Indie Author Interview! Meet Teshelle Combs

By J.J. DiBenedetto | May 22, 2014 | Comments 0 Comment

I featured Teshelle and her novel “The System” last week, but I’ve got more from her today – here’s an interview with a great indie author:

Who is your favorite author?

Can I pick two? Suzanne Collins and Toni Morrison. Suzanne wrote my favorite series, ‘The Hunger Games,’ in all its thunder dome glory. And Toni is the one who started this whole mess. It was after reading ‘Beloved,’ that I fell in love with the art of writing. She’s so eloquent, so profoundly mysterious that I couldn’t help wanting to be her.
How do you describe your writing style?

Action-packed and well-paced, with surprising bouts of profundity throughout. I like kick-butt books and I can’t lie…whatever I spend my time on has got to keep up with my brain to hold my interest. So I tend to write to match!
Use no more than two sentences. Why should we read your book?

Because it could change your life.
Have any of your characters been modeled after yourself?

I think each of my characters have bits of me sprinkled in. Nessa, from ‘the System,’ is probably the closest. I took her hatred for driving right from my own life experience–although my driving test went exponentially better than hers did. Her sassy, quirky inner dialogue might be a little like mine as well.

And Ava, from ‘Core,’ would probably be my alter ego. The fierce, jaded, don’t-give-a-crap attitude is so cool to me, but I’m pretty much the opposite in real life.

If you could exchange lives with any of your characters for a day which character would you choose and why?

Ava Ava Ava!! Why? It’s very simple. Ava has Cale. And if I could have a dragon as handsome and caring and honest and perfect as Cale, I’d just curl up next to him and die. She’s probably the luckiest girl in the galaxy, but she doesn’t always realize it. Plus she’s tough, and she can hold her own in the ring and out. If I were to be a character in any book, I couldn’t handle being one of those sissy girl types who trips all the time and can’t take care of themselves. Ava is so far from that it’s scary.
If you could select one book that you could rewrite and add your own unique twist on, which book would that be and why?

Oh boy! I do this all the time in my head. Right now, I’d rewrite Divergent, because that would be fun and I love that series! Here’s what I’d change:

I’d slowly turn Tris into a bad guy, beginning with the ‘Al’ incident where her encounter with her former friend leads to him killing himself. Perfect opportunity to plant some dark seeds in her. And then by the end of the first book, I’d have her exiled to join the Factionless, where she’ll wallow in her anger and vengeance until she decides to exercise her wrath and destroy the entire dystopia!
Beatles or Monkees? Why?

Okay, every time I say this, I get glared at. Some people even leave the room…

I don’t like the Beatles.

I mean, they’re fine. They made good music. I just don’t understand what’s so magical about them. I’m a musician and a singer, but I grew up in the Virgin Islands and we never listened to them, ever. So I just missed the Beatles boat. It wasn’t until college that I had a taste, and by then, it was too late. And the Monkees? No idea who that even is! But ask me about some Bob Marley and I’ve got you covered!

Who should play you in a film of your life?

This might be the hardest interview question I’ve ever been asked. Who would be me? How about Anna Shafer who played Romilda Vane from the Harry Potter series? Of course, I would hope she wouldn’t have to be unkind or snotty anything like that when she played me, but she’d do great being weird and cool and introverted. Yes, I pick Anna!!

Thank you so much for letting me chat with you. I had fun answering these questions!!