Helena Fairfax

I’m absolutely thrilled to welcome author Teresa Medeiros today. Teresa is a best-selling author in America, with a staggering ten million books in print. All of her books have been bestsellers in her country, featuring on the New York Times, USA Today and Publishers Weekly bestseller lists. She’s also a seven-time Rita finalist, two-time PRISM winner, and two-time recipient of the Waldenbooks Award for bestselling fiction –  so you can see why I’m so excited to be interviewing Teresa today!

Normally I offer my guests plenty of cake with their tea when they come and visit me in Yorkshire, but we’re in a bit of a post-Christmas mood in my house at the moment, and are trying to make up for over-indulging. I do have a tin of delicious Scottish shortbread biscuits, though, which a good friend gave me as a present – so let’s forget the diet and tuck in!

Welcome to Yorkshire, Teresa. It’s a great pleasure to meet you. (Love the photo, by the way!)

Whereabouts in America do you live, Teresa? I live in western Kentucky in the U.S. It’s a gorgeously green state (except in winter) with lots of beautiful forests and rolling green hills. It compares to the countryside of Ireland, although not quite as green.

That sounds a wonderful place to live. For some reason I’d pictured Kentucky as more dry than green. Shows what I know :)

Where is your favourite place in the world? Central Park in New York City. I must be a country girl at heart because every time I go to New York, I end up rambling through the park. There’s just something magical about all of that green right there in the middle of the bustling city. I’ll never forget the first time I saw it. My first glimpse made every hair on my body stand straight up. It was like coming home. My favorite spot in the park is probably Belvedere Castle.

I visited Central Park when I was in New York, too. It was just like I imagined it from watching American films. My favourite part was the zoo.

Being a writer is a great job.  What’s the worst job you’ve ever had? When I was in nursing school, I had an interesting gig as a “Talking Christmas Tree” at a department store one year. I had to sit in this little box inside the tree and chat with children as they walked past. Some of them tried to wrest their way into the back of the box and I’d have to be careful not to slam their little fingers in the door. (Or not ;))

It’s so hard trying to keep up the Christmas cheer in those circumstances. Good for you for not succumbing to temptation!

What book do you wish you’d written? THE WINDFLOWER by Laura London (a.k.a. the husband and writing team of Tom and Sharon Curtis). It’s my favorite romance—and my favorite novel—of all-time. Pure magic!

I adored that story! It’s out of print in the UK, which I find astonishing.

What’s your favourite song? I share the same favourite song with Mark Baynard, the hero of my novel GOODNIGHT TWEETHEART—Baba O’Riley by The Who.

Great choice! I love The Who, and they’re one of my husband’s favourite bands. We went to see them a few years ago, and they are still brilliant.

If you could meet anyone in the world, dead or alive, who would it be and what would you say to them? I’ll have to be conventional and say Jesus. I’d throw my arms around him and say, “I never gave up! I knew you’d come back for me!”

What’s your happiest childhood memory? Probably “pretending” with my best friend Barbara when I was 11. We’d make up the most divine and elaborate stories together, many of them featuring the lad we knew we’d both grow up to marry—Donny Osmond.

Donny Osmond is mine!

If you had to marry a fictional character, from film, television, or books, who would it be? Oh, that’s a tough one! Am I allowed to choose ANY incarnation of Dr. Who? (Who can resist a man with his own TARDIS?) Just to be fair, I’m going to rule out any of the heroes from my books since I already had my happy ending with them via my heroines. I think I’m going to choose Sidney Carton from A TALE OF TWO CITIES. If ever a man deserved a second chance and a happy ending, it’s Sidney!

Another great choice. It’s such a romantic story, and I’d so love to change the ending.

What’s the most important lesson life has taught you? Will it be too corny if I learned it from ROCKY when I was 15? The secret to life isn’t winning the fight. It’s staying on your feet until the fight is done.

I love all the Rocky films, and I can see how they would be inspiring. You only have to hear the music to have the adrenaline pumping!

And finally, please tell us about your latest book, where we can find it, and where we can find your blog/website

If you’ve never read a Teresa Medeiros book before, I highly recommend starting with Yours Until Dawn , which is a “Beauty and the Beast” story featuring Gabriel Fairchild, a hero I’m still madly in love with.

I’ve written 23 books, many of them New York Times bestsellers in the U.S., so I’m absolutely thrilled to announce that all 23 Teresa Medeiros books are now available as e-books in the UK for the very first time! (Here’s a special page devoted to my UK Editions)

I’d thank to personally thank all of my UK readers because I so enjoyed the process of publishing my books in the UK that I decided to start my own publishing company, Amber House Books . Since 2013, I’ve published over 50 books by some of the finest romance writers in the genre including Christina Dodd, Connie Brockway, Rebecca Hagan Lee, Rebecca Paisley, Heather Ashby and Jill Marie Landis. And I owe it all to my devoted readers who urged me to make my own books available in the UK!

You can find my website HERE

I’d love to have you join me on Facebook

And on Twitter

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Thanks so much for coming by today, Teresa. It’s been a delight to meet you. I had the pleasure of interviewing Heather Ashby  a few months ago, and she, too, was a pleasure to meet.

I’ve downloaded my copy of YOURS UNTIL DAWN, and I can’t wait to start reading it!

If you’ve enjoyed Teresa’s interview, or have any questions or comments at all, please get in touch. We’d love to hear from you!