Hey Everyone! Today I am THRILLED to have Jaime Lynn Hendricks on for Q&A! She’s a thriller author who wrote Finding Tessa, one of my favorites last year! She has the best answers and was so fun to chat with. Check it out!
Hi Jaime Lynn, I’m so excited to have you for this Q&A! Finding Tessa was one of my most anticipated thriller reads of 2021 and it did NOT disappoint. I honestly couldn’t believe it was a debut novel! Tell us a little bit about how this book came about.
Well, 99% of the time, a “debut” isn’t the author’s first manuscript. Funny story! The book that got my agent is actually the one coming out next spring, It Could Be Anyone (which was my 5th manuscript!). While that was on submission to publishers, I wrote Finding Tessa, because everyone says the best way to distract yourself is to dive deep into something new. A book came to market that was a bit similar to my project on sub, so we pulled it and subbed Finding Tessa instead. Through a series of events, I ended up having to rewrite the last half (message me if you want to know the original ending, ha ha!) but it sold relatively quickly after that. And my publisher took It Could Be Anyone as my option, so it’s a dream come true that they are both going to be published in hardcover!
Writing a thriller/suspense has got to be hard! As an avid reader, I have to have that “wow” factor in my thrillers. You were able to do that! Did you know where the book was going before you got there?
Yes! “That” twist was actually the first thing I thought of doing. Like you, I read constantly (always thrillers!) because I consider it research. I’d never seen that sort of twist done before, so I thought to myself: could I write a book around something like that? So, I wrote out the first two chapters with no idea how the story was going to progress, just that “that” was going to happen. It was fun to see all the directions I had it going, knowing none of them were the truth.
How was your experience as a published debut author?
Obviously, it’s every writer’s dream to be published, from the first time they type “the end” on their first manuscript. It was a bit tricky for so many debuting the last couple of years, since so many in-person events were canceled (bookstores, conferences, etc.). Luckily, authors are awesome people (truly!) and I’ve had SO MUCH support from established authors that I kind of worship, so that was surreal, and I can’t wait to pay it forward.
My husband and I ran out to a Barnes & Noble on my debut day. The first time seeing my book on a shelf, I had to pinch myself. Even better was seeing it on the main thriller wall at B&N in Union Square in NYC, which is the gold standard. Signing books is an incredible feeling that will never get old.
What did you do to celebrate when you finished writing your book? (I remember seeing a cake involved!)
My very first book was finished in 2014 and I celebrated by immediately sending it out to try to get an agent which was the absolute wrong thing to do. It wasn’t ready, and I shot myself in the foot because you only get one chance to grab that agent’s attention. I kept writing and getting rejected and kept trashing manuscripts, but each one got better.
For my celebration for Finding Tessa, on debut day I had a few friends over for champagne and pizza. I know it doesn’t sound like much, but I try to stick to a Paleo diet, so it was a HUGE DEAL for me to house half of that large pie with extra cheese! 😊 A few days later my husband had a release party for me at our local favorite restaurant and we had a cake done with the Finding Tessa cover, which was super cool.
Did you grow up knowing that you wanted to be an author?
I’ve always been a writer, even when I was in kindergarten. I’d put my stickers on stapled pieces of paper and make up a story for the characters (I guess that was me illustrating too? Ha). I moved to NYC when I was twenty-five and started writing the first manuscript, but then life got in the way, and I didn’t write for years—I had to deal with real life things like relationships, jobs, family, and bills. When I got bored of life being in the way of everything, I just started typing. Along the way, I realized there was so much to learn, and knowing that is half the battle. When I decided I was serious about becoming a published author, I swallowed my pride. It’s easy to stay arrogant because your friends and family liked the first book, but if you don’t learn the business side, it’s easy to become bitter. Everyone has room for improvement and learning from those who were steps ahead of me is what got me here.
Do you read your book reviews? (I would have a hard time NOT reading them, lol) What do you do with the good ones/bad ones?
In the beginning, I used to check ten times a day! That gets tiring after a hundred or so reviews, because you’re never going to make everyone happy. It’s an amazing high to see strangers gushing over something you’ve written, but one person trashing it can negate everything good, so it’s just not worth it to me. I always think of it this way: some of my favorite books have awful, horrible reviews, and some books I couldn’t stand are NYT bestsellers with publicity everywhere. Books are really just one individual person’s opinion, so I try not to get hung up on it. That being said, I’m sure I’ll start the cycle over with It Could Be Anyone. But only for the start!
I’ve noticed on your IG that you’re a hockey fan! What or who instilled your love for the sport?
That’s all Dad! He’s had NY Rangers season tickets since 1961, so I grew up going to the games with my family. When I lived in the city, he transferred them over to me because he and my mother moved a bit further away and it was much more of a hike for him. I lived a few blocks from Madison Square Garden, so I was there all the time. It’s been a bit challenging now that I’m in suburbia myself, but yes, I still have the tickets!
What’s your favorite way to spend a day off?
I love to read (by the pool if I’m in Florida, which I am almost half the time lately!), having lunch with friends, catching up on my shows on Hulu or Netflix, and if I need to, I get a massage. That’s my ultimate guilty pleasure.
What was the last book you read?
Like a Sister by Kellye Garrett is the last one I finished (look for my AMAZING review in Suspense Magazine in the spring!) and I’m almost done with another that comes out next year called When She Disappeared by Steph Mullin and Nicole Mabry. I’m blurbing it for them, and I can’t wait to finish because it’s terrific so far! Next up on my pleasure reading list is The Girl She Was Before by Jess Kitching.
Last one and then I’ll post some this or that! Please, please, please tell us more about your new book, It Could Be Anyone, coming out in 2022!!
I won’t lie, I love this book! It’s deliciously twisty with tons of secrets that you’ll think you have figured out, but even when I tell you what they are, they twist again. It’s centered around a destination wedding in Miami, where five friends travel to see their college friend get married. The horrible groom is named Trevor Vaughn, and he’s been blackmailing all of them, but none know about the others. They’re all doing what he says to save themselves, and when he drops dead at the wedding (this happens halfway through page 1, I’m giving nothing away, haha) you have to figure out who in the bridal party did it. And why.
This or That:
Traveler or homebody? Used to be a traveler, but I haven’t been on a plane in 2 years so now I’m definitely a homebody.
Introvert or extrovert? Extrovert
Chocolate or vanilla? Chocolate
iPhone or Android? iPhone
Coffee or Tea? Coffee
Cook or takeout? Cook
Facebook or IG? IG
Saturday or Sunday? Saturday
Truth or dare? Dare. Thriller writers hide too much and can never tell the truth 😊
Thank you so much Jaime Lynn! I’m definitely going to message you about that alternate ending 😅 and I CAN’T WAIT to read It Could be Anyone (coming May 10, 2022)! To find out more about Jaime Lynn and her books, check her out on IG HERE.
