Fast Five
with
Author Tif Marcelo

1. You were in the military (thank you for your service!), then got your nursing degree, THEN got married and had FOUR kids and started writing books (I’m so exhausted just reading this that I need to lie down a minute) – What is the one piece of advice you can give to aspiring writers about not losing your mind with a busy life and a deadline stacked on top of it?

Ahhhh—thank you!! Written out like that it feels like A LOT, but I think if all of us wrote out our bios (helloooo Julia, I’m looking at you too!) I think we’re all pretty impressive! In all honesty, I think what I do to stay on top of it is understanding that things change at a moment’s notice. So what I do, and I’m not sure if it’s wise or otherwise, is work the best I can when I have the energy or when circumstances allow. I kind of live in a way that I know that something is going to interrupt the moment, especially being a military family and often times solo, so when I get the chance to work, I take it. I don’t take quiet time for granted. What keeps me from truly keeping the balls from falling everywhere is to write things down. It feels super rudimentary and basic, but when I do so, I can focus on that next step. 

2. What is the one thing all the women you know probably have in their kitchen/closet/purse that you don’t have? 

Oh my gosh this is easy, a pen. I’m a writer and yet…but I always have a snack in my purse if you want one! (side note: she is not the only writer in the world who never has a pen. Ahem)  On the daily: bed made? Or unmade?

Made. Not pretty, but when I get up at 5am, my husband (when home) is still usually in it. I call it “pull my covers straight.” That’s the best I can do. 

4. What was the most surprising book you read in the last year? 

When No One is Watching by Alyssa Cole. I was so eager to get my hands on it because she’s such an amazing romance writer, and wanted to see how her work translated across genres and it was just so sooo good. I love reading thriller/suspense on top of romance/WF, and I recommend her book to anyone I can!

5. You have written some amazing books, including Once Upon a Sunset and The Key to Happily Ever After, in addition to many more. If you had the opportunity, is there a book you’ve written that you’d go back and tweak? (Or are you one of those ridiculous writers who gets each book right the first time and it’s so perfectly executed your editor loves it and has no revisions…not that I’m bitter if you are that writer. Never mind).

 I never look back! Is that bad? I just feel like the book is no longer mine. Not to say I don’t worry about the book at publishing, but after a while, as I move on to next books to write, I almost feel like they no longer belong to me! BUT if I had a choice to tweak, I would go back to The Key to Happily Ever After. I would make it a little longer, and add a smidge more romance (since it is a contemporary women’s fiction). I do love the de la Rosa sisters and I wish that I can write more of their family!

Out Now!
In a Book Club Far Away