Straight Talk with Tessa Bailey – Entangled In Romance

Here’s Tessa Bailey, author of the smoking hot Brazen, Protecting What’s His, ready for some Straight Talk!

When you are getting ready to start a new book, what’s the first thing you do?

I buy a fresh notebook from Rite Aid to make notes in! I think it’s more symbolic than anything else. Knowing that I get to start with a clean slate and create something new is really exciting. Of course, by the time I’ve finished the book, the notebook looks like it has been through World War 3.

Have you had any fun fan moments since you became a writer?

I just started getting my first reviews – EVER – this week. The first was from a girl in Arkansas who reviewed the book on Goodreads. She cited one of my FAVE quotes from the book (“So you know what your punishment is going to be, sweetheart? I’m going to make love to you. Slowly. Hell, it might take me until tomorrow. I’m going to lose count of how many times you come. And every time you do, I’m going to tell you that I love you. Until you fucking get used to it.”). It made me feel incredible to know someone was affected by something I wrote.

If you could have dinner, coffee, or drinks with a fictional character, who would you choose and where would you go?

This is such a tough question! I saw Les Miserables recently, though, and I was seriously thinking the whole time that I’d like to sit down and have a beer with Javert. I’d be like, “So he stole a loaf of bread. Let it go, man. Just let it go.”

Do you usually begin a book with a character or a plot?

Definitely the characters. Ultimately, the readers will remember your characters first, and the plot second. I always do. Of course, you need adversity and a great plot, but having those characters profiled beforehand can help shape the story.

Who would play your hero/heroine in the tv or film version of your book?

I posted pictures recently on my website of people I would cast as Derek and Ginger. Derek is nearly impossible to find outside the perfect specimen of my imagination, but I describe him in the book as a bar-room brawler who could fight half the bar and still have the energy to take two women to bed afterward, so use your imaginationJ I did find a picture of a model named Eric Bateman that does that description justice and the pic is on my website. As for Ginger, I came across the perfect actress one night while watching Justified. Her name is Shelley Hennig. The perfect mix of bombshell and girl nextdoor.

What jobs have you had on your way to becoming a writer?

I moved to New York City when I was 18 and worked in an Irish pub for a few years. It’s where I met my husband! Looking back, it was probably one of the best times of my life. I met a lot of interesting people, heard some heartbreaking and hilarious stories and learned how to bartend. Drinking seems to be a recurring theme in my writing and I probably owe it to that experience!

Who are your favorite authors? What authors have influenced your book?

Most recently, I’ve enjoyed Tara Sivec’s books. I’ve never laughed harder than when I read Seduction and Snacks. Her female characters really stood out to me as realistic in the sense that they speak openly about sex and can curse a blue streak. My friends and I talk that way and so do my characters!

What’s in the works for you?

I’m just finishing a project set in New York City about a young, hot-shot hostage negotiator who falls for his mentor’s daughter. I’m very excited about it!

Tessa’s debut novel, Protecting What’s His,

is available now!

PWH-300px for websites She’s running from the law, and the law wants her bad.

The opportunity was just too damn delicious for Ginger Peet to pass up. The purse full of money she finds—$50,000 to be exact—could give her and her teen sister the new start they need. So she grabs the cash, her gothy sibling, and their life-sized statue of Dolly Parton, and blows outta Nashville in a cloud of dust.Chicago, here we come…

Turns out, Chicago has some pretty hot cops. Hot, intense, naughty-lookin’ cops like Derek Tyler, who looks like he could eat a girl up and leave her begging for more. And more. Tempting as he is, getting involved with the sexy homicide lieutenant next door poses a teensy problem for a gal who’s on the lam. But one thing is certain—Derek’s onto her, and he wants more than just a taste.

And as far as he’s concerned, possession is nine-tenths of the law.

Title: Protecting What’s His
Author: Tessa Bailey
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Length: 273
Release Date: February 2013
ISBN: 978-1-62266-789-5
Imprint: Brazen