#1 New York Times bestselling author Tessa Bailey aspires to three things.
Writing hot and unforgettable, character-driven romance, being a good mother and eventually sneaking onto the judging panel on a reality show baking competition.
She lives on Long Island, New York with her husband and daughter, writing all day and rewarding herself with a cheese plate and Netflix binges in the evening. We sat down with Tessa to talk about all things writing and romance.
How has your writing evolved from when you first started?
I think if I could pinpoint what has changed the most, I would say I try to stretch more when it comes to my characters and what they’ve gone through. I know that I set out giving them a past, something that’s maybe their darkest shame or worst moment, and then giving them a goal. If anything, that’s what’s changed the most. I’m equally focused on the character growth and making sure it’s about them growing as a person, as opposed to just the romance developing throughout the story. The romance is why we’re here, but I think it’s so much more satisfying when you witness the characters growing as people at the same time.
What challenges do you find when you write? Are some books easier to write than others?
There are some characters I connect to on a deeper level, like she’ll have the same hang-ups or insecurities that I do. Some of the heroines I write, they’re so different from me. I have to find a different way to connect with her, some sort of thread in her personality, I have to find either myself or someone I know in her that I understand. It’s a challenge when I write someone so different from me. I have to put myself in a different set of shoes instead of just someone I can relate to.
What’s your favorite thing about being an author?
I think having a secret to myself, walking around with a plot in my head and I’m the only one that knows what it is, I think that’s kind of satisfying. As a person who is in a marriage, and a mother, and is known to everyone in her life as those two things, I can be like, “Nope I have a whole thing happening in my head that you don’t know about, and I get to live that and make all the decisions for that story and the world and nobody can tell me what I can and cannot do.” It’s almost like living a separate secret life.
How do you create chemistry and build tension in your stories?
I probably cheat a little bit, because there’s a lot of insta-love and lust that goes into my characters. I fall in love at first sight, so I believe in it really strongly. It’s kind of my favorite part of a romance… I’m never going to get over it. Not every story will be that way, but for me, there’s something about a person seeing another person and saying “Wait, they make me feel different than anybody has ever made me feel.” I think that’s how I cheat as well. It’s hard not to have chemistry when you have someone feeling that way about another person. It’s different with every set of characters though, depending on the trope, the situation.
Do you have a favorite trope to write?
I really do love writing enemies-to-lovers. For me though, either reading or writing it, I need it to be obvious that he’s loved her since the beginning. Even if they’ve pretended to be enemies, I need it to be clear that he never really hated her. Part of the fantasy in romance is that there’s nothing she could do to make him actually hate her. It’s hard to spread out, but it’s my favorite.
Are there any tropes you avoid writing ?
Yes, I usually avoid second-chance. I’m averse to writing a hero that would ever let her get away. Unless there was a really, really good reason. But how good can that reason be, if he truly can’t breathe without her?
How do you continue to challenge yourself in your writing?
Right now, with the series I’m writing, I’m giving heavier backstories and giving them more of an authentic trauma. We’re in this age of rom-coms where, yes we have funny situations and banter, but they can also have sad moments and work through trauma together. It doesn’t have to be really surface level, you can go deeper with these rom-coms and I’m trying to go a little deeper every time. I think a happily ever after is more satisfying when people have to come from somewhere that is sad. I’m trying to put them through a little more than I normally would, and be a little more textured than I’m used to.
Where do you see the romance genre going in the next five years?
The readership has gotten so vast, so I don’t think it’s any one subgenre that’s going to be the one that dominates. Cowboys are massive, dark romance is huge, romantasy is huge, rom-coms are huge… all at the same time! I think there’s room and space for everything and everybody. I’d like to see more diversity in romance, I think that’s really important. I hope we can keep pushing that. I think it’s a huge space and readers have the capacity to read so many different subgenres and like them equally.
The Au Pair Affair (Big Shots, 2) by Tessa Bailey
Hockey, a single dad and an au pair… need we say more? Tallulah is broke, so when she takes a job nannying the tween daughter of a hot, albeit surly, pro hockey player Burgess, she gets a taste of his posh life. Burgess keeps being told he needs to “get back out there.” So when boundaries begin to be pushed with Tallulah, he has to balance these new, exciting feelings with his daughter’s deep desire to see her parents back together.
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