Tess Woods speaks with Cheryl about the ongoing impact of tourism on Venice, her experiences navigating the publishing industry, and her upcoming book set in Cairo, which delves into themes of the Middle East and personal heritage. Her latest novel, The Venice Hotel, is available now.
About The Author:
Tess once had a simple life until her compulsion to write made-up stories complicated everything. She’s now an award winning and best selling author of contemporary fiction. Her novels have been published across North America and sold into Europe for translation.
Her latest novel, The Venice Hotel, was released with Penguin Random House Australia in September 2024 and became an instant Top 10 Australian best seller in its debut week. It’s due for release in Europe with Penguin Random House Germany in September 2025 after a hotly contested bidding war at London Book Fair.
Tess also works as a physiotherapist in private practice and she shares a clinic and a home on the stunning Western Australian coast with her lovely and long-suffering husband. She’s a mother of two brilliant grown-up children and one grumpy grown-up cat. She’s obsessed with her Little Red Street Library and her veggie patch, in that order.
In 2024, Tess became the director of Perth’s new Festival of Fiction.
Tess’s favourite thing to do is to curl up with a good book and a cup of tea, ignore the book, forget the tea and doom scroll social media instead.
There are often cute holiday elements in the surroundings, like decorated trees, gift boxes, and snow rider effects that make the snow sparkle, which makes it look better. All of these things work together to make a peaceful winter setting that stands in contrast to the sharp focus needed to avoid objects at high speeds.