He’s fine,’ I said flatly. ‘He says hi. He’s having an early night.’

‘God bless him, like he needs the beauty sleep,’ she laughed.

I regarded myself coolly in the bathroom mirror. ‘You are a stupid, stupid woman,’ I hissed at the reflection.

 I vigorously shook Matt from my head, wiped off the red lipstick, replaced it with a clear gloss, and sent a mental kiss to my unsuspecting husband who was missing me back at home.

No more nonsense.

Finished.

 

If you would like to find out more about Tess, here are her links. J

 Website:


 Facebook page:


Goodreads:


Amazon:


iBooks:


Kobo:


Barnes and Noble:


 

Thanks for stopping by.

Nicóle  xx

 

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