3K Likes Author Spotlight & #Giveaway: Week 5 with @mstessabailey

DGR:      Hi Tessa! Thank you so much for being here today. Can you start by introducing yourself to the readers that maybe don’t know you yet? (Though I’m not sure how that’s possible)

TB: Thank you so much for having me! As the lovely Lana mentioned, I write heroes who love to express their wants and needs in a very specific (read: dirty) manner. Recently, I wrapped my Line of Duty series, which centered on a group of NYPD cops and the woman who rock their worlds. I have a spanking (heh!) new series out NOW called SERVE that just kicked off with back-to-back releases. OWNED BY FATE and EXPOSED BY FATE take place at a club for the adventurous-minded in New York City. It’s h-o-t and introduces a new cast of characters to love 🙂

DGR:       Having read your entire backlist, I don’t think I’d be able to pick, but I have to ask; do you have a favorite that was to write out of all your books?

TB: Whichever one I’m writing at the moment is always my favorite. Looking back, though, I think the very first book in my Line of Duty series (PROTECTING WHAT’S HIS) was a great experience because I was letting loose all the creative impulses I’d buried for so long. It was very freeing and cathartic. I think I smiled the whole time. DGR:       OK, admit it. Do you have a red room of pervy awesome? How DO you keep giving us better and better dirty talkers? I swear these guys just keep getting hotter.

TB: I do NOT have a red room of pervy awesome – do they sell those ready-to-assemble at IKEA?! Thank you for saying that about my menfolk. I think I’ve tapped into some kind of weird dirty-talking muscle that gets stronger with exercise. And I exercise it a lot! Every time I think I’ve gone as dirty as I can, I think of something dirtier. Basically, if it makes me slap a hand over my mouth, it’s going in the book.

DGR:       I loved your Line of Duty series, but I think I may love your Serve series even more. How do you make a dirty talker better? Make him a Dom dirty talker. But I digress… What made you decide to write a BDSM-y series. Was it something you’ve been thinking about for a while?

TB: No, I hadn’t. I was approached by another author who wanted to write the series with me. When she explained it was BDSM, I initially declined because I didn’t think I could write BDSM convincingly, being that I don’t practice it myself. But I found a way to write what turned me on(personally) and not take it anywhere beyond that. There is a character in each book that, like me, isn’t adept in all aspects of BDSM and we discover/learn through that character simultaneously.

DGR:       So what’s your writing process like? A lot of mood lighting and wine?

with Avon Impulse (coming MARCH 2015). It’s a different style than UNFIXABLE (thank you for loving that book) but the heroines have the same sensibility as Willa (from UNFIXABLE). They’re strong, loyal, talented young girls who are just trying to get a foothold in adulthood. It takes place all over New York City and has some heroes to die for. I want to marry them all myself. The series is called Broke and Beautiful, and kicks off with CHASE ME in March 🙂 

DGR:       Let’s talk future books. I saw you have a new series in the works, Risking It All (and HELLO hot cover) Can you tell us a little more about it?

TB: Okay, I have to take a deep breath before continuing. BOWEN DRISCOL. He was introduced in a novella I wrote called HIS RISK TO TAKE, way back in April 2013. I begged and cajoled my way to getting this book out there because he refused to leave me alone, day or night. Bowen isn’t a hero, he’s an antihero. He’s tortured and damaged and a touch out of control. His father, a crime lord, was just put in prison and thus, the enterprise has fallen on his shoulders. Unfortunately, he falls (mega hard) for an undercover cop. My heart and soul is in this book, plain and simple.

DGR:       What’s your favorite part of writing?

TB: That moment when the hero realizes he’s lost the heroine. I live for that moment – I can feel it in my stomach, heart and head. If I don’t feel it, I know I have to go back and fix something in the book.

DGR:       If you had to pick your top 5 favorite authors, who would they be?

TB: SO HARD. Weirdly, most of my favorites are paranormal romance writers and I don’t even write that genre. Kresley Cole, Gena Showalter, Julie Garwood, Karen Marie Moning and…like fifteen authors are tied for the final spot, so I’m copping out and pleading for mercy.

DGR:   What’s one thing that most people don’t know about you?

“You know me as Oliver, your friend’s brother. The guy who asked you about your college classes or whether or not you liked your professors. I’ve got news for you, Eliza, I didn’t give a fuck about your classes, or your professors. I wanted to get you alone and screw your little college coed body silly.”