Author's Name: Tessa Radley
Website: www.TessaRadley.com

Tessa Radley is a reader at heart. She loves writing books with a little edge and a lot of emotion—the kind she loves to read, and she has several releases coming soon from Silhouette Desire.

Upcoming Release:
BLACK WIDOW BRIDE
Silhouette Desire, April 2007

She Wore Red To His Wedding...

Her attempt at seduction the night before his marriage had nearly been his undoing. Wealthy businessman Damon Asteriades had pushed aside all thoughts of brash Rebecca Grainger for years, until circumstances forced him to bring her back to his family's estate. There was no reason for him to become further involved with the woman society had dubbed the black widow bride—save the intense passion that still burned hot between them.

That, and the three-year-old secret she was protecting.

On Writing

I started writing because I love to read. That’s my best relaxation time in the entire world. Then one day I started wanting to write. I resisted the compulsion for a long long time. But eventually I gave in and moved over to the dark side :-).

On the Writing Process

Ideas are all around you. All the time. That’s not the hard thing. The hard thing is the discipline of sitting down every day, opening that word document, resisting email and other exciting reasons to procrastinate, and starting to work. My process seems to change with every book I write. And that’s okay. I’ve learned not to stress about it. If I get seriously stuck, I go back to basics over at http://www.rsingermanson.com/html/the_snowflake.html.

Although there are some things that always remain the same with every book. For example, I always struggle with the beginning (I usually need to cut about 30-50 pages out the first 80 pages) and I often don’t start the story at the right place. And then there’s the end. I always find myself writing furiously at the end of the book. That’s a joyous time. The words spill out, the ideas are overflowing. It’s kind of like running headlong down a hill with the wind rushing past your ears. That’s my favorite moment of the writing process.

On Writing Schedule

I try. I’m very into planning so I try hard. I’m not a terribly fast thinker, so the next scene unfolds ahead of me rather slowly. I’m not a fast writer—I’m comfortable with 3-5 pages a day. Yes, I’m a tortoise rather than a hare. I aim for 15-25 pages a week.

On Writer's Block

I experience procrastination every working morning. That’s my form of writer’s block. It’s essentially my mind playing games with me, like a little child, yelling it doesn’t feel like doing this yet. Checking email exacerbates the problem. Profoundly. Once I start writing, I’m away. It’s getting started that’s the problem. And on some days when I’ve procrastinated for hours, then I start to panic. That’s when the real problems begin. Because when I panic I can’t think straight. Best advice: Just write. Not so easy to do.

On Conferences and Contests

Early on I was lucky enough to win a contest where the editor who judged it said a lot of nice things about my writing. That was affirming. Finalling in the Golden Heart and The Emma Darcy Award in 2004 were the highpoints of my contest career. Both those contests had a profound effect on my writing. The buzz that the Golden Heart creates is unbelievable. I came to the Dallas conference that year, my first trip to the States, and I met some awesome women—several of them from FTH, and a handful from an online critique group I belonged to. They were simply wonderful.

Best Advice Received

At one stage I was trying to break into new lines. Whenever a new line opened, I started a new manuscript. Part of the problem was I wasn’t sure where my voice fitted. Telling me to write what I read didn’t help because I read pretty widely. But a kind editor in London told me I need to focus on one line. So I did. I focused on sexy intense short contemporaries. And then I sold.

On Promotion

Don’t hang out in the bar! I swear, every time someone mentions meeting me, it turns out it was in a bar. All blatantly untrue. I spend very little time in bars. Really.

On Publishers

I write for Silhouette Desire. It’s a wonderful line to write for. The books are sexy and passionate and intense. I love reading them. Right now a lot of people are asking about the changes in Desire. I’m not so sure I know the answer to that yet. The one thing that I know for certain that have changed are the covers. The new Desire covers are utterly stunning! I’m totally in love with my debut cover for BLACK WIDOW BRIDE. So why am I not sure how the content of the books has changed? Mostly because the first two books I sold to Desire had exactly what I thought Desire didn’t want. A child and suspense elements. The guidelines are clear that those are not what Desire wants. Nor do they want paranormal elements. Yet my April debut book, BLACK WIDOW BRIDE, has a child and my second book RICH MAN'S REVENGE has a little of a suspense element.. What did these books have that Desire wanted? Strong alpha heroes and heroines with flaws. By flaws I don’t mean physical imperfections, but rather that these are women who had made mistakes. They’re not passive, they’re not perfect…but they are a perfect match for the hero.

To see what’s changed I suggest people who want to write for the line do what I’m going to do: read the new books, the books that came out on the shelves from January 2007. I cannot think of a better way to discover where Desire is headed.

On Agents

I believe that agents help a great deal. But it needs to be the right agent for you. Do your research. Make a short list and then find out everything you can about those agents. Read the books of authors they represent. For me, it’s important to enjoy your agent’s list. I believe it shows you are a good fit. If you find an agent that you think fits you, don’t give up if they reject your first submission. I only ever submitted to one agent. The first time she turned me down because she wasn’t taking on new authors—but she liked my writing. The third time I submitted a project I got my offer of representation. Be patient, it’s often a matter of timing. The right agent is well worth the wait.

On the Future

I’m working on revisions to THE APOLLONIDES MISTRESS SCANDAL(October 2007), the second book in my Billionaire Heirs miniseries. This hero has given me no end of trouble. He’s Greek. But he refuses to speak accented English and tells me I sent him to boarding school in England so his English is perfect. He refuses to be raven-haired and advises me he’s blond. In fact, he sent me to see Casino Royale to prove sexy modern heroes are blond. But I got my revenge...he fell hard when he discovered love.

Advice for Aspiring Writers

Read as much as you can. Write every day and don’t give up. If you send something off to a contest, or submit to an editor, try not to fret about it, work on the next project instead. And above all, enjoy what you write.

Visit Tessa online at www.TessaRadley.com