Guest Post: Author Tess Thompson with a glimpse insider

Thank you, Tess for taking time to visit Rambling Reads today and giving us readers some insight of what drives you to write.

Writing is something no rational person would choose. It’s tedious and difficult work. Commercial success is nearly impossible. However, when you’re a writer, there is just nothing else you can do. It’s like an addict needing their fix; nothing feels right without expressing yourself through words. When I was in theatre school studying acting at USC, our teachers always said if you could do anything else and still breathe, you should, because the odds of finding work as actors was so unlikely. I found that I could live without acting, but I can’t live without writing. For the years I turned away from writing in the pursuit of financial stability I walked around like a zombie, missing the spark that made my life meaningful.

My process begins with an idea that comes to me out of nowhere, usually a character in some kind of danger or equally dramatic situation. After I write detailed character sketches and a story arc, I get to work, writing no less than 2500 words a day until I have the first draft completed. I let the characters tell me the story for the most part and sometimes they surprise me, adding another twist or turn that I didn’t see coming. After the first draft, I go through the manuscript adding and deleting and polishing.

Sometimes I go on long drives, especially if I’m stuck on a plot point, and listen to music and daydream about my characters like I might a real love. Usually the answers come then. Or, sometimes, in the middle of my Zumba class, I’ll think, oh yes, that’s it, while losing track of my feet.

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Check out Tess's new book

GoodReads

Crushed by a broken heart ten years ago, Cleo Tanner walked away from her acting dreams and now leads a quiet, secluded life in Seattle. Sylvia, her best friend from college, is trapped in a loveless marriage, distraught by her inability to conceive a child – until an adoption agency owner in relentless pursuit of Cleo offers to help.

Just as Sylvia begins to experience a profound love that only a mother can feel, a detective approaches Cleo with disturbing questions about the adoption agency. Determined to protect her friend, Cleo jumps into a dangerous investigation that forces her to confront the ghosts of her past.

Bestselling author Tess Thompson, whose debut novel Riversong touched the hearts of readers worldwide, delivers a captivating and suspenseful tale of the possibilities that await us in life and in love – if we can find the courage to get off the sidelines.
A toast to friendship, motherhood, mended hearts and new beginnings, Caramel and Magnolias reminds us it’s never too late to reawaken the heart.