Giveaway and Author Interview: Pearl in the Sand by Tessa Afshar

Welcome to Writing for Christ Tessa Afshar, it is great to have you here! Do you have an interesting fact about yourself the average reader probably doesn’t know?  

Thank you so much, Casey. It’s wonderful to be here with you and your readers.

     One of the things that most readers might not know is that I have a slight accent. I was born in the Middle East and moved to England when I was almost fourteen. I learned to speak English while attending a boarding school for girls named Princess Helena College in Hertfordshire. Half of my family still lives in England. So although I’ve lived most of my life in America and this is my home, my accent has shades of the Queen’s influence. That, and a bit of Persian. Americans usually ask me if I’m Irish. The Irish ask me if I’m American. The real answer is that I’m a citizen of heaven.

Do you have a favorite genre to read/write?

     I love a good historical. Suspense can also make my day. Put them together and you are my friend. Give me a Brother Cadfael mystery by Ellis Peters, for example, and I can spend the day lost in Twelfth Century Shrewsbury. Add a steak and fries and a bit of chocolate and I might never leave.

Do you have a nugget of writing advice that has completely changed how you view writing?

     I’ve just started writing my third book, so this world is still new to me, and I have a lot to learn. The one thing I have to remember is the importance of perseverance. In my life, there are good writing days when words flow without interruption; but there are also some hard days when the concepts don’t come together. When one is facing the pressures of deadlines and the reality that other people are depending on you, it is easy to feel stressed. I am learning that if I persist, I can eventually turn that corner.

5 things you love?

     Jesus. My family, my closest friends, whipped cream, books, movies, the writing world. Oh, wait. Sorry. I got carried away and lost count. But I can’t bring myself to delete anything. Sign of a bad self-editor, that!

What do you enjoy most about being a published author?

     Letters from the readers.

Places for readers to learn more about you?

Thank you so much for inviting me to hang out with you. It’s been an absolute pleasure. If you would like to visit me on my website, the address is http://www.tessaafshar.com/ or visit me on my Facebook author page where there is always some new discussion going on: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Tessa-Afshar/337761827820?ref=ts

Readers here is your chance to enter to win Tessa's novel!
Please leave an email address. If I draw your name and there is no email, you will not win!

For extra entries:

~Be a follower
~Be a subscriber

Contest is only open in the U.S. and void where prohibited. Chances of winning are based on the number of entries and winner is draw from a non-biased third party- Random.org. I am not responsible for any lost or damaged items for said prize.

Thanks for coming by to enter! Contest ends on December 16th.