INTERVIEW WITH TAMSYN BESTER AUTHOR OF: THE LINE BETWEEN

We Would Love to Welcome

Tamsyn Bester

Author of:

Rad-Reader:  This seems to be a more common occurrence these days.  What made you pick this storyline to write about?

Tamsyn: I’m a fan of the love-hate relationships in books, so I decided to write The Line Between and add an element to the book that would ‘validate’ the way Dane and Kennedy felt about each other.

Rad-Reader:  How did you develop each character or did they just kind of create themselves?

Tamsyn:  I knew when I started writing that I wanted Dane and Kennedy to be really strong characters, and once their initial ‘outline’ was developed, they took over and showed me who they were. I allowed their characters to come naturally, and fell in love with who they became.

Rad-Reader:  Kennedy was a character who just couldn’t seem to catch a break, whether it be at home or school.  How did she stay so positive?

Tamsyn:  Kennedy closely resembles me as a person, and by nature I always try to have a positive outlook. I wanted her to be a character that could see the silver lining in any situation, and she proved that inner strength and courage could overshadow the bad things she experienced.

Rad-Reader:  You were still able to project her hidden pain was that difficult to do as the writer?

Tamsyn:  Yes and no. I channeled my own bad experiences, and really drew that out, but I was careful not to make it seem like it was unrealistic. Kennedy’s emotions became mine, and mine became hers which allowed me to make whatever she was feeling as raw and real as possible.

Rad-Reader:  As most of our readers know my daughter was bullied at a young age.  She has turned it around and has also made it a positive learning experience but it has been a long hall.  The emotions that you brought out were all too real.  I was just amazed at the ability that you had at just giving enough without making it morbid or a crusade.  

Rad-Reader:  Was Kennedy secretly crushing on the persona Dane put out or Dane?  The Bad Boy image at all during the time he was so awful?

Tamsyn:  I think she was too busy dealing with her home life to really pay that kind of attention to Dane when they were younger. But after her time away, and after she’d grown up a little, I think she fell in love with him in his entirety, rather than just the façade he put up. She understood his loss, his anger, and his pain better than anyone, and that gave her a rare glimpse of who Dane really was.

Rad-Reader:  Dane hated his father yet he continued the hate that was passed down.  Why?

Tamsyn:  As children we grow up wanting to please our parents, and for Dane growing up with that hate was normal. To him that’s how it was because his father said so. He didn’t know better.

Rad-Reader:  Dane said he wanted her since grade school yet instead of ignoring her he made it his mission to be not just mean but cruel.  Why?

Tamsyn:  Kids are cruel, and I think Dane’s cruelty was borne of frustration from wanting what he wasn’t supposed to want. Being a bully was the only way he could give Kennedy his attention, and get hers, because he wasn’t allowed to express how he really felt in another way.

Rad-Reader:  Why didn’t Dane’s twin feel the same way he did?

Tamsyn:  Jewel was far more laid back than Dane was, and she didn’t care to be involved with family politics that really had nothing to do with her or Dane. She thought it was outdated, and decided that following her own rules was more important than hanging on a family feud that went back generations.

Rad-Reader:  Reid once in a while would say he was being an ass.  Why didn’t he stop him or call him out knowing Kennedy was his best friend’s friend and his friend that he was being cruel to?

Tamsyn:  Reid’s loyalty, although a little misplaced at times, was towards Dane and I think he was trying to stay out of whatever Dane had planned next. It took him some time to mature as well, and see that Kennedy had been through just as much as Dane. It took him some time to become objective, and see that Dane was wrong.

Rad-Reader:  Why did Kennedy take so much abuse from Dane?  Not standing up for herself?  Was it because of her dad’s treatment?

Tamsyn:  She didn’t know any different, but when she got older, and after losing the one man who loved her, she realized that she deserved better. She didn’t want her life, and her future relationships to be defined by the lack of attention from her father, or the cruel way in which Dane treated her.

Rad-Reader:  If your book was made into a movie who would you want to play:

Kennedy:  Jennifer Lawrence

Dane:  Nicholas Hoult

Reid:  Colton Hayes

Jewel:  Mia Rose Frampton

Charlie:  Cjase Crawford

Jade:  Miranda Cosgrove

Tamsyn:

Kennedy: Diana Agron

Dane:  Matt Lanter

Reid:  Kellan Lutz

Jewel:  Teresa Palmer

Charlie:  Chris Hemsworth

Jade:  Shay Mitchell

Rad-Reader:  What song out today best describes your book or makes you think of it?

Rad-Reader:   Thin Line Between Love & Hate

Tamsyn:  ‘Up’ by Demi Lovato & Olly Murs

Rad-Reader:  How much do you think Charlie and Jewel influenced the fire that burned between Kennedy and Dane?  Good and Bad?

Tamsyn:  I think their deaths had a lot to do with the relationship that developed between Dane and Kennedy. The fire between them was ignited when Charlie and Jewel died, but then gave light to a different kind of flame.

Rad-Reader:  The emotional fall out Dane has toward Kennedy when his father opens a can of worms in the press it was heart wrenching.  Where did you pool that emotion from?

Tamsyn:  That was an incredibly tough scene to write. My biggest concern was how readers would respond to Dane’s outburst. But I had to stay true to how Dane and Kennedy told me their story, and wrote that scene from within my heart. In that scene, I was Kennedy, and I was Dane, and I put myself in their minds in order to get the real emotion out.

Rad-Reader:  I have to say that scene was gut wrenching and so hard to read with tears in my eyes.  Once I could focus it was such a powerful scene that I could not see being in this book.  I think it was a huge turning point in both of their lives as to who they had been, who they were at that moment, and who they wanted to be. Bravo!

Rad-Reader:  Can our readers look forward to a new book soon?  If so what?

Tamsyn:  I’m current;y planning my next 3 projects, but yes, readers can look forward to at least one more new release from me this year. The cover is currently with the designer, but for now I can reveal the title.

Playing Pretend…

Rad-Reader:  Where can our readers buy your books?

Tamsyn:  My books are available online on Amazon, iTunes, B&N, and a few other platforms.

Rad-Reader:  Where can our readers find you?  (websites, etc…)

Tamsyn:  Website: www.tamsynbesterwrites.com

Twitter: www.twitter.com/@Ms_Tam_Tam

Instagram: www.instagram.com/tamsynwrites

Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Tamsyn-Bester/635202666493424

Rad-Reader:  What is the one item you can’t live without?  Why?

Tamsyn:  Ha, there are several things I can’t live without, like any of my electronic devices. My iPhone/iPad/Macbook. Oh and my coffee machine. Naturally J

Tamsyn,

     I can’t begin to tell you how much this book touched me.  I was tearing up in many places and in others just laughing my ass off.  You have such a gift for writing. Finding ways to bring out emotions of the characters that engulfs the reader as if they are part of the scene that they are reading about.  I want to thank you for taking the time to answer all of my questions and allowing my “FANGIRL” to come out.  I can only hope our readers find the question that I had were some that will answer some of theirs when they read the book.  Oh yeah!  Now by hook or by crook you are stuck as part of the 1 Rad-Reader Review Family.  You poor thing you.  You had your chance to run but now you're ours.  It’s not too bad we water regularly and feed sparingly.  No really thanks Tamsyn for everything.

Char J