Delise and I met through a writing challenge on Instagram in 2021 and bonded over the fact that we were both Women’s Fiction writers about to start querying our first books. In 2023, our books debuted within a month of each other. Delise is a wonderful writer, marketer, and supporter of the writing community, and I’m thrilled to introduce her as this month’s guest author. Welcome Delise!
Thank you so much for inviting me to participate! I’m so glad we connected during this crazy journey!

Where did the idea for ONE TOUGH COOKIE come from, and how did it evolve from inception to publication?
The idea originated from a dream, a small moment that showed me a man and a woman talking outside of the company where they both worked. From the dream, I knew they had been in a relationship but had broken up. This led me to write some scenes, where the characters and plot became clearer.

The main romance and Karina’s arc stayed consistent throughout, though I kept digging deeper into her motivations and reasoning on each draft. This caused more exploration of Karina’s relationship with her mother, which over time, became pivotal in resolving the plot.

Karina is a tough, emotionally-distant protagonist, while her love interest, Ian, plays the more supportive role. Did you find writing a flipped traditional gender roles romance challenging?
Not really. As I wrote those first scenes, it became clear that Karina did not want a relationship and that Ian did, so their dynamic was always consistent. Since Karina was such a strong character, I had to make sure that Ian didn’t come off as too weak by digging in more into his motivations for wanting to pursue Karina.

ONE TOUGH COOKIE takes place in an unexpected setting - a food processing plant. Prior to becoming an author, you received your PhD in Food Science and worked as a quality assurance manager in the food industry. How did your background inform the arc of Karina’s story?
Since, in the original dream that inspired the story, the characters were talking outside the company I used to work at—a dried cherry processing plant—I knew I had to add that food industry element. I chose to create a fictional cookie company, and designed the product and processes. I used my previous work experience to create the plotline in which the characters are preparing for a food safety inspection.

Originally, though, I didn’t do a good job integrating this subplot to Karina’s arc, since the main storyline was always the romance. When I realized Karina was more of spectator there, I had to dig deep again to find a way to thematically tie it or cut it out. I ultimately was able to relate Karina’s fear of falling in love to her fear that Lacey, the company’s CEO, will fall in love with the quality assurance manager and sabotage their chances of passing the food safety inspection and put the company at risk. This led to some great exploration of Karina’s inner issues with relationships and her definition of family.

One of Karina’s quirks is that she wears slogan t-shirts to work (examples). If you were to wear a slogan tee on your book tour, what would it say?
“I hear voices in my head and sometimes write about them.”

Ha! I love it! This month marks ONE TOUGH COOKIE’s first book birthday - Hooray! What was the best experience of your debut year? What was the biggest challenge?
The best experience was finally talking about my book and seeing reader’s reactions to it. I’d waited so long to have that! The biggest challenge was not letting my anxieties about my book’s success or failure get to me. I had a hard time not comparing to other’s successes and staying grounded on all the positives that were happening for me. My book was finally getting published after so many years. That was a huge success, in and of itself. It took some time to adjust my mindset, but eventually, I got there.

That’s a great reminder that I think we all need to hear. What is one piece of advice you would give other authors about to debut?
Stay focused on the positives and don’t compare yourself to anyone else. It can be hard, especially when your book is not the one appearing on any lists or becoming a best seller, but there is always something good happening, so treasure that!

BONUS: Read Delise’s “5 Lessons from a Debut Author” over on her blog.

Cheers to that! You and I both came to writing as a second (in my case, 4th) career. Do you think being an author is easier or harder now than it was, say, 20 years ago?
I never thought about becoming an author until my late thirties, but I’m so happy I did! Yes, I think it is harder in terms of visibility, since there are so many books being published now, but there are also many more opportunities to reach your ideal readers.

What are you working on next?
My next book is tentatively titled, WAITING FOR PERFECTION, about a thirty-five-year-old Puerto Rican virgin who has to decide whether to keep waiting for Mr. Right and the traditional family she’s always envisioned or become a single mother by choice via a sperm donor despite her conservative upbringing. It’s not under contract yet, but I hope my publisher will pick it up (cross your fingers!).

Crossing everything right now! =)
You are an incredible marketer and your website features loads of extras.* What is your advice to authors looking for fresh ways to market their book (Joanna gets pencil and notebook ready)?
Thank you so much! I’ve done so much research about marketing ideas and tried to come up with unique ways to tie them to my book. Since I live in Germany, I’ve mostly focused on online marketing through social media and my website. One thing I’ve tried is writing blog posts relating to some aspect of my book. For example, since my book features Puerto Rican characters, I wrote some blog posts about Puerto Rican food and drinks that have brought a lot of traffic to my website. I have no idea if it has led to sales, but it does get eyes on me and my author brand. Every little thing that can improve visibility helps!

**BONUS: Check out Delise’s short stories and take the Cookie Personality test.

What books are on your Summer Reads list this year?
I’m trying to read the books on my TBR pile, so these are not recent releases, but books I’ve saved to read during the summer: THE COMEBACK SUMMER by Ali Brady, ONE ITALIAN SUMMER by Rebecca Serle, SMART GIRL SUMMER by Kristin Rockaway, and HAPPY PLACE by Emily Henry.

Thank you for hanging out with me today!!! How can readers discover more about you and your work?
ONE TOUGH COOKIE is available in paperback, e-book, and audio formats. Check out the links on Delise’s website for featured retailers: https://delisetorres.com/one-tough-cookie/
Website - https://delisetorres.com/ 
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/torresdelise/
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/torresdelise/
X - https://x.com/torresdelise
Goodreads – https://www.goodreads.com/torresdelise