MaineCrimeWriters.com has a great interview today with my friend and neighbor Tess Gerritsen. It feels surreal to say, but I've known Tess since the days when she was writing Harlequins for peanuts. I remember hearing the news about her life-transforming book contract for Harvest and thinking that good fortune had finally touched a deserving person. No author I know approaches her writing with more professionalism than Tess, and she has earned her success.
One of the nice points Kate Flora touches on in her interview is Tess's generosity to other writers. She remembers her own early days and understands how difficult it is to get published and then to make your book stand out from the others hitting the shelves at Books-a-Million. When I gave her the galleys for The Poacher's Son, she not only wrote a (heartfelt) blurb, she and her husband Jake volunteered to host my book launch at her house overlooking Penobscot Bay. It was one of the greatest days of my life, and I have Tess to thank.