We chat with author Tess Sharpe about The Girl In Question, which is a slick, twisty YA page-turner about the daughter of a con artist and is full of murder, intrigue, and FF romance.
Hi, Tess! Can you tell our readers a bit about yourself?
I’m a writer, gardener and aspiring frog-city builder–there are so many frogs hanging around in my garden, so I built them a little neighborhood under our lilac bushes out of terracotta pots and bird baths after sourcing information on social media about what frogs like. If enough frogs move in, we might need to expand the neighborhood into the herb garden.
When did you first discover your love for writing and stories?
I got my start super early. I grew up with a mother who had a deep love for children’s literature and a grandmother who was the ultimate auto-didact and queen of rummage sales. Her bookshelves were my favorite to explore as a kid, it was like visiting a library. I was also an ambitious homeschooler, so when I started writing novels as a pre-teen, my mom just kind of let me take the idea of being a writer and run with it and here I am today, 27 years later!
Quick lightning round! Tell us:
- The first book you ever remember reading: The George and Martha books by James Marshall.
- The one that made you want to become an author: The Time Garden by Edward Eager
- The one that you can’t stop thinking about: Natalie C. Parker’s upcoming Come On Come Out (queer horror at its finest! Out in August!)
The Girl in Question is the sequel to your bestselling novel The Girls I’ve Been and it’s out now! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?
Never borrow Nora O’Malley’s flannel.
What can readers expect?
A lot of action, a lot of twists, a one-eyed dog named Turbo, and so many pine trees. For me, this book is Nora at her most morally gray and at her most cornered, so take that knowledge in with you.
Were there any moments or characters you really enjoyed writing or exploring further?
I loved getting to explore more about Lee and Nora’s plan in the past to get her pre-teen self free. And I love Turbo the dog—she’s totally my favorite character and based on my beloved, departed dog GoGo who used to chase bears off our land for fun.
It’s been three years since the first installment published. What was the timeline like for when you returned to Nora’s story through to publication?
I actually wrote a bulk of the second book while I wrote the first because I am not typically someone who writes series and I needed to make sure everything aligned correctly.
Timeline wise, it was the same as any publishing experience, but as a working writer, I had sold books before it because a gal’s gotta eat and sequels especially for contemporary books are never guaranteed, plus I had to have endometriosis excision surgery (like Iris is preparing for in the book!) 24 hours after I turned the first draft in.
It’s been a busy and healing three years and I’m super grateful to all my readers who bought book one and made it so successful so that my UK publisher wanted to take on book 2 as the lead publisher, and my current US publisher wanted in on Nora O’Malley’s long con for a book! I’m very lucky to be able to conclude Nora’s journey the way I always envisioned it.
What’s next for you?
I am working on my next book for adults, NO BODY NO CRIME. It’s a romantic thriller about a rural PI who’s on the trail of the one who got away—with her heart and with murder. It’ll be out in 2025 with MCD/FSG and it features a plane crash, a gang of feral peacocks intent on revenge (Doris is the name of the head peacock), and a second chance Romance that’s complicated, let’s say. Because, you know, of all the murder and abandonment and stuff. I also may or may not have some YA books in the works…or totally done already. You never know what secrets I’m hiding in my braid crown.
Lastly, are there any book releases that you’re looking forward to picking up this year?
I can’t wait for Ash Poston’s A Novel Love Story, Andrew Joseph White’s Compound Fracture and two that just came out, Bethany Baptiste’s The Poisons We Drink and Cindy R.X. He’s Perfect Little Monsters.
