Day: If you had the opportunity to live anywhere in the world for a year while writing a book that took place in that same setting, where would you choose?
Teshelle: Oh, hands down, I would go to Northern Sweden. The extreme seasons and the Midnight Sun. The Northern Lights and the ice cracking on the frozen lakes while the foxes cry out in the darkness. I would write one HECK of a story.
Day: Picture this: You feel uninspired while you have sat at the computer for an hour without conquering any words. How do you get your creativity flowing?
Teshelle: A long barefoot walk followed by a solo shower so I can play out some new scenes in my head!
Day: Are you a plotter or a Pantser?
Teshelle: I’m largely a pantser, but I could call myself a hybrid. I have a basic plan that I feel fine with changing if need be. And I usually outline my last few chapters or episodes to make sure I “land the plane” okay. The rest…is intuition and improv.
Day: What is your most unusual writing quirk?
Teshelle: I have a little brain-hack ritual for snapping my attention back to my work whenever I get distracted (which is often).
Day: What is your favorite genre to read, and why?
Teshelle: I love fantasy. Especially dystopian fantasy. I really enjoy politics, world-building, delicious character development, and a juicy love interest that bends all the rules. So it’s gotta be some sort of fantasy for me!
Day: Do you try more to be original or to deliver to readers what they want?
Teshelle: I think a good writer does both. I think my readers expect (or demand at this point) for me to write something unique and original. So I need to deliver!
Day: If you could tell your younger writing self anything, what would it be?
Teshelle: Don’t give up, silly genius. Write the darn stories.
Day: What was the best money you ever spent as a writer?
Teshelle: Experiences! The more of the world I taste and see, the more my perspective shifts and the better writer I become.
Day: As a writer, what would you choose as your mascot/avatar/spirit animal?
Teshelle: A hawk. Hands down. I can see what I want from so very far away, and once I’m in motion toward it, my vision focuses impeccably fast. Also…every time I see a hawk, I pay attention to my surroundings and my life at that current moment. It’s my favorite animal.
Day: How many published and finished books/Vellas do you have?
Teshelle: I have 34 total “books” on Amazon right now. Some are poetry, one is a short story, and the rest are novels. And I have 7 vellas currently as well.
Day: What does literary success look like to you?
Teshelle: I want my stories to fuel my family’s dreams. I want my books to be the foundation for every awesome thing we do in the future.
Day: What’s the best way to market your books?
Teshelle: Talk about your books constantly. With great joy. With extreme passion. Never tire of talking about them. Find the best ways and platforms for talking about them, and then…you guessed it. Talk about them.
Day: What kind of research do you do, and how long do you spend researching before beginning a book?
Teshelle: I usually need to plan most of the aspects of my fantasy world before I begin. Meanings of names, cultural references, types of food, dress, greetings, customs, and societal expectations. All of these I research and map out before I start writing. Usually, some version of the story has been cooking in my mind for many months, if not years. So once I get to the research phase, it only takes a day or two. Then I’m off to writing.
Day: How many hours a day do you write?
Teshelle: It’s different every day because I have a pretty eclectic life schedule. Sometimes one hour, sometimes five.
Day: Do you hide any secrets in your books that only a few people will find?
Teshelle: Oh yes, DEFINITELY. I have had readers sit down together with pencils and pens and highlighters and try to find my secrets!
Day: What was your most harrowing scene to write?
Teshelle: I am currently writing it. The final scenes in my upcoming release, Tuck Me In, are excruciating for me. I sure hope the story will be worth it. I think it’s an important one to tell.
Day: What is your favorite time to write, and why?
Teshelle: I would love to write around 10am every day, but that’s when I start homeschooling the boys, so it almost never happens at that time.
Day: Do you feel like it’s most important to have A) Strong characters B) Mind-blowing Plot twists, or C) Epic settings?
Teshelle: Strong characters. If a character is strong enough, they could simply sit in a room for four hundred pages, and it would be intriguing. (Oh no. That’s a good story idea. Uh oh.)
Day: Can you give a shout-out to a fellow author?
Teshelle: I will hands down shout out my dearest friend, LM Siddens. Check out their work because they are kind and whole and also brilliant and talented.
Teshelle’s Top three Vellas are:
Sanaa of Rote exists only to please her father, the King, by marrying the High Prince of an allied realm. And she will succeed. She must. If she can bear to swallow her hatred for the man to whom she must yield every fragment of her power. | From the world of The First Dryad.
Aia spent her life in hiding until her secret was discovered, and she was taken to the Palace in chains. Now, among the last crop of an ancient arboreal race, she will have to prove herself useful to the High Prince to survive. But alas, love is ruin. And the last of one race might become the first in another. Season 2 has begun.
Fantasy like you’ve never read before | They are hunting us. They are hunting me. The death sentence in my veins will stay hidden because I’m clever. Because I’m careful. Because I’m Nexus. Until the people who are supposed to love me threaten to destroy me. But you’ll see. I’ll make a way. And I’ll forge it in blood, in lies…and in metal.
Teshelle’s top three books are:
Aurelie Kendrick hasn’t spoken a word since she was a young girl. Lucky for her, vampires, known in her world simply as “pyres” like Alexander don’t speak either. But in a dark world where pyres are enslaved, forced to drink the blood of their masters, can the speechless find a voice?
Aia spent her life in hiding…until her secret was discovered, and she was taken to the Palace in chains. Now, among the last crop of an ancient arboreal race, she will have to prove herself useful to the High Prince to survive. But alas, love is ruin. And the last of one race might become the first in another.
They are hunting us. They are hunting me. The death sentence in my veins will stay hidden because I’m clever. Because I’m careful. Because I’m Nexus. Until the people who are supposed to love me threaten to destroy me. But you’ll see. I’ll make a way. And I’ll forge it in blood, in lies…and in metal.
You can find Teshelle at: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Amazon Author page, and Linktree.
Day Parker 