Behind the Pen with Tess Woods
Today on Behind the Pen we are joined with the delightful Tess Woods, author of Love at First Flight and Beautiful Messy Love. She’s here to share a few of her favourites with us.
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What is your favourite…
Character from one of your books?
Tante Rosa, the elderly Egyptian aunty, from Beautiful Messy Love was my favourite character to write for several reasons. I loved being able to poke fun at my own culture with her – at the over opinionated Arabic matriarch whose worst fear is that the “honour” (read – virginity) of any of the young females in the family would be taken from them. I also very much enjoyed playing around with the pigeon English of the older generation of Arabs with Tante Rosa – “Shut-up your mouse” was my favourite line in the book. It’s a line most Egyptians know, an inside joke really. (Google it for a laugh at poor Barack Obama’s expense.) Plus Tante Rosa had a moustache and you don’t often get to write female characters with a moustache. But most of all I loved her huge heart that was hidden under her layers of pain and how I got to develop her to be such an integral character to the plot.
Scene from one of your books?
My favourite scene remains the confrontation in the backyard between Adam and Mel in Love at First Flight when he discovers her affair. That scene changed my life. It’s the scene I imagined out of nowhere one day and it’s the very first scene I ever wrote.
Movie of all time?
Dirty Dancing. So I really need to say why? Isn’t it obvious why? It’s DIRTY DANCING people, what greater movie could there be? But okay here’s a bullet point list:
1. Patrick Swayze
2. I carried a watermelon
3. Patrick Swayze
4. The lift in the lake
5. Patrick Swayze
6. Nobody puts Baby in the corner
7. Patrick Swayze
8. This is my dance space, this is your dance space
9. Patrick Swayze
10. Did I mention Patrick Swayze?
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Book that you always keep a copy of and recommend to others?
I generally don’t keep books. The book I have told the most people to read is The Bridges of Madison County. I think it’s as close to perfection as you can get in a novel and Robert Kincaid is the sexiest character of all time. I don’t have my own copy, I haven’t had one for years but a book on my shelf that I have had since I was sixteen-years-old is Circle of Friends.
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Fashion accessory that despite having plenty of, you still keep collecting?
Scarves. Heaven help me I cannot help myself. I have dozens and I still go, ‘Ooh scarves’ whenever I shop! This is where I keep them 
