Love at First Flight by Tess Woods **Blog Tour - Author Interview, Excerpt & Giveaway**

Love at First Flight by Tess Woods **Blog Tour - Author Interview, Excerpt & Giveaway**

Hey Everyone!

I'd like to introduce you to Tess Woods, who is touring with her first novel - Love at First Flight. I read this book just before it was published and loved it. You can find my 5 star review HERE.


**Author Interview**

What inspired you to write Love at First Flight? 
I've always been inspired by the tragic love story, the story of great love that just can't be. My favourite book The Bridges of Madison County stayed with me years after reading it and played on my mind. Then I read Twilight and out of nowhere I had to write my own book. Before this I had never entertained the idea of writing. But the longing in Twilight and the knowing that the one you love is the one that is dangerous for you resonated with me and I just had to write about that. So with the themes of desire and danger, I wrote a book about a married mother, because I wanted to write of what I know. I wanted to bring the great love story into the world of the typical suburban mum who is chasing after kids, working and running a home. I wanted her to have that Romeo and Juliet moment. So I wrote 'Love at First Flight'.

This story doesn't follow the typical romance formula. I loved the way it went in a different direction to what I was expecting. Did you know how it was going to end when you began writing?
No, I had absolutely no idea how it would end! I started with one scene between Mel and her husband Adam which came roughly in the middle of the story. Once I wrote that scene, I went back to the start and began to write the story from the beginning. I kept telling my husband while I was writing that I couldn't wait to get to the end so I could find out what happened!

Was there a particular point you wanted to make with this book?
Not consciously, no. But I think as the story unfolded, I discovered that that my pre-conceived notions of finding a soul mate were not necessarily true so perhaps without realising it, I’ve made the point about what it really takes to be soul mates.

How did you go about researching the settings of the book?
I am inherently lazy when it comes to research. I know some writers thrive on the research part but me, not so much! I just wanted to get on with the love story. So I wrote only about places I have lived in or visited. It sure saved a lot of time. However, I can’t set every book I ever write from now on in places I have personally known or I will run out of settings, so I know the research part awaits me for my next books. Bugger!

Were any of the characters based on people you know?
Hell yes! I really do believe you write what you know. Of course the novel is a work of fiction, not a biography and not a journal, and I credit my imagination for it, but I have definitely taken inspiration from events and people in my life.
It is no coincidence that Mel has long black hair and is a health professional who falls for a tall, dark, handsome and broody, moody physio. That’s me and my husband! But the great thing about writing is that I get to make Mel as hot as I like and morph her into someone as sexy as Angelina Jolie - hey, it’s my prerogative isn't it? Matt’s parents are very much inspired by own mother and father in-law who lived out in the country on a sprawling property where we used to go to wind down from the city with them. Matt’s sister is a powerful human rights lawyer, just like two of my world-beating cousins. I even used my children’s names for characters - Tom, Lara and Lachlan. (Lara has a blink and you miss it part because I am saving her. I have big things planned for Lara in book two!)
And I incorporated many real life events into this fictional story. My husband and I tragically lost our third child Lachy at birth, my darling friend Jess committed suicide, my darling friend Julie fought a fierce battle with cancer and those stories and a few more events that shaped my life made it into the book.

Which character do you relate to most and why?
I relate to Mel’s best friend, Sarah, and Matt’s sister, Holly, the most. They are both happily married, busy working mums just like me and they are vocal and passionate about expressing their views to try and help when they see somebody they love in trouble. I'm an outspoken friend to my girlfriends, they know they will get the unfiltered truth from me and I won’t sit back and watch them flounder which is what Holly and Sarah are both like.

Are you working on anything else at the moment?
Yes I have started writing my second novel Flat White With One. It’s about Mel’s son Nick as an adult and I’m so excited to share his love story with you soon!

 Do you see yourself now as a physio who writes or a writer who practices physio?
This is a hard one! I think perhaps still as a physio who writes, only because I have been working as a physio for twenty years and this is my first novel. I’m not sure if that will change as I write more.

Is there anything else you would like to share with your readers? 
I’d like my readers to know how important they are to me. Every message, every email gets read and replied to and means the world to me. Being a writer is a lonely business. As a physio, it’s instant gratification – you treat somebody, they hop off the treatment couch and you get feedback and see the results of your work immediately. With writing, you put it out there and then wait for a response which can be agonising. So I would love readers to know that writers love to hear from you. We jump for joy when you reach out to us!  Don’t be shy about emailing us or messaging us on Facebook. The reason we write is for you so we want to know about you and hear your opinions. I love it when readers tell me about their own lives, such as where they live, what they do and I especially love it when they send me photos of their own families. As a reader I never thought to contact an author or that an author would even want to hear from me, but now as an author, and speaking with so many other authors, I've seen just how much we all want and need that contact from our readers.

Connect with Tess via



**Excerpt** 

At the mention of her husband, I couldn't help myself asking about him, despite the knot in my stomach.

‘His name’s Adam,’ said Mel. ‘He’s an anaesthetist. We've been married fourteen years.’ She bit on her lower lip.

‘Is he a good guy, this specialist who never tells his wife she’s beautiful?’ I asked, narrowing my eyes.

I expected her to laugh at my expression but she didn’t.

‘He is a good guy. He’s a really great guy, actually.’ She looked at me for a second. ‘I do love him.’ She chewed on her cheek, hesitating. ‘But he doesn’t make my belly flip.’ She hung her head as soon as the words were out.

That’s the moment when everything changed. When she said that. That’s the moment she was exposed and I knew for certain I had a real chance with her.



Love at First Flight is available to purchase from:

Amazon Amazon AU Kobo iBooks B&N 


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Pop in and see Tess on her other CLP blog tour stops.

May 18 - Hello Precious Bliss – Review & Excerpt

May 20 - Living Life With Joy – Review, Q&A & Excerpt

May 20 - Hey Said Renee – Q&A & Excerpt

May 21 - The World As I See It – Review & Excerpt

May 22 - Authors and Readers Book corner – Excerpt

May 25 - Novel Escapes – Q&A

May 26 - Coffeeholic Bookworm- Review & Excerpt

May 27 -Fiction Dreams - Excerpt

May 29 - A Tattered Copy – Review

June 1 -Chick Lit Club Connect – Guest Post

June 5 - Hello Chick Lit- Review, Q&A & Excerpt

June 10- Chick Lit Plus    - Review

June 11 - The East Village – Review

June 12 - Jersey Girl Book Reviews – Review, Q&A & Excerpt

June 15 - A Blue Million Books – Q&A