Tena Louise Atkins Interview Published on: 10, May 2022
Where did you grow up? What was your early life like?
I grew up in Cheyenne, Wyoming, in a family with five kids. I had two sisters and two brothers, my two brothers have passed, I still have two sisters that live in Cheyenne. We were close with our cousins from Indiana and Louisiana, my mothers side had 11 children.
When was the first time you put pen to paper and wrote something meaningful? Did you ever publish it?The first time I thought about writing anything meaningful was when I wrote my debut novel, Hope, in 2018, self-published in 2019.
What was your favourite book as a child? What is your favourite book now?My favorite book growing up was, and still is, John Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath.
What was your debut novel and how long did it take you to write? How do you think your writing process has changed since then?As I said, my debut novel was Hope, it took me nine months to write. My style has greatly improved since, by using more descriptive language in order to bring more to life.
What excites you most about writing a new book?The excitement of a new book is bringing the characters to the page and making them come alive.
What is the best part about writing suspense? Have you ever thought of dabbling with other genres?Writing suspense/thrillers is keeping the reader guessing until the end. I have dabbled in YA novels writing one now about teens trying to save this part of the world from destruction by using their special useful talents to abort the Old Faithful eruption of disastrous proportions.
What inspired the plot of your book, Hope?The inspiration of the plot of the book Hope was from stories of my father-in-law and brother-in-law, who were both retired Wyoming Highway Patrol Colonels.
What did you enjoy most about creating the character of Marilyn?Marilyn was created to be a partner for Drew and to add suspense from her past in regards to their abductions and attempts on her life.
How many books do you plan to write in the Gannett Brother's series?The first three are for the Gannett Brother's Saga, I have been working on the next three, which are the perspective of the Gannett women.
Do you believe in writer's block? If so, what do you do to tackle and overcome it? If not, why?Yes, writer's block is real, as a matter of fact, I have had trouble writing an ending for my WIP, book five.
What are some important ways that you think an author can keep their passion for writing alive without letting the greed for money and fame get in the way of their love for writing?I have learned to get more inspiration from reading other types of books, rather than just from my genre, then i go back and read from authors I have not read before in my genre. Read, read, and read.
Who are some of your favourite suspense authors and how have they influenced your own writing? Who are some authors of other genres whose books you love to read?Some of my favorite suspense authors are James Patterson, Louise Penny, JD Robb, Robert Parker (all of his series are great), and of course my Wyoming favorite is CJ Box. The authors I've read and liked out of my genre are for romance, and YA are: Nora Roberts, Terri Clark.
Describe a typical day for you. And then describe what you wish a typical day would be like for you (basically, a day in your dream life).My typical day also involves my other two jobs, substitute teacher and server. I work 12 hour days mostly, and on my days off, I write. A more typical desired day would be to write all day, every day if I could for this one job as an author, not the other two so much. That way I can create even more novels and start more series of adventure, suspense, and romance.
Are you currently working on anything?Yes, I am currently working on my fifth novel, entitled Secrets, which is from another perspective of one of the Gannett women.
Finally, do you have any input on AllAuthor and its services? What could we do to make this platform a better experience for all authors that decide to join?I really admire and respect all of the services from AllAuthor to help promote new and upcoming authors. In order to make this any better of an experience for anyone looking to join, I would like to see classes on ways to do blogs of our own and websites. If this is available, I haven't seen where to find it.
Finally, thank you for all you do. I appreciate all the help and advice you provide.
