A Chat with Bestselling Novelist
Tess Thompson
On January 10th, Tess Thompson celebrated the release of her ninth novel,
Congratulations on the release of Miller’s Secret! This is an outstanding
novel. Can you tell me a little bit about how this story came to be written?
Like all my novels, the characters and
plot came to me in a visual image. One morning last spring, I woke to an image
of a young war hero looking out the window of his beach house and seeing a
young woman, sketching in her notebook, on his lawn, the Pacific Ocean spread
out before her. This was the beginning of this complex story unravelling in my
brain. How it completely falls into my mind, I cannot possibly explain because
I don’t know.
Characters often
find themselves in situations they aren't sure they can get themselves out of.
This is true for some of the characters in Miller’s
Secret. When was the last time you found yourself in a situation that was
hard to get out of and what did you do?
Wow,
this is a hard question. If I’m completely honest, I would say the process of
getting out of my first marriage. It seemed impossible to imagine forging a new
life, a new path, after twelve years of marriage and two kids. Like Caroline in
the book, I held onto certain beliefs about my life that were hard to let go of
– things I really wanted to believe were true but just weren’t. Like her, I
accepted a life that made me feel dead inside, focusing on my children instead
of facing the truth about my marriage. I made excuses, again like Caroline, to
convince myself that everything was fine, that I was happy. Finally, feeling
almost suicidal, I had to admit that something drastic in my life had to change,
and that change was my marriage. You don’t get more drastic than divorce. It
was gut-wrenching and awful. However, on the other end of all that pain was a
chance for redemption and a new opportunity for happiness. This is a major
theme in all my books, but especially in Miller’s
Secret.
What
did you enjoy most about writing Miller’s
Secret?
Everything, but probably writing the
second draft after I received the notes back from my story editor. Unlike some
writers, I adore re-writing, especially after taking in notes from an editor. I
find that criticism always sparks a deeper level of creativity for me. The
relationship with my editor is key to everything.
What
was the hardest part about writing Miller’s
Secret?
Keeping the through line of four
characters spanning twenty years.
Can
you share some stories about people you met while researching this book?
I don’t have any stories, other than I was
very close to my grandmother, who was a young woman during WWII, married to a
Navy Officer. Her stories of that time inspired my fascination with the
Greatest Generation. Both my maternal and paternal grandfathers fought in WWII.
My mother’s father was at Pearl Harbor when it was bombed. My father’s father
was in the Army and told us stories of his time fighting on enemy ground,
including the time he accidently wandered into enemy territory and was lost for
several days. I’ll say this, though. I wish I’d had a tape recorder for some of
these conversations, as all my grandparents have passed now. As a kid, I felt
too shy to ask them more questions. I would give anything to go back with my
list of questions.
What
does your writing process look like?
It’s changed over the years. I used to
write the first draft fast and then layer upon it on the second and third pass.
This works well for my romantic suspense series that are very much plot driven.
Once I have the plot on paper, then I can go back and add the nuances of
setting, character and dialogue. However, for Miller’s Secret, I wrote in a more plodding fashion, which allowed
me to go deep into the characters’ minds right away. For this book and Duet for Three Hands, my other
historical, I wrote as if under a spell. The words seemed to come from
somewhere else, somewhere otherworldly. I can’t explain it exactly, other than
to say the process felt like magic. The characters seemed to speak to me, like
they were sitting next to me at my desk. Perhaps this is the writer’s zone
everyone talks about?
What
do you think most characterizes your writing?
Lyrical, romantic themes, complex
characters, fast-paced plots.
How
long have you been a writer? Where did your love of storytelling come from?
I’ve been writing seriously since 2000. I
started out as a playwright, but decided after my first full-length production
that I hated playwrighting because I’m too much of a control freak and the
theatre is all about collaboration. My first novel, Riversong, was released in 2011. Since then, I’ve been pursuing the
writer’s life with great energy and focus. Half of my energy is on craft and
writing, the other half on trying to figure out how to sell the darn books. The
first one is much easier!
My love of storytelling stems from my love
of reading. As a kid, I was the one with my nose in a book. I never grew out of
my love for story told via the page. It morphed into writing at some point. I’m
not sure when, other than to say I can’t remember a time I didn’t want to
become a writer. I remember very distinctly driving home from the movie theatre
after seeing the first Star Wars
movie in 1976 and telling my perplexed mother that the movie made me want to
write a story. I can see her face looking at me from the driver’s side of the
car like – what is wrong with this child?
I also come from a long line of verbal
storytellers. My father is absolutely mesmerizing when he tells a story.
Just
as your books inspire authors, what authors have inspired you to write?
Every time I read an author better than
me, which is a lot, I’m inspired to up my game. Early on I was inspired by Pat
Conroy, Harper Lee, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Alice Munro – not that I’m in their
league, of course.
What
question do you wish that someone would ask about Miller’s Secret, but nobody has?
Did Miller Dreeser suffer from a lack of
attachment as a baby/small child, causing his later personality disorder?
The answer to that is yes. Research shows
that babies who are not touched and loved as infants and toddlers, (i.e.
attaching to their mothers) often cannot establish healthy bonds and feelings
of love for others.
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