Tess Gerritsen
Tess Gerritsen
Tess Gerritsenis an American novelist and retired physician...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionNovelist
Date of Birth12 June 1953
CountryUnited States of America
accepted calling critics move novels romance since straight thrillers written
Since my romance novels had all been thrillers as well, it wasn't such a leap for me to move into the straight thriller genre. The most difficult part, I think, was being accepted as a thriller writer. Once you've written romance, unfortunately, critics will never stop calling you a 'former romance author.'
chinese eternal fruits mom mountains someday talked trip weather
Mom and I often talked about the trip we'd someday take together to the 'city of eternal spring' where she was born. In Kunming, she said, the fruits are sweeter, the mountains look like Chinese paintings, and the weather is always perfect.
beside best christmas globe presents
One of the best Christmas presents I ever got was the globe that I now keep right beside my desk.
ability became changed dad eventually magic paranoid people recipes remember stealing
My dad's cooking was magic in the kitchen. But eventually over the years, his personality changed and his ability to remember recipes failed. He became paranoid and thought people were stealing from him, when often he was just misplacing things.
father money nice
My father said writing was a nice hobby, ... Not something you could make money at.
born china early escape father mother political states turmoil
My father was second-generation Chinese-American, born in 1923 in California. My mother emigrated to the States from China when she was in her early twenties, in part to escape the political turmoil in China.
became detached emotional integrate maybe medical opposite requires supposed taught touch writer
Writing is very much an emotional process; it requires you to be very in touch with your feelings. That is the opposite of what you're taught as a medical doctor. We're supposed to be detached and logical. Maybe because I started off as a writer and then became a doctor, I'm able to integrate those two.
answer asking attention fans forensic newspapers pay people scientific stories
Fans are always asking me where I get my ideas from. The answer is that I'm very curious, and I get inspiration from everywhere. I read the newspapers voraciously, so I know what's going on in real crime. I pay attention to the strange stories people tell me, and I also read a lot of scientific and forensic journals.
behind bringing coming felt hidden market married point race safe time
I have hidden my race for 22 books. I have hidden behind my married name, which is very Caucasian, because I didn't feel safe coming out with it. I didn't feel that the market would really accept me. I think I felt it's time to start bringing in an Asian-American point of view.
bound mom needle since stories wrote
I'd been writing stories since I was a child. I wrote little books for my mom and bound them myself with needle and thread. Mostly, they were about my pets.
id since stories
Id always written, Id been writing stories since I was a child,
cheerfully family forgotten homes niches pointed relatives
In China, the dead are not forgotten - my relatives cheerfully pointed out all the niches of deceased friends and family, as if gesturing at the homes of the living.
cheap draft four pages pants paper plot seat six time typing using yields
I always write on unlined typing paper and write the first draft in longhand, using cheap Bic pens. I try to write about four pages a day, which usually yields a first draft in six months. I don't plot ahead of time, so I'm flying by the seat of my pants for the first draft.
believe science trained truly
I'm trained in science, believe in logic, and like to think there's an explanation for everything. And I'm truly not really at ease with other people.