Bookwild - Jaime Lynn Hendricks: Finding Tessa

Episode Date: January 26, 2022

On this episode, I talk to Jaime Lynn Hendricks about her debut thriller Finding Tessa.Check her out on Instagram Finding Tessa SummaryJace and Tessa appear to be a young couple in love with nothing to hide. But looks can be deceiving.When Jace Montgomery comes home late from entertaining clients, he discovers that his wife Tessa is missing. There’s broken glass at the back door. Clumps of her hair. Blood. The cops in their small New Jersey town have him pegged as a suspect, especially after he explodes at a reporter during a press conference. Jace maintains his innocence despite the mounting evidence against him, but when a coworker he's accused of having an affair with also disappears and a search warrant turns up an illegal gun in Jace’s home, all signs point to him as the culprit. What is he really hiding?Meanwhile, Tessa finally feels safe, having set up her husband to take the fall for her disappearance—and someone close to him is helping her put him away. Breaking her lifelong pattern of bad men is only one hurdle she has to overcome. The other is outrunning her secret past while trying to stay alive, especially when those in her new life aren’t who they appear to be.Jace’s lies don't add up and the authorities are closing in. Will Tessa’s old life catch up to her and drag her back to a life of abuse before justice is served? Finding Tessa is a smart domestic thriller where nothing can be taken at face value, where every twist reveals a deadlier secret than the one before. Fans of Gillian Flynn, Samantha Downing, and incisive, fresh psychological suspense won't want to miss it. And don't forget you can watch all episodes on YouTubehttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-gShTy20PVhXRpfNF33SKw Get Bookwild MerchCheck Out My Stories Are My Religion SubstackCheck Out Author Social Media PackagesCheck out the Bookwild Community on PatreonCheck out the Imposter Hour Podcast with Liz and GregFollow @imbookwild on InstagramOther Co-hosts On Instagram:Gare Billings @gareindeedreadsSteph Lauer @books.in.badgerlandHalley Sutton @halleysutton25Brian Watson @readingwithbrian 

Hi, my name is Kate and I love to read. Like, I was carrying books around with me before Kindles were a thing. So I decided to start a podcast where I interview the authors of some of my favorite books, ask them all of my questions so that I can read between the lines of the books. Hey guys, I just wanted to hop on real quick before the episode starts to give you a little bit of backstory. I have been trying to shake being sick for a little while, and it is sticking with me. So at the beginning of the episode, you can tell there's a little bit of a frog in my voice. I really thought that I was going to be past that by the time that I had scheduled this interview, but it is a little apparent at the beginning. Also, for those of you who are watching on YouTube, about 20 minutes before I started the podcast,

I realized I couldn't find the teeny tiny USB I needed to connect my mouse. So I was running all over the house, trying to find it. So I'm a little bit of a hot mess at the very beginning of it visually. What is kind of fun is if you're watching it on YouTube, you will slowly see me go from hot mess to pretty presentable. So maybe that's at least like a bonus fun thing. to get to experience with me. But nonetheless, I know I sound a little rough at the very beginning of this. It does get better voice-wise. And anyway, you're really here to hear from Jamie Lynn Hendricks,

who had some fascinating stuff to share about her book and about the publishing industry. She's really what's important, and I do feel like we had some really cool conversations that you're really going to enjoy. That being said, let's just get into the episode. Welcome back to another episode of Between the Lines. I'm here with Jamie Lynn Hendricks, who wrote Finding Tessa. I read it earlier this year and was so obsessed with it. I could not put it down, so I'm really excited to have her, so thanks for being here. Thank you for having me. First podcast, so here we go. Oh yeah, yeah, this is her first podcast too. So it's, I mean, it's still new for me too,

so we'll kind of find our way through it. We'll learn together. So when did you know that you wanted to write a book or when did you know that you wanted to be an author? Well, I've always written stuff. I liked making up stories when I was a kid. I used to get these little Disney stickers and stuff and I'd stick them on pieces of paper and then write a story around it just based on whether they were smiling or sad and whether it was an animal or a person. So I just always made things up like that. And then write around, I don't know, I guess my, well, my mid-20s, I moved to New York City to become a writer like everybody. And that started, that started really well.

I, you know, I started writing my first book. And then, you know, just life got in the way. I got like a group there. I found friends. I had job problems. There was relationships. There was family. That was traveling.

And it kind of just went away. And I didn't think about it again for probably. about a decade. And then one day I just started writing. I just kind of got bored with everything that was going on in my life. Mostly, sorry guys, but like mostly my old job. And I just, it was just not doing it for me anymore. And I just, I just kind of needed to do something else. So I just started writing. And then I wrote what was my first manuscript. This one is my sixth, which I'll get into later. But the first one, you know, everybody thinks that, you know, when you have a debut come out,

that it's the first book you've ever written. And I couldn't probably say confidently about probably 99.9% of books you see in Barnes & Noble and in any bookstore, not the first book that the author wrote. Because the first book that we write, we just write and we like. it and then we make our friends and our family read it and they tell us it's good so we think it's good and it's most of the time probably just not um like i said i knew how to tell a story i just didn't know how to write that's something that you definitely need to learn um so i joined a bunch of critique groups i met other authors i started going to conferences i did a lot of stuff online um i went back to

school for creative writing and I learned how to write. So then I each manuscript got better than the last one, but I still wasn't making any headway in trying to get them published. And then finally, it was my fifth manuscript, which got my agent. And that one is called, it could be anyone, and it actually comes out May 10. That one actually comes out after this one, which is why publishing is It's weird. My agent had that one on submission to all the publishers and it didn't sell. And then something came out to market, which was very much like the one I had on submission. So my agent said, I mean, we should pull this one because this other one is just getting the attention and nobody's going to want to touch this. So I had written finding Tessa in the interim.

My agent loved it and she put that, she put this one on sub and it was getting a lot of attention from some big publishers, but they didn't like the ending. This is this is not the ending you read is not the original one. I had a rewrite half the book. So after a couple of months, but you know, my agent always said one person's opinion is one person's opinion, but five people's opinions of the same thing means it's probably a problem. So we were getting lots of people saying the same thing. So she said, you got to rewrite the last half of the book. So I rewrote the last half of the book and it sold two weeks later. Wow.

So that was everybody was right. Everybody was right. Everybody was saying the ending was just bad and it wasn't working. They were correct. And then the good part is my publisher took, it could be anyone, the other manuscript that got the agent. They took that as my option. That one's coming up second. So publishing is weird like that.

Clearly, I have a couple of questions for what you're saying. So you said you kind of took a break from writing for 10-ish years. What were you doing in the meantime? Just working and living in New York. I got married and I was just kind of doing stuff that you do from like 25 to 35. And then I said, it's time to get serious with this if this is really what I want to do. So I just picked up, well, I would say pick up the pen, but I don't write things by hand. I sat at the computer and I just and I read a lot too.

So I have to read a lot. It's research. Yes, it really is, though. I'm super excited to ask you. I'll ask more after the spoiler section, but I'm super interested to hear about rewriting it, but I won't get into that quite yet. Okay. So what is your writing process like?

Do you typically know how a story is going to turn out? Does a character come to you? Like, how does it unfold for you? I start out with a twist in my head. That's how I, because I love thrillers and suspense and mysteries and all that because I like being shocked. I love when something just blows my mind. So I try to think of something that's going to be a twist.

And then I figure out the characters after that. So we won't get into the details, but that twist, you know, I thought of the twist. And then I think of names after that. And I have to be careful because I don't want it to be anybody I know, anybody's, you know, kid, husband, wife, cousin, aunt, uncle of friends. Because then they say, why did you make that one a bitch? And why did you make this one stupid? and, you know, why did you make this a mean? And, you know, I, no, I can't have anybody's name that I actually know be a character because I don't, I just don't want to deal with that.

So then it's hard because, you know, thinking of names. And at the time, I didn't know anybody named Jace or Tessa. Now, I actually know one of each, which is funny, but I didn't know with Jace or Tessa. And I love both of those names. So I went with the names first. And then, I mean, second. And then after that. I kind of have to develop the characters. And considering how the twist was, it was kind of easier for me, knowing what the twist was to make the characters how they were. Does that make sense?

Yeah. And then I develop everything around that. And I do not, I do not outline at all. I just start writing. I mean, when I wrote the first chapter, I'm just, sure you don't remember everything that's in it, but they had that part about how he destroyed the note that he left her in the morning. I wrote that chapter and that's how the chapter ended. And then I was like, right, eventually when I get there, I'm going to have to have a note of

some sort. And I don't know what it's going to say or how it's going to play into it. But I just go forward. And then I try to get the entire story out from beginning to end. And then when I change things along the way, which every author does. Then I go back during edits and I kind of make everything fit together like a puzzle, you know, like pieces of the puzzle have to fit together. So that's kind of how I do it at the end. And then I have a critique partner who, well, I look at a few critique partners. They work with me in different ways. One of them, I will send her daily, like a chapter a day. Every time I'm done writing something, I will send that to her. She'll go over, say what she likes, what she didn't like. The thing with her is I tell her all the twists along

the way. I tell her what's going to happen, how it's going to be done, when it's going to happen. That way she knows if I'm doing it correctly because she could say, well, this is too obtuse or this is too obvious. You're making this part too obvious. You're laying this part on a little thick. So it's good to have that section of having another writer tell me what I'm doing wrong. And then another critique partner, I'll send her when I'm like when I'm finished and she'll do the whole thing. She doesn't know any of the twists. She doesn't know anything that's going on. So I get her reaction real time. So that way, if she's like, wow, I never saw that coming. That's amazing. Then I know I did something right. If she thinks something.

oh, I kind of saw this in, you know, chapter six, when this happened or when they said this, maybe you should fix that a little bit. So then I do it, you know, and then I'll go fix everything else that she says to fix. And then I'll give it to another critique partner who just reads it for me getting to end. She doesn't do any corrections just for pace setting characters, character arcs, development, all that stuff. And then she'll just say, you know, pick it up a little bit more here, put a little bit more here. You know, she'll check out plot holes. You know, if I missed something like, oh, well, whatever happened when this person talks to that person. So it's good to, it's a good process for me to have that because by the time I'm done with

that one, it's usually pretty good to go and just give to my agent because I have corrections being done along the way. So I like that part. That part comes out fast for me. So I usually don't spend like months and months editing. You're the first person who's kind of, I'm sure other people might do a version of it, but you're the first person who's mentioned like having someone who knows what the twist reading it, having someone who doesn't, and then just someone reading it in general. But that seems like such a bulletproof way to like, you're kind of covering all of your bases that way, kind of like while you're creating that.

So that seems really smart and intuitive. So you said the twist is what you typically think of. So is that kind of what came to you about finding Tessa or what kind of inspired finding Tessa? Well, like I said, I read a lot. I also do reviews for suspense magazine. So I probably read like three books a week. And, you know, again, exclusively thrillers, suspense mystery. And like I said, I love being completely shocked, but a lot of books don't shock me anymore. And a lot don't shock a lot of authors because we're always looking for the twist. And once I became like a serious author, it kind of ruined reading for me, which I hate.

But I was trying to think of something that I had never seen before. So I had never seen that sort of thing or way of doing it or way of plotting out the story. So I said, all right, I'm going to do it. I'm going to do that. And that's what I thought was a good twist. I was like, all right, now just, now just write it, just write it knowing that that's going to happen. And once I knew that part, it was easy getting to that part. But after I hit that, I'm like, geez, I don't even know what's going to happen.

I didn't know anything about the rest of the book, how anything was going to play out. So, you know, that was a difficult part. But getting to that part was easy for me. after that it was a mess yeah especially if you had to kind of rewrite it yeah well we can get to that after wait a little you hear so what i keep referencing is waiting until we get to the spoiler section because there are plenty for this one so if what you've heard like and you haven't read the book yet makes you want to read the book just stop the podcast right now and go read the book and then come back and listen and you can hear us talk about all of the great spoilers and

Yes, because if you know this first twist before you read the book, it's going to ruin the book. It's going to completely ruin the first half of the book for the first third of the book. It's going to ruin. So like Kate said, stop all the way, bye. We'll see you soon. Yes. Yes, that's what one of my favorite things about reading is when I like, when it's either an author I already know. And so I already trust them or like the reviews are just so great.

I typically, because all I really read is mystery and thrillers as well. Okay. So so much of it is about spoilers or the twist. So my favorite thing is if an author I already trust puts a book out, I'm like, I'm not even reading the summary. Like I don't even need to know the summary. Same with me. You're auto by author.

Yes, but I would love to just start right into the book and just be surprised along the way. And thankfully, like, there are just so many books in the genre. And I've just like found a lot of authors that I love. so that there are a lot more books that I can approach that way, which is my favorite way to start a book. And that being said, that's how I would approach this book. So don't read anything about it. Just start reading it.

And then come back and you can just talk about it. Post-spoilers. So the book explores kind of like being in an abusive relationship kind of throughout the entire book. Tessa, one of the main characters, when she's talking about being in that relationship, she talks about how the more he hit her, the more she actually felt like she was getting more approval from him.

Yes. So how did you kind of like get into the mindset of someone who's in a relationship where those two things connect? It's so common. When you talk to people who have been in relationships like that, it is the most common part about it is that they get manipulated so. badly and so thoroughly that when the person is bad to them, they wait for the, because the person will always apologize, always, always, and then they're, and then they're wonderful. And these people either have low self-esteem or it's just a pattern that they've been in,

so they're used to it. They will take the abuse for the breadcrumbs of what they know. know is going to come after and how great it's going to be and how I love you. I'm sorry. You're the best thing. Blah, blah, blah. And unfortunately, I've seen, you know, a few people I know go through it. And it's, it's sad. It's sad when you know what's happening, but nobody and you can't say anything because it's always you don't know him. And yeah, we don't know him. We, we don't know him. We know you. And if I know, like, you know, some of my friends, it's like, I know you. This is not you.

Why are you taking this? And it's always because of the guy. And it's the most common thing I've seen is the guy is just a narcissist, a master manipulator. And sometimes you, I don't know how it starts because I've never, I haven't been thankfully, I haven't been in that relationship. So I don't know how it starts. Sometimes it's childhood.

You know, and you know, Tessa went through the, she was run through the gamut of bad things. She had horrible parents, you know, missing father, a million people running through mom's bed. Unfortunately, a couple running through hers as well. just brothers and sisters all half brothers and sisters because her mom was just horrible and cared more about being in a relationship than the children. So she basically let these men do whatever they wanted to her and to her children because she just wanted to keep them there. And that's when Tessa and her siblings were sponges growing up. That's what she saw and she thought it was normal. So and basically that happens a lot.

lot too. There's routine. There's trying to break a mold, which is very, very hard when you're in that situation. When you think that being hit or, you know, having drugs around constantly and being abused in all sorts of horrible ways, you think that that's normal. And it's, it's not. But Tessa thought it was normal. And she finally decided, you know, this is, this is not normal. I can't keep doing this to myself. She watched a lot of rom-coms and she kept on saying, I want that. But then she would get back into a pattern and then she'd say, no, I want to, I want to end up like this. This is, this is real. That's how it has to be. So she kept chasing, trying to find that, but got into maybe romanticized everything too quickly. So she was seen as kind of an easy

target. So she was seen as an easy target by these men. And they just, so she just, they kind of went after the low hanging fruit, to put it mildly. And she finally said, this is not going to be me any. This really is not going to be me anymore. And I'm, I'm done. And she left them. And she said, this is it. And she left the most latest asshole that she was with because everybody's referenced as asshole. in the question. Yes, I love that because it worked in a couple ways. It was helpful for concealing information. But it was also like such a like it helped also give her like some awareness. Like you can tell she kind of knows that they were assholes at least where like even if she hasn't figured out how to completely break the cycle like at least she knows that she hasn't found

the right person yet. So it worked both ways. I did like hearing them that. way but to your and to your breadcrumbs point there was I thought one of the sentences you had that was just that really summed up abusive relationships so well is um tessa's thinking about him and she says he'll be sweet and kind um and bring rescue puppies and then he'll be jealous and controlling but all but that'll just show me how much he loves me and how much he fears me leaving that's love and it is that hard I think it's called love bombing when narcissists do it where it's like, it's like, oh, he hit me, but then he cares about making it up to me. So that means he loves me.

And you just get stuck in that forever. Yes. I thought it was a very honest. I as well, I have not been in an abusive relationship, like romantically, but I did grow up around it. So I thought that was a great way of explaining it. But she does get to the point where she's like, I've had enough. And she's like, I'm not going to be with a toxic person again. and she says, I'm not getting involved with anyone, even if they promise to love me, especially if they promise to love me.

I'll know real love. Oh, Bruce. Okay, so also, it's not the end of the world if there's a dog barking in the podcast is what I need to realize people are used to it. So she says, I'm not getting involved with anyone, even if they promise to love me, especially if they promise to love me. I'll know real love when I feel it. Words don't mean shit anymore. Yes. And that reminded me of a quote that was like really powerful. for me when I was in therapy that was saying, like, I don't trust words. I don't even trust

actions. What I do trust is patterns. So what do you think was kind of the final straw that made Tessa be like, you know what? Words and actions don't really matter to me anymore. I think she really thought he was going to kill her. And I think that's what did it for her, is that that last time, she really was like, this is this is, this is a, not going to end. This is a pattern. So she doesn't, she doesn't want to hear it anymore. Like, thank you very much for your, your sorrow and you're crying and you're begging and you're pleading. No, no, this is, it's too many times. It's too many different men. And with you now, it's too many different times. And I'm not, I'm not doing it anymore.

I'm going to go be the me I want to be. So she was very strong that way. I think Tessa was a very strong character, despite everything else, because what, you know, what I put her through in her childhood and her young adulthood. She came through it all with kind of at least the awareness to know what was going on was bad and also eventually the awareness to say and finished done. It's all about me now. Yeah. Yeah. So it kind of was, it's one of those situations where sometimes having a bad situation is finally what makes you like, okay, I'm done with bad situations.

Like sometimes it has to get bad enough. Yes. The last straw is it's everybody's not one. So that, so the first twist is amazing. Okay. So basically we're thinking, you're welcome. We're thinking that she's running from Jace. And then we basically realize he might actually be another asshole, but their timelines

aren't what we thought they were. And her timeline is happening before Jase's timeline. So was that the twist that you had in mind from the beginning? Was that the twist that kind of you wrote everything around? Yes. I wanted it to be a shock. That's why he's written in third person and she's written in first because I want the character inside her head and with him, I had to have that vagueness. So I couldn't have you completely

inside his head because then you would know he was thinking, where is Tessa, where is my wife? I love her. What is actually going on? And he's worried. So I had to have him distanced. I had to make it like, oh, this is what, you know, this is what he's wondering this or what I wanted, I wanted you to know, what he was wondering but he i had to make him out to be shady i had to make the reader think that jace was a bad guy so i had him lie about a lot of things um which ended up being you know like this whole thing with him and rosita um the woman he worked with it i kind of made things that he said and thought made it look like they were having an affair but they were not um She was sleeping with his boss.

And then you also had like Tessa thinking about the current, the most recent asshole being with someone with a name like somebody he was working with, which, you know, the guy she was actually running from her husband, I guess we'll call him Drew. She was running from her ex-husband who was having an affair with somebody at work. And I made it like that person was Jace, but it wasn't. And then when she gets into another situation where somebody, you know, starts, you know, doing things that she does not want done, she gets rescued by his roommate. And he introduces himself as Jace. And that's when you're like, wait a second.

So she hadn't even met Jace yet. And when she's running and she's doing all these things, now what's going on? So that's when you find out, like basically Tess's story goes from May to September. And Jace's story is for the five days in September from when she went missing until the end. So, but Tess has started way before that. And that was the first twist is when you find out. And then I continue the rest of the story as Jace's, you know, original five days, but Tess's, the rest of Tess's story. Because she is missing at this point.

She is missing. Jace, she is, she is missing from Jace. So then her story continues through. So you see how their relationship developed. You see all the people along the way who could have taken her. And then when she finally does get taken, it's shown in her real time. And it's right before the beginning of the story, if that makes any sense. So they, when, like, the timelines basically catch up eventually.

they do when when tassad does go they catch up they do yeah yeah so now that we're in the swather section i can also say that one of my favorite parts of the book was that like if i was going to describe it to someone but i couldn't describe it this way because it kind of kills the twist yeah but i would say the book is almost like if a domestic suspense thriller was a fairy tale so like it is i'm assuming that might be part of what you had to rework in the ending, so I am interested about that. Yes. But in general, the way things played out in your published version is it was like, oh, there was like still a happy ending.

And like it feels kind of like a fairy tale, but with all of the like domestic thriller stuff in it, and it's not like a princess. But it was kind of what I loved about it was like, it was just enough of that that I was like, oh, I kind of like that version of a story. But was that the main thing that you had to change? change or can you talk about what you had to change? Yes, I can tell you exactly what I had to change. And I'm sorry, so don't, don't get mad, don't go crazy.

I will get mad. Okay. In the original version, this wasn't just about how the ending changed. This is why I had to rewrite the book. I don't know if you remember when the detective Solomon was like screwing with Jace a lot. And, you know, he kept on hammering like, I know you did something. I know, you know, she's gone. And then he made her look at that.

He made Jace look at that come down to identify a body just to mess with him. Yeah, that was originally Tessa. I killed her. Okay. In the original version, Tessa, Tessa was killed. And when Jace had to go identify the body, it was her. And then the whole rest of it was, like Tess's part didn't really change. Tess's chapter still continued with her meeting Jace and their relationship and all that.

It's just when, you know, she was taken. She was shot and killed instead of just being taken. And the whole thing was because part of, as you know, I guess we can just talk about all of the twists and stuff because, people who are watching this part now. When Maribel pretended to be her friend and said that she was going to help set up Drew and the whole thing, she and when she would, and when Tessa, the day that she got taken,

she was found out she was pregnant and she was trying to tell, figuring out a way to tell Jace on this recording device and she was practicing it over and over and over. And she accidentally left the recording device on. It had a flaw, which is what the guy had explained to her. It had a flaw where the button, I don't know, didn't erase stuff or it backed stuff up too quickly or whatever it was. I think it was that it would erase stuff. And so it went to the cloud.

Yes. So they didn't erase it. So, yeah. So she left the recording on. and then the whole entire incident of her being, in the original version, of her being shot and killed, was on the recording device and it was uploaded. So that's how Maribel got caught.

But in the new version, she just gets, because that was the thing what a lot of the publishers were saying, is that they did not like, because this was being shocked in April, toward the end of April of 2020. So picture the end of April of 2020. It was a very weird, bad time. It was the beginning of the pandemic,

and nobody knew what the heck was going on. Everything was shut down. People were depressed. Yeah. It was... It wasn't just two weeks like we thought. Right. And that's what we were being told

is that having a pregnant person die is just way too much. It's way too heavy. And we just, we can't have that. right now. So that's why she was like, okay, you know, can you make her alive? My agent said, can we find a way to make her alive? So I was like, all right. I'm like, I could just, yeah, well, resurrect her. She came up. She, you know, she came up from the dead. But we had it. So I just rewrote the part where she was just taken instead. But then I had to do that, you know,

kind of kidnapping scene. And I had to make, then I had to make Maribel have a little bit of the thing that she was pretending to help the woman and blah, blah, blah, when she was crazy at the end of the original version, she didn't give a shit. She was being nuts. She was obsessed with Drew. Same type of thing. She thought that, oh, no, but he loves me.

He's only doing that to you because you let him. They're all like that in the beginning, aren't they? So, so, you know, she, in the original version, Maribel was just completely crazy, you know, original. She was, she just thought that she was, she was best. her and he wasn't going to be like that to her and she just wanted tessa out she wanted her gone so she shot her and she died um so i had it for the the newer version have her telling her that she was pregnant right before she shot her and then she just had that that um that oh shit moment maybe

and she pulls the trigger by accident at that point and even tessa knew at that point that it was an accident that she didn't really want to do it. But then Maribel, you know, called Drew and said, oh my God, like help, I shot Tessa. I don't know, I don't know what to do. So then he knew a lot of shady people and doctors and they kind of kept her in a coma while she was healing. And that was another thing. Drew couldn't have children. And that was probably great for somebody like him because Yeah, because you don't want somebody like that raising a child. But then he thought, like, well, he found her. He got her back because she was running from him.

And, you know, he did find her because he, because Maribel told him. Maribel was his girlfriend. Maribel, you know, pretended to be friends with Tessa to find out where she was. And then, you know, he was up there looking for her, ended up, you know, finding her picture with Jace and then made made it made a way to get into into Jace's life. And that's how he found Tessa without Jace knowing about their history. So basically I had to I had to rewrite it. And then even beyond don't make her dead.

They were we were being told that domestic suspense, domestic thrillers, are starting to end more on happier notes. So kind of give it a happy ending, which we thought was a little strange, like, how do you make something about murder and secrets? And how do you make that a happy ending? So I kind of dug into her own past, and I wanted to give her kind of her romantic comedy ending where all they go through all this and then they end up together at the end. So despite all of the darkness of this book. The fact that you know that Jason, you know he's a good guy. I made it a happy ending, you know, the way that it just got wrapped up.

You know, Drew went by-bye, Maribel was arrested, and Jason Tessa lived happily ever after. Basically, that's another, yeah, Jason Tessa looked halfway ever after. I actually did for a second. And this was kind of in the back of my mind as I was writing when when Tessa was dead. I was going to make it that that he actually did do it, that there was going to be another twist that like he was working with Maribel or something. I was going to make him do it. But I ended up liking him. I didn't like him too much.

I liked how I made him as a character because he was he was not perfect. And and he, but he did. did love Tessa. And that's what I wanted for her, because the book is mainly about her, even though he's, he's a 50% main character as much as she is, but the book is really about her. And I wanted her to get what she deserved, and that meant Jace had to be perfect for her, which is what I ended up there. Yeah, it's so, when you were saying that the publishers are saying happy endings are becoming more popular,

it's interesting because there have been so many times in the last year that like when I finish a book I'll tell my husband Tyler I'll be like this one actually kind of ended in a nice way and it was nice to just have it be different and it's like I'm not sold on either there are there are plenty of books I read this year that like if they had ended on a happy note it would have felt very manufactured too so I feel like you did still do a really good job of like there still was there still was so much suspense and it was like thrilling all the way through so it didn't feel totally manufactured by the end because they all still had to go through hell to basically get to the happier ending at the end anyway but that's interesting that you brought that up like when you were saying that I was like

I've been noticing that more we're like a couple of times I've been like oh this one ended nice like you can kind of like sigh of relief at the end instead of like well yeah I knew this was happening but then I still have read plenty where like I'm perfectly okay with the fact that it didn't end well, but that's interesting that they're going that way. Do you think that's like mainly or I don't know if you know, do you think that is because of the pandemic? Or were they saying that before the pandemic? I don't know. I think that might have been because of the pandemic, but publishing also takes forever.

Like, you know, mine actually went from my, from my, when my publisher gave me the contract to being in the store was like nine or 10 months. Normally, it's 18 to 24. So by the time, so if you're seeing a lot of it also, it might have been before the pandemic because, you know, like, there's always trends. so where like things will start coming out that are kind of all the same because the publishers kind of set the standard for what they're going to buy or not buy and then the editors at all the houses you know they all kind of not that they're the same but they're they're editing the things that the publishers deemed marketable so the so maybe that what they're deeming marketable is thrillers with kind of a happy ending but you know i like i love ones.

with horrible twist endings too. So, you know, I mean, my next one isn't really a fairy tale ending, but it's, it's, it's, you know, it's different. It's just a completely different book than this one. But I, you know, I, you have to make the characters likable. No, no, no, no, no, that's a lie. I hate that word. I love unlikable characters.

I know. You have to make them. And so do I. Yes. They're thrillers. Yours. Like I always say, there's only. As long as they're not kicking puppies, be a bad person, be a bad friend, be, you know, be devious and, you know, do horrible things.

That's what reading the thrill is about. Unfortunately, Animals is where I draw the line. I don't know what that says about me, but I'm with you. Absolutely. But secrets and deviousness and, you know, being horrible is what reading characters in a thriller and a suspense is about. What I like is relatable. You know what? Because everybody, you know, knows somebody bitchy or, you know, bitchy.

sometimes. It's just like, you know, I find it relatable if I'm reading about somebody, you know, of course, I write things about, oh my God, my next one, forget it. Lots of secrets and stuff. Everybody's kind of got like all these like really bad things going on. But so I hope a lot of my friends aren't like secret murderers and secret, you know, stuff. I hope they're not really like that, but, you know, it's, it's funny with just kind of, developing the character for how you want it to play out for them. So like I said, at first she was dead. So and the rest of Jace's time was trying to clear his name and find out who did it.

But I think I wrote, I think I wrote a good ending for them as far as the happy ending. I think it was good for them. Yeah, it's not always what's going to happen, but it's, it was good for them. Yeah, I read what did I read? It was, oh, local woman missing. Oh, I love, yes, I love that book. I love Mary Kubica. I loved that one.

Not a happy ending at all. But I would like, and it broke my heart because I got so attached to the characters. Right. But like it was so worth it still because I just, I loved that book. But it was so sad at the end. Yeah, I know. So I'll do either. But it was still, it was, it was done the way those characters needed it to be done for them.

And for that part, it is so it wasn't. happy ending, but it was, but it was wrapped up. It was done. The story was, the story was told the way it had to be told. It concluded. Yes. I know I was going to say, I was going to say a part that I liked, but I could email you about that because I don't want to, want to give anything away for people who I'm not to say anything. I don't give anything away for people who have met it, but if you haven't, go read it. That's great. Yes, it's definitely, it's worth reading to and just don't expect it to be happy, but it's the one I keep mentioning to people. Oh, no, but one of the favorite my favorite books I ever read was The Good Girl.

And that was her first one. And that was that was after I read that, that's when I, I wanted to become serious about writing again. After I read that book because I just thought it was, I was like, I want to write something like that. That's this book is great. And that was her first. And Mary Kupika has been an auto vibe for me ever since then. I, and she's a great person too. But fabulous writer. Oh, love it. Love all our stories. Yes. Yeah. I, that was, I read that years ago when it came out. Yep. And I just remember, like, I had kind of just gotten back into reading. Kind of like I'd also just started learning about, like, good reads and where to, like, find good recommendations. Where I'd always liked books like that, but I didn't know where to, like, find them necessarily. And that was one of the first thrillers I read where I was like, okay, so this is my genre.

Yeah. Like that was so much fun. Yes. That was it. Yep. So that's funny that you mentioned that one because it feels so long ago, but I think it was what really got me into like, then it was like, okay, if you like this, then you like this book too. So that book actually kind of helped me get all of my recommendations. Yeah.

So she started it for me. So this question kind of probably has to do with a rewrite. So, but basically like at the end, Tessa is thinking and she says, I'm even grateful for Damon because it led me to Jace. Yes. And so that was kind of like having one trauma be something that led her to a healthier and happier place. Was that something you were intentionally trying to write into the story? Or was that kind of like something you thought to integrate when you knew you had to rewrite the book?

I actually do live like with that mantra that you can't really, everything that you did in your past is what got you to where you are. Every small decision you made, even small decisions other people make affects everything in your life. So I think when she was realizing how truly true, truly grateful she was. She didn't care about everything else. I think she got to that point where she said, I will do it all again because I know this is at the end for me. And that's what I wanted for her. That's what I told her. I wanted her to get her, well, again, after I brought

her back to life. I wanted her to have her, I wanted her to have the ending that I thought she deserved and and that meant her accepting her past because she because she is where she is supposed to be. Yeah. That's like it it's so easy to talk to your to ask yourself that question. Exactly. Because when you have gotten to where you're at and you think about it and you're like, would you change anything? In a lot of cases, most people say no. Like you wouldn't get delete a chapter of your life because in some ways you also know it's why you're where you're you are now so you're like i don't know i mean i got through it i don't know that i'd want to delete it from my life either right so it is and it it helps you like kind of feel at peace where you are yeah because

hey give me one person who says every single part of their life was rosy liar no everybody goes through horrible stuff heartbreak death just you know friendships that implode and just all sorts of just horrible like work drama every Everybody goes through hardships. But to say that you want to delete an entire, I mean, I guess some people do want to delete an entire chapter of their life. But sometimes that horrible, horrible chapter is what made you realize that things can get better. And, you know, you go through it.

The only way, the only way through it is through it. I mean, it sounds so simple. It's the only way to get through it is to go through it. And then see what's after. And just don't be like Tessa was in the beginning. And just don't keep repeating it. Easier said than. But what are you going to do?

Right. And sometimes going through it is what helps you, like, feel more confident in yourself that you were able to get through it. It kind of makes you feel more confident in your ability to just kind of tackle anything moving forward. Absolutely. So one more question about the book. Who would you cast? as like Jason Tessa, if it was a TV show or a movie?

I had... Not everyone has answers. Okay. I had in the back of my head who I pictured, because I was binging this on Hulu. So this is how I just pictured Tessa looking in my head. Actress Jamie Alexander, she was on blind spot. Yeah. She had all the tattoos and everything. So Tessa didn't have like all those tattoos.

She had that one. horrible one, remember? But she didn't have all those tattoos. But I just pictured her with like the light eyes and the dark hair like that was cut up to here with the bangs and then she was growing it out. I just pictured all the different ways that that she looked during blind spot is how I had pictured Tesla looking when she had the bangs or she had the short hair. She was growing it out. I pictured her. Yeah. Like that. And I had for Jace, I had, um, Paul Wesley. He was, oh, yeah. He was Stefan in, in vampire diaries. So that's why I, that's why I think as, I like those. But then, and I don't know if, on bookstagram, if you know,

Gary Billings, he's, um, uh, Guarindee reads. Yes. Yep. He human, he's high favorite human if you're watching. he's one of my favorite humans. Him and I were talking about it. You're the site Ashley Winstead said the same thing about him. Oh, he's so great.

And she's great too. Oh, my God, I love Ashley. She's amazing. Wonderful. He's just a great dude. But he had told me that he pictured, first he pictured, God, I forgot her name. But it was like, when he told me,

I was like, I don't see that. He goes the other one I pictured. was Nikki Reed. And ever since he said that, I could only see Nikki Reed in this part. Now, ever since he said, it just blew my mind.

It just blew my mind. So, yeah, and that's really good because he does that casting, that casting where he, yeah, he put Mickey Reed in it. I was just thinking,

now I need to like pull the graphics. Yeah, he pulls the graphics and he says, this is who he pictures for every character. And I was like, wow, I'm like, that that's absolutely right. And even when I read passages, I'm like, I just picture her doing it.

I'm like, that was absolutely, that's absolutely the right person to be cast. That is, that's a cool story though. And it's like, I found multiple people reference him. So maybe I need to see if he wants to hop on the podcast and talk about stuff. Oh, yeah, he's wonderful. Oh, you'll love him. We binge watch shows together now. Yeah, we binge watch shows together. Yeah, he's, he's like my, he's like my other half. That's so cool. Yeah, he's, I love. love that so well hopefully it does get option for something tv or what do you think it would be what medium would you pick do you think tv or movie would be better for this one um i don't know because it would be really hard to adapt this if you think about that one scene it well all right

we're at the post spoiler part so i could say it um you know where you know jace rescues her from damon and like starts beating them up and taking care of her unless You know, you could do that kind of maybe she's crying and she only sees blurry and, you know. And then when she blinks it away, he blinks it away and he comes into focus and it's, and that's when you could say, oh, my God. There you go. This would probably be better, I think, better movie than than TV show. I think the second one definitely better miniseries than movie because that one's got a lot of,

that one I could see in eight or ten episodes. This one, I kind of see this more as like a feature length, but, you know, fingers crossed still. So a couple people still have it. We're just kind of waiting. Oh, nice. That would be exciting for those, though. Yeah, but it's been a while. I haven't heard anything in a while, so we'll see.

Yeah. Yeah. Got to play the waiting game. Exactly. And as, you know, any author will tell you, publishing is nothing but waiting. So it is later. You kind of got to learn. Yeah.

I was talking to one guy who's. saying like by the time you're doing like interviews about a book that's out, you're probably like already finished writing another book. And so then you have to kind of like shift your mindset into the other book that you were paying attention to like two years before. That's what happened with finding Tessa. It was about a month before the debut. Maybe three weeks to a month before the debut is when I got my edit for it could be anyone. But then I had to get my, I had a post. I had a my mind back into that book and those characters while I was starting to promote this one and I was getting everything out. And I think that's going to happen again because it could be anyone

comes out May 10th. And I'll probably get my edits for I didn't do it probably right around the same time, probably about a month before. So then I'm going to have to be like, oh wait, now I'm off of these characters now and now, oh, and this one's coming out in paperback on May 3rd. So I'm going to have to do a promotion for that one. And then it could be be anyone comes out May 10, but I'll probably get my edits for the third one, probably in, like, April. So then I'm going to be like, oh, wait, now I'm back to these guys, and I still have Tessa, and I've gotten this other group. But, you know, we kind of got to learn to balance it all. So, you know, it is what it is. Yeah. It's a wonderful problem to have. I'd rather have,

I'd rather know that I'm working on getting more books out than the alternative. Yes. Not promoting anything and not doing anything else. Yeah. Did I see? I see you were posting about starting book four? Maybe I'm mixing my authors. It's six. It's six.

It's book six. That's what I thought it was six. But then I was like, is my math wrong? No, but I have, well, this was one. And then it could be anyone is two. And then there's one called I didn't do it, which is going to be three. And then four and five are already written. And my editor already read one of them.

We just don't have a contract on it yet because I was originally going to, I wanted that one to be the third one. And then after and I changed my mind and I said I wanted what's coming out as the third one. And then she was kind of teetering on which one she wanted to offer on. And then she ended up going with I didn't do it. So I know she likes the other one. We just, you know, we got to go year to year on contract. So fingers crossed we'll pick that one up too and I'll have another one. And then when I have to start promoting I don't do it, I'll be doing it for the other one. So. It's a good problem. That's also a good problem.

It's got to feel nice being ahead. Yeah, I used to write very, very fast. I mean, I wrote Finding Tessa in 10 weeks. I wrote, it could be anyone, in six weeks. So I used to just really just crank out books, like very, very quickly. So I'm kind of ahead in the, I've got some in the coffers that I'm done with. So once everything dies down, it's like, all right, to my publisher or my editor, it's like, all right, you know, do you want this one?

So that's why I'm trying to go slow with this one because, I mean, even if they buy every single book that I've already written, I mean, the truth of the matter is, the one that I just started, wouldn't even see the light of day to like 2026. So I could take my time on that one, take my time, enjoying what I've got going on and finally just, you know, it's okay to do three books at once, to do finding Tess's stuff while doing it could be anyone, you know, launch stuff, while. doing edits or I didn't do it. So and then have the other two there. And I don't have to worry about right, right, right, right, right, right, right. Because I'm ahead of the game there. But that's just, that was just me being crazy beforehand and just like writing like crazy beforehand.

So put in the work, I'll take the break. So where can people find you? Like where do you want the social media, your website, just plug everything you want? Yes. So my Facebook author page is Jamie Litton. Hendricks dash author. My Instagram is at Jamie Lynn Hendrix author. My Twitter is at author, J.L.H. And I think that's about it. That's got all my information. It's, you know, it's got all my, you know, my agency, my email, my, you could find all that stuff. It's got my LinkedIn where you

can, you could pre-order. It could be anyone. You could buy finding Tessa. They also, There's a link there if you want, a signed copy. My publisher owns the Mysterious Book Shop in New York City, and you can order signed copies through there. Other than that, I would like to say hi to all my other author friends, and I love you. And thank you, Ashley Winstee for suggesting for hooking Kate and I of. Yeah, she did.

I love it. She's wonderful. I had actually read your book. Go ahead. She's just wonderful. She's just so great. And I love one of my favorite books last year was in my dreams. I hold a knife.

So, yeah, if anybody hasn't read that one, pick it up. I read it in like a day. It was excellent. Yeah, me too. I think it took me two days, possibly. But it was really great. And yeah, I had just started reading it when I interviewed her. And I was like asking her, I was like, because she was only my second interview.

And when I started this, I was like, I don't know if all. are going to respond. Like, I don't know how it would go. So I was just asking her if she, I know. She was like, no, people are going to want to talk about their books. I was like, oh, okay. And she was like, I'm just trying to think of the girls I know that would be like really good interviews and then like you would vibe with. And she mentioned you and I was like, oh, I'm reading her book right now. So thanks to Ashley. Yeah, thank you. Give me the confidence to go and just reach out to more people. And then thank you for being on the podcast. Oh, well, thank you much for having me thank you everybody for watching and then your next one comes out may 10th

yes it's called it could be anyone and oh wait a little one just give me one second i have a little thingy over here i'm sure it's oh yeah there's my little cards so you want to see what that's it could be anyone that's the oh that looks so cool and And then this is what? I don't know. Is that backwards? It's just blurry right now. Oh, okay.

It says they thought it was going to be a fun destination wedding with palm trees and sun. No one knew the entire bridal party wanted the groom dead. Oh, yeah. He's blackmailing everybody. Oh, it's good stuff. Oh, my gosh. I'm so excited now. It's a really good one.

Did I see it's on NetGalley in February? February 1st. It comes to Nick Galley, yeah. I'm going to have to try to grab that. Yeah. So yeah. So hopefully we can talk about that one here later in the year. Yeah.

You just let me know. We're old friends now. Yeah. All right. Well, thank you. Thank you guys for listening. And thank you, Jamie, for having a chat. And thank you so much for having to you.