Tess Gerritsen (born June 12, 1953) is an American novelist and retired physician. Read full biography of Tess Gerritsen →
I always write on unlined typing paper and write the first draft in longhand, using cheap Bic pens. I try to write about four pages a day, which... →
I have hidden my race for 22 books. I have hidden behind my married name, which is very Caucasian, because I didn't feel safe coming out with it.... →
I have minor characters who are Asian-American, and I've been using them throughout my career, but they've never taken center stage... →
I met my husband, Jacob, in medical school. We married and went to live in Hawaii where his family lived. It was very beautiful, but I wasn't... →
I raised two sons, and I know that even though they're bigger and stronger than I am, they're still little boys inside. They still cry, they... →
I shy away from showing cruelty on the page. A lot of the violence in my books actually happens off stage. The police come on to the scene after the... →
I spent my childhood watching every scary movie that Hollywood ever made. And I think that gave me the best education for storytelling. It also made... →
I think of all media, television is the most powerful when it comes to selling books, because when you have a feature film, yeah, there's a rush.... →
I think of myself as a fairly logical, scientific and somewhat reserved person. Maura Isles, the Boston medical examiner who appears in five of my... →
I think what medical training does is it gives you the language, the tools to look up facts. I think medical training gives you a sense of how to... →
I was a writer first, and knew I'd be a storyteller at age seven. But since my parents are very practical, they urged me to go into a profession... →
I'd been writing stories since I was a child. I wrote little books for my mom and bound them myself with needle and thread. Mostly, they were... →
In China, the dead are not forgotten - my relatives cheerfully pointed out all the niches of deceased friends and family, as if gesturing at the... →
Tess Gerritsen (born June 12, 1953) is an American novelist and retired physician.