Jacqueline's Reads: Author Interview - Tears of Tess by Pepper Winters

I am so excited for this post! As everyone knows, I am a MAJOR Tears of Tess fan. Oh that book was moving, so epic, so wonderful to read! My 6 star review is HERE. Also there's a giveaway to win an ecopy of Tears of Tess, this is a MUST people. So enter!

I got to ask Ms. Winter's some questions and maybe we get the deets on a new release? Let's see ...

What inspired you to write a dark read?

I’ve always liked darker books and being an avid reader went through most that I could get my hands on :D Tears of Tess started off very dark, but then as I grew to know the characters I realized that Q could never be as brutal as I was originally going to make him. So it changed from dark erotica to dark romance—and maintains a balance of heart break and redemption :D

What kind of research did you do in order to prepare for Tears of Tess?

I researched France a lot because of Q. I chose Paris as it is fairy easy for wealthy people to arrange charter flights without having to claim cargo etc. I also researched BSDM which was highly entertaining :D

I love Tess and Q, how did you come up with those characters?

Tess morphed from weak and confused to a character a lot stronger than I thought she’d be. I wondered sometimes if I should tone her down, but her fight was real. Her courage and fire a part of her and I couldn’t edit that out. And Q…. well I was confused by Q for a long time but he slowly made me understand him and now I have a thing for him. LOL

You once mentioned you wrote Tears of Tess in 7 weeks, how did you do that? That's just simply incredible.

It wasn’t easy. And I don’t really want to do it again lol, but it meant a lot of 14 hour days, ignoring the hubby and not doing any housework. I was literally a slave to my laptop, but I wanted to get the book finished before I had to go back to work fulltime so had no choice. Plus Q wouldn’t leave me alone 

What is your favorite book and who is your favorite author?

My favourite series is probably by Jean M Auel—I know very strange compared to what I write. But I was younger when I read her and Jondalar was a book boyfriend for a while. I loved her storytelling and how detailed she was in all her books. My favourite author would be Laini Taylor. I love her lyrical writing and would love to be compared to her skill as a story teller—need to keep evolving to reach her standard 

I love reading random facts about authors, if you don't mind, can you please name 10 fun facts about yourself?

10 facts… umm that’s going to be hard. Lol

- I can’t sleep. I have a mutation called Super Elite (DNA thing) which means I only need 4-6 hours sleep a night compared to 8-10 hours. All my life they thought I was an insomniac (which I am too) but now I’m more comfortable if I don’t go to bed till 3am and get up at 8am.

- I hate all things milk. So no coffees, ice cream, yogurt. Yuck

- I get my caffeine from Coke Zero. Bad but I can’t get through a day without a glass or two

- I love to travel and if I’m not writing or working I’m travelling

- It’s my ultimate dream to be a best selling writer and you can bet I will keep writing and keep coming up with stories until I achieve my dream

- I’ve been trying to lose weight and joined Zumba. It’s great fun :D Love it

- I love old classic movies but like sci-fi and fantasy too.

- The scooter / kidnapping episode in Tears of Tess is actually based on a true story. Hubby and I were traveling around an island in asia and we stopped for a drink. Difference was the men who set my instincts into overdrive also set my hubby on edge and he threw me on the scooter and left immediately.

- I have an English accent and all my books will be spelled in the Queens English :D

- Turns out I don’t have a thick skin when it comes to reviews… I thought I would do but goes to show how personal my writing is to me and I love each and every person who loves my books like I do :D

What can we expect for the future?

Well, there is a surprise coming which will be announced soon. And I also have a very dark book in the works called Last Shadow. It is a romance too, but Kage (the anti-hero) isn’t Q. He doesn’t have morals lol. I’m also working on a stand alone erotica called Broken Chance. My brain is full of characters just dying to have central place on a word document :D

Tears of Tess (Tears of Tess, #1)
“My life was complete. Happy, content, everything neat and perfect.
Then it all changed.
I was sold.”

Tess Snow has everything she ever wanted: one more semester before a career in property development, a loving boyfriend, and a future dazzling bright with possibility.

For their two year anniversary, Brax surprises Tess with a romantic trip to Mexico. Sandy beaches, delicious cocktails, and soul-connecting sex set the mood for a wonderful holiday. With a full heart, and looking forward to a passion filled week, Tess is on top of the world.

But lusty paradise is shattered.

Kidnapped. Drugged. Stolen. Tess is forced into a world full of darkness and terror.

Captive and alone with no savior, no lover, no faith, no future, Tess evolves from terrified girl to fierce fighter. But no matter her strength, it can’t save her from the horror of being sold.

Can Brax find Tess before she’s broken and ruined, or will Tess’s new owner change her life forever?

Quintessentially Q (Tears of Tess, #2)
“All my life, I battled with the knowledge I was twisted… fucked up to want something so deliciously dark—wrong on so many levels. But then slave fifty-eight entered my world. Hissing, fighting, with a core of iron, she showed me an existence where two wrongs make a right.”

Tess is Q's completely. Q is Tess’s irrevocably. But now, they must learn the boundaries of their unconventional relationship, while Tess seeks vengeance on the men who sold her. Q made a blood-oath to deliver their corpses at Tess’s feet, and that’s just what he’ll do.

He may be a monster, but he’s Tess’s monster.

ADD TO GOODREADS
Tears of Tess (Tears of Tess, #1) - Quintessentially Q (Tears of Tess, #2)

PURCHASE LINKS
AMAZON (Kindle) - AMAZON (Paperback) - B&N