Interview With Authoress Tessa Emily Hall

   I've got a treat for you guys today - an interview with authoress Tessa Emily Hall! I met her through her blog, Christ Is Write, and she's a wonderful Christian gal with a passion for God, teaching, and writing (and what's more, she writes beautifully!).

   So let's get right to it, shall we?

      How did you come up with the title for Purple Moon?

   Originally, Purple Moon was going to be titled Unwritten Melody, and Selena (my protagonist) was going to be a musician rather than an artist. However, while I was writing the book, another book – written by a popular best-selling author – was released and had a similar title and similar story. I didn’t want to take the chances of having others assume I was heavily inspired by that author’s work. Thus, Selena became an artist, and I mentally filed away the title Unwritten Melody to use for a future book. (Now, Unwritten Melody is my second novel and will be releasing with Clean Reads on Nov. 10th!)

   The title Purple Moon was actually one of the first title ideas that came to mind before Unwritten Melody. It was derived from a memory in Selena’s past, and the color purple sparked simply from the color of notebook that I used to brainstorm the story.:)

Did you learn any lessons through writing Purple Moon?

   I believe God is always working on my heart as he helps me write stories. Although I can’t think of anything specific that I learned through writing Purple Moon, there was a particular scene near the end of the book that God used to help me find healing in certain areas of my life. Because of that, I feel like I was able to write the ending from an authentic and heartfelt standpoint.
 

How did you get published?

My mom and I at my first writing conference, which is where I met my publisher at 16-years-old. =) 

  
  I attended Blue Ridge Mountain Christian Writer’s Conference when I was 16-years-old, which is where I met my future publisher. During our meeting, he requested that I send him my full manuscript when I arrived home from the conference. A few years later, my book, Purple Moon, was published by Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas. You can read more about my journey to publication here. =)

What message do you want people to take away from Purple Moon?

   The heart of the story is this: You can never be too “messed up” to receive a chance to start over and live the life you’ve always dreamt of.

What writing project are you working on right now?

   I’m actually writing the sequel to Purple Moon. =) I’ve worked on it on and off over the past few years. I wanted to finish my standalone novel, Unwritten Melody, before I completed the sequel, though. That book is scheduled to release in November, so now I can give the sequel my undivided attention. (Well, not entirely undivided. I still have marketing tasks and all that other non-writing, author-related fun stuff.)

Where do you hope to be with your writing in ten years?

   Great question! I have no idea what God could have in store for me in the next ten years. I like to keep my plans flexible, available for Him to change if necessary, and my heart set on following His will rather than my own. But I do believe that I will still be in the writing industry in 10 years. Writing is my calling. Right now, my heart’s desire is to continue this writing ministry in multiple areas – writing YA books for teens, MG books, devotionals, articles, speaking, and teaching. I have a passion for all of this, and I love how writing enables one to reach potentially thousands of readers and touch them at their core. Words have the power to speak life into the hearts of others. Books can be transformational.

   Although God is the Ultimate Author of my future, I always ask Him to give me the desires He wants me to have. And right now, my burning desire is this: To write books that transform lives—stories that portray the power of God’s steadfast love and His unending grace.

I've heard that you're also an actress - when did you become interesting in acting, and how did you become an actress?

   I’ve taken several acting classes and have been apart of theater productions since I was seven-years-old.  But I’ve always been more interested in film acting than stage acting. When I was in high school, I landed a small role in a short film that was produced by a local film school. I also worked on set as an extra for a couple of large productions. Those jobs increased my on-camera acting desire even more! However, it was during this time that I began to pursue my writing dream. Although acting is a huge interest of mine, I’ve always viewed it more as a hobby rather than a calling or a gift. So I’ve put it on the back burner for the past several years while I focused on my writing dream.

   But the acting bug kept biting. So, late 2014, I began searching for casting calls in the Christian film industry. I auditioned for Providence – a full-length Christian film produced by Mainstreet Productions – and landed a small role. I also had the chance to work on set as a PA. That movie came out in theaters February 2016 and is now available at Lifeway. (You can view the trailer here!)

   I also landed a supporting role in A Beautiful Life, a 30-minute Christian short film produced by Grace Like Rain Entertainment. This project was tons of fun to work on! I had the opportunity to play the role of a gothic girl, which is a far stretch from who I am in real life. Haha! The film is scheduled to release fall 2016. You can view its trailer here. =)  

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   Tessa Emily Hall spent her teen years writing about an imaginary girl whose life was far more interesting than her own. This resulted in PURPLE MOON (LPC), a 2014 Selah finalist. She is also the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of PursueMagazine.net, a magazine that inspires teens to embrace their God-given potential. 

Tessa's work has been published in various publications, including Devozine, Guide Magazine, Whole Magazine, and Temperance Magazine. She is a contributing writer to AlmostAnAuthor.com and has served on the Teen Advisory Board for Devozine, an imprint of Upper Room Ministries. Other than writing, Tessa enjoys making homemade lattes, cuddling with her Teacup Shih-Tzu, and acting in Christian films. She's passionate about writing inspirational yet authentic YA fiction and speaking to teens, encouraging them to pursue their dreams. You can find her on her website and blog.






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   Isn’t Tessa great? Now, (like she said) Tessa has a new book coming out in November – so you should go buy Purple Moon so that you can read the sequel when it comes out! It sounds like it's going to be pretty cool *nods*.

~ Savannah Grace

   Go ahead and chat with Tessa in the comments - and don't forget to check out her corner of the internet! *points to links above*