Tessa Bickers

Dear Tess, when @cosylittlereadingcorner sends you a copy of your Hungarian translation of THE BOOK SWAP and then the US copies of The NIGHT BUS arrive, it is imperative you allow yourself just ONE second of feeling proud of yourself for all the books out there in the world with your name on before you return to berating yourself. Yours, as always, Tess x ps. The new book you’re attempting to write IS terrible though. Don’t get ahead of yourself. Yours, as always, other Tess x

Pinch. Me. I am now officially a @usatoday Bestselling author. The Book Swap hit the list this week thanks to the many brilliant readers who are buying it. So this is more for all of you, than me. Or let’s say it’s a team effort. But I’ll take the title anyway, if that’s ok? (AAAAAAARRRRGGGGGGHHHHHH!!) Right… back to playing babies with my 6 year old. What a reality check!

Turns out it doesn’t matter WHAT desk you get when it comes to writing a novel. I wrote 90% of THE BOOK SWAP on my phone, in the back of the car, on the beach, on the toilet (seat down) while my daughter had a bath, on an aeroplane or lying on the sofa with Peppa Pig in the background. But I did, at least, do 10% at my beautiful new desk which I think is here to stay. Watch this space…

My heart!! I finished this book with a smile on my face and tears in my eyes. 🥹 Thank you to @readmirabooks and @htp_hive for the ARC! All opinions are my own. From the get-go I fell in love with Daisy and Tom. Their interactions felt so authentic, and their gentleness with each other was beautiful to read about, as well as the deep conversations they had. All of this woven in with the quest to help Tom with his plight made for a fun book full of heart and true depth. I read The Night Bus in 2 evenings!! I hope you pick up this heartwarming romance and enjoy it as much as I did. (Swipe for the summary!🫶🏻) @tessabickerswrites is a lovely and talented writer! The Night Bus publishes May 19th. 🎉 #thenightbus #hiveinfluencer #htphive

Happy birthday to Little Free Library! Today kicks off the 14th annual weeklong celebration for LFLs all over! 🥳 Be sure to visit our library for fun goodies! We have a blind date with a book and little goodie bags available. Don’t forget to tag us if you grab one!! We have so many exciting things coming up and will be sharing throughout the week so make sure you’re checking back in! There are so many ways you can celebrate and spread the word about @littlefreelibrary : 📚 Share a Book Get out and visit some Little Free Libraries in your neighborhood! Use the mobile app to find libraries near you and share books. Be sure to check in to each library you visit. 📸 Enter the Photo Contest Share photos of you and your favorite Little Free Library book-sharing box! Submit your photos by using the hashtag #LFLweek on social media to be eligible for prizes. The photo contest is sponsored by ThriftBooks. 🎉 Party with us! Join @bernicesbookshelf on Saturday, May 23 at @levittownpl from 10am-12pm for bookish crafts, yummy snacks, giveaways, book swap, and meet local stewards! Meet romance author, @hollycaste_author and join us for a special reading at 11 AM with children’s author, @johncavpub ! Party is open to adults & families. ✍🏼 RSVP today! (link in bio) #littlefreelibrary #littlefreelibrarystewards #lflweek #bookstagram

So weird when you open your front door and stumble upon some early readers of The Night Bus. There’s something in it for everyone, even a couple of hairy bikers!

It’s Little Free Library Week and we’re celebrating with a special GIVEAWAY featuring books inspired by the joy of sharing stories through Little Free Libraries. One lucky winner will receive all the books pictured! To enter: • Like this post • Comment with your favorite Little Free Library OR your favorite book Bonus entries: • Follow all featured accounts for 10 bonus entries: @hogwartslittlefreelibrarymn @findingjoyintheunknowns @writerversejourney @patzmill @alizafogelsonbooks @tessabickerswrites @storiesbylaceybraziel • Share this post for 5 bonus entries Books featured: • The Traveling Book • One Can Be • Little Book’s Big Day Out • The Lending Library • Operation Nannys • The Book Swap Little Free Libraries help bring books, connection, and kindness to communities everywhere, and we’re so excited to celebrate them this week. Winner will be announced FRIDAY. Good luck and happy reading! #LittleFreeLibrary #LittleFreeLibraryWeek #BookGiveaway #ChildrensBooks #ReadingCommunity

THE NIGHT BUS is officially published in less than a week so here’s another fact for you (you don’t need to scroll. I talked too much and Instagram turned it into a Reel.) Enjoy this mini tale of when my first love broke my heart. Maybe, if you feel sorry for me, you can pre-order my book. 18 year old me would never have thought, when crying on that train, that she’d inspire a book that future me would publish. So I guess… thank you ex-boyfriend. Thank you John Fowles. Thank you broken hearted travel.

EIGHT DAYS TO GO UNTIL THE NIGHT BUS (although I DO know some of you have already received your copies - EEEEEK!!) AND HERE SHE IS WITH FACT SIX, while on, I’ll be honest, quite a hectic dog walk. Without even realising I was doing it, I poured a lot of myself into Daisy’s journey as she tries to understand what it truly means to be happy and I hope that for any of you who read it, it inspires you to prioritise your own happiness above all else. If you’re on a journey to getting there, I hear you. Let’s do it together! #thenightbus #authorlife #bookstagram

✨𝙰𝚁𝙲 𝚁𝙴𝚅𝙸𝙴𝚆✨ 𝚃𝚒𝚝𝚕𝚎: 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙽𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝙱𝚞𝚜 𝙰𝚁𝙲 𝙿𝚛𝚘𝚟𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝙱𝚢: @tessabickerswrites & @netgalley 𝚁𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚎 𝙳𝚊𝚝𝚎: 05|19|26 𝙶𝚎𝚗𝚛𝚎: 𝚁𝚘𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚁𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 𝙼𝚊𝚒𝚗 𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚜: 𝙳𝚊𝚒𝚜𝚢 & 𝚃𝚘𝚖 𝙱𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚃𝚢𝚙𝚎: 𝚂𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚊𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝙿𝙾𝚅: 𝙳𝚞𝚊𝚕 | 𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚛𝚍 𝙿𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚘𝚗 𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚖𝚢 𝚏𝚒𝚛𝚜𝚝 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚋𝚢 𝚃𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚊, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚒𝚝 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚙𝚕𝚎𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚢 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚕𝚎 𝚖𝚢 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚝. 𝙸𝚝’𝚜 𝚜𝚞𝚌𝚑 𝚊 𝚌𝚞𝚝𝚎, 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚢, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚗𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚒𝚜 𝚊 𝚚𝚞𝚒𝚎𝚝 𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚊𝚕 𝚕𝚊𝚢𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚎𝚜 𝚒𝚝 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚌𝚒𝚊𝚕. 𝙳𝚊𝚒𝚜𝚢 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚃𝚘𝚖 𝚏𝚎𝚕𝚝 𝚒𝚗𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚍𝚒𝚋𝚕𝚢 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕, 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚙𝚎𝚘𝚙𝚕𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚞𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠. 𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚓𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚗𝚎𝚢𝚜 𝚙𝚞𝚕𝚕 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚒𝚗 𝚜𝚘 𝚎𝚏𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚝𝚕𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚕𝚢, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚒𝚝, 𝚢𝚘𝚞’𝚛𝚎 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚊𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖. 𝙸𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝚊 𝚐𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚜𝚕𝚘𝚠 𝚋𝚞𝚛𝚗 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜, 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚒𝚜 𝚒𝚝. 𝙸 𝚊𝚋𝚜𝚘𝚕𝚞𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚢 𝚎𝚗𝚓𝚘𝚢𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚝! #netgalley #romancebookrecs #bookrecommendations #arcreader

THE NIGHT BUS is published in NINE DAYS and that means… it’s time for another fact. When I write the first draft of any book I do it totally shut away in my writing room. I know people say one of the joys of life as an author is being able to write anywhere, but I’ve never been able to. I need total silence, except of course, for all the characters talking at me nonstop in my own mind. And then I get into the edits and things start picking up speed and the world has become so real to me that I no longer need the silence. The characters and their lives have consumed me. They’re there wherever I am and whatever I’m doing. I could write and edit anywhere, and I do. Which means that when you reach chapter twenty-seven of The Night Bus, for example, yes a version was written in total silence, but what you’ll actually read was mostly re-written and edited here, as seen in this photo, in the salon chair with foils in. You’re welcome.

FACT FOUR for THE NIGHT BUS! Sorry it’s another favourite scene because it turns out I really enjoyed writing the story of Daisy and Tom! Despite being quite anxiety ridden for the whole development of this book (more on that soon) both the cast of characters and London at 4am were my safe space and my escapism, so every time I remember a scene I wrote it fills me with calm and joy. This one is no exception but I can’t say too much because… spoilers. The Night Bus is out in UK & USA on May 19th.