Tess Sharpe: On Switching Between Thriller and Romance

Born in a mountain cabin to a punk-rocker mother, Tess Sharpe grew up in rural California. She lives deep in the backwoods with a pack of dogs and a growing colony of feral cats. Find her on Twitter and Instagram.

Tess Sharpe

In this post, Tess discusses the original inspiration for her new YA romance, 6 Times We Almost Kissed (And One Time We Did), why she shifts back to romance after writing thriller, and more!

Name: Tess Sharpe
Literary agent: Jim McCarthy
Book title: 6 Times We Almost Kissed (And One Time We Did)
Publisher: Little Brown
Release date: January 24, 2023
Genre/category: YA Romance
Previous titles: Far From You, Barbed Wire Heart, The Girls I’ve Been, Toil & Trouble, Great or Nothing, The Evolution of Claire, Captain Marvel: Liberation Run.
Elevator pitch for the book: Penny and Tate have always clashed, but their moms are besties, so when Penny’s mom decides to become a living liver donor for Tate’s mom, the girls have to find a way to work and live together during this scary and hopeful time … there’s just one problem: They keep almost kissing.

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What prompted you to write this book?

I’ve always wanted to write a book inspired by Beaches, which is a movie I love. But I could never quite figure my way into the story of a ride-or-die friendship that spans decades, deaths, and divorces, until I realized I shouldn’t be writing about the women in the friendship, I should be writing about their daughters!

The idea of examining the generational ripples that such an epic friendship causes within two families really drew me in and thus, Penny and Tate’s love story was born!

How long did it take to go from idea to publication? And did the idea change during the process?

I tend to keep book concepts on my idea list (stored on my notes app on my phone!) for a long time. Sometimes decades. And often my books turn out to be two concepts on that list paired together.

I’d say the two concepts that made up this book sat on my phone for at least eight years before I dusted them off and turned them into a book proposal. It was on submission for five months before it sold at auction.

Were there any surprises or learning moments in the publishing process for this title?

I had the great joy of getting to go back (nine years later!) to my debut editor for this book! It was so fun to be back with her after so many books and years apart! Like remodeling a cozy cabin you both decorated years ago.

Were there any surprises in the writing process for this book?

I definitely gave myself a challenge with sustaining a slow-burn romance for such a long time within the structure of the novel. I always go back to writing romance between writing thrillers and mysteries because I feel like romance hones you as a writer like nothing else. But I didn’t realize going in just how much this book would hone me and how challenging fitting the story around the structure would be.

What do you hope readers will get out of your book?

I think you can take away a lot of different things from 6 Times We Almost Kissed. It’s a love story between two girls who are totally in denial while everyone around them is like “Oh yeah, you two are soulmates.”

But it’s also a story about having to grow up too fast and it’s a story about mothers and daughters and the things mothers do to heal us and to harm us.

If you could share one piece of advice with other writers, what would it be?

Breaks are just as important as those days where you write thousands of words. That advice of “real writers write ever day” is silly because who doesn’t need to take a break sometimes?

Breaks allow your brain to recharge and your creative well to refill. So don’t guilt yourself about your low or no word-count days. Your well is refilling.

Throughout this four-week course, you will have feedback and support while you write and hone an entire short story from beginning to end, and you'll leave with a polished draft of your story. You will get insider information about what editors are looking for in short stories they choose to publish. Literary journals are always looking for quality stories, and with the advances in online submissions, getting your work in front of an editor has never been easier.

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