Saturday 26 April 2014

Author Interview ~ Tilly Tennant.

Today I'm delighted to be joined by the lovely Tilly Tennant. Tilly is the author of the fabulous Hopelessly Devoted to Holden Finn which you can check out at the end of this interview and read my five star review here.


Tell us about yourself and your writing journey.

I was born in Dorset but now live in Staffordshire. I’m older than I’m going to admit to here! I have two lovely (but sometimes infuriating) daughters aged ten and twelve who are like my best friends and have me constantly laughing. I’ve always loved to invent stories so it seemed only natural that I would start writing them down. Ever since I can remember I had wanted to write a book, and I had even tried a few times but never got past the first few chapters. It wasn’t until I got to university as a mature student in 2006 that I finally finished one. After that I got the bug and wanted to write all the time! In November 2013, after years of trying, I was signed by LAW literary agents and Hopelessly Devoted to Holden Finn was released in January 2014.

What was your inspiration behind writing Hopelessly Devoted to Holden Finn? Were any of the characters based on yourself or people you know?

I’m the first to admit that I suffer from the most inappropriate celebrity crushes and the question has often popped into my head of what would happen if I met one of them in a situation that enabled us to become friends. It was only natural that at some point I would write about it. Most of my characters have bits of people I know in them, and also bits of myself, but they’re not based on one person in particular. Strangely, I think Max is the most like me! I’m pretty easy going and never take anything seriously, which can get me into trouble!

Who’s your celebrity crush?

It’s well known amongst friends that I have an actual league table of celebrity crushes which changes on a weekly basis. It would be cruel to the others to choose just one of them…

Do your daughters share your love of writing? Would you recommend it to them?

They do. In fact, my oldest who will be thirteen in July is writing a novel at the moment. Whether she ever gets off YouTube long enough to finish it is the big question. But they both love reading and writing stories. I’m not sure it’s the most secure career option for me to recommend it to them, but I think things will change dramatically in publishing over the next ten years or so. Who knows, maybe it will become something much easier to make a living from.

Have your family read Hopelessly Devoted to Holden Finn?

My husband read it and says he enjoyed it. But then he has to say that or I burn his dinner and remove certain privileges. My mum also loved it too, but she’s my mum so, you know, kind of the same thing applies. I have three brothers and I don’t imagine they’ll get to grips with it – they’re far more interested in yukky boy things.

How does your typical writing day go?

I start after I’ve dropped the kids in school. It usually involves quite a lot of tea and sweets and looking out of the window! I set myself word count targets and try to sit at my laptop until I hit one and then I take a break and set the next milestone. This happens until the kids finish school, then I get them sorted with meals and baths etc, and I often do a bit more writing after they’ve gone to bed. I tend to pack up about 11.30 – 12.00pm.

Are you currently working on anything? If so, can you tell us anything about it?

I’m working on another novel that is set in the town of Millrise where Hopelessly takes place but with a new bunch of residents. The protagonist, Ellie, is a journalist on the local newspaper who finds herself in the middle of a story that will change her own life forever. I can’t say a lot more than that right now so I’ll just be as enigmatic as I can at this point! I’ve just sent it to my agent to read for the first time so I’m quite nervous but hopeful that it will be released in the summer if she likes it.

What have you found the most rewarding thing about being an author?

The support from readers, bloggers, other authors and the bookish community in general has been far greater than I expected and a wonderful experience. I’ve made fantastic new friends both online and in real life and no matter what else happens, that alone has made all the long hours writing worthwhile. And of course, it’s fantastic to see good reviews and to know that people like what you do.

Ebooks or print books?

Print books (but I carry my kindle everywhere because it’s so light).

Is there a book you’ve read that you’d loved to have written yourself?

I always say this, but John Connolly’s The Book of Lost Things. The places his imagination went to overwhelm me every time I read it. I love the fairy tale elements, the real world elements, the emotion – just the whole package.

Have you ever read a book and wished you could transport yourself into the character’s life? If so, which one?

It has to be Harry Potter. I want to be the Chosen One and swish wands around all day!

If you could go to any destination in the world with three books you’ve yet to read, where would you go and which books would you bring with you?

I’d love to go to the Gold Coast in Australia. And I’d probably take The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness, The Shock of the Fall by Nathan Filier and Moon over Soho by Ben Aaronovitch. They’re all on my bookshelf now but I haven’t had time to read them yet.

Thanks for joining us Tilly!


Author Bio:

Tilly Tennant was born in Dorset, the oldest of four children, but now lives in Staffordshire with a family of her own. After years of dismal and disastrous jobs, including paper plate stacking, shop girl, newspaper promotions and waitressing (she never could carry a bowl of soup without spilling a bit), she decided to indulge her passion for the written word by embarking on a degree in English and creative writing, graduating in 2009 with first class honours. She wrote her first novel in 2007 during her first summer break at university and has not stopped writing since. She also works as a freelance fiction editor, and considers herself very lucky that this enables her to read many wonderful books before the rest of the world gets them.

Website ; Twitter



There’s only one man for Bonnie, and that’s Holden Finn.

The problem is that Holden Finn is a twenty-three-year-old pop megastar with his boy band, Every Which Way, and has no idea she exists. Not only that, but half the women in the world want to be Mrs Finn, including Bonnie’s teenage daughter, Paige. The real men in Bonnie’s life do nothing but let her down, but a man you can’t possibly have can never do that… right? She’s safe inside her fantasy bubble.

Then Paige wins a radio competition to meet Holden and the band, and Bonnie’s carefully-constructed world starts to unravel. She is about to find out that you should be very, very careful what you wish for …



Purchase: Amazon UK

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