TL Swan is a Wall Street Journal, BookTok, international, and #1 Amazon bestselling author. With millions of books sold, her titles are currently translated into 11 languages and have hit #1 on Amazon in the USA, UK, Canada, Australia and Germany. TL resides on the South Coast of NSW, Australia with her husband and their three children where she is living her own happily ever after with her first true love.

The Bonus by TL Swan

Grace Porter has everything she could want in her job, except she’s hopelessly in love with her handsome but frustratingly sarcastic boss, Gabriel Ferrara. Despite her feelings, she’s tired of living in his shadow and decides to resign to find her own happiness. Gabriel, unwilling to let her go, offers an unexpected proposal that could change their relationship forever, giving Grace a chance to take control.

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Congratulations on The Bonus (8/13). Where did the idea for this novel come from? 

It’s funny, it’s the weirdest thing. So, I get the stories with faceless people and then I have to try and work out which character that story belongs to, if that makes sense. So, I had the office Christmas party, the first seven chapters that I put in His Christmas List (my short story collection), I wrote that and he was at his desk being really sarcastic and I was like, gasp, is this Gabriel Ferrara? And it just came to me, that it was him and his assistant Gracie. So, I went back and changed the names and I was like, this is totally him. I know who this is. At the end of it, the story just kept playing out and this has actually happened with another book. […]I never meant for this to be a full book, and I just had to go with it. That’s how this story evolved.

You’ve haven’t written in the Miles Media world in a while, what made you return to it? 

Gabriel! I wasn’t planning on it, like I said, I honestly did not intend to do this story at all. I had this story in my head for an office Christmas party, and it just came to me. I think I was on chapter three and I was sitting at the computer and had a lightbulb moment. It wasn’t my plan, but this happens with every story. I’ll start it and he or she will say something, and I’ll know immediately who that is. It’s the weird way my brain works. It might be my brain’s way of protecting my creativity so that I don’t pigeonhole myself into doing something I think I should be doing.

What’s your favorite trope to write? 

I don’t have a favorite trope, I actually don’t like sticking to tropes, but I have a favorite kind of character. I prefer to write older men. I’m older and I don’t want to read about a 20-year-old guy, my kids are 20. I want them to know what they’re doing, and I like well-educated, sarcastic men. That’s probably my strength. If the character fits into that demographic, I find it really easy to write. It’s when I try and conform and write something that’s not my usual, I have to really think.

Are there any genres or storylines you haven’t written yet but would like to? 

Loads! I’ve got a few fantasy books in me and I love historical romance. My novel, Find Me Alastar, it’s on the spectrum of paranormal romantasy. It’s my favorite book, I absolutely love it. It was the third book I ever wrote, so my writing was very green. It’s going to be a part of a three or four book series and be traditionally published into bookstores. The writing in my first book isn’t equal to my writing now.  I couldn’t put that out in a series now, and have three other books of different caliber. It’d be like two different authors wrote it. The story isn’t changing at all, it’s just the way it’s written. I could keep selling it, but I want people to forget the old version which is why I’ve taken it down. I want people to forget that version before they read the new version.

Your website mentions that you’re writing screenplays for some of your novels, can you elaborate on that? 

We’ve got a lot of things in progress in the back end of stuff. Screen is my goal, it’s always been my goal. That’s why I write my books so neat, I like to have all the details and everything. Screen is my goal for the future, that’s all I’ll say.

What are you most looking forward to about your book tour for The Bonus? 

Meeting new readers! I haven’t been to the states a lot, apart from “Readers Take Denver”. I haven’t signed in the states in five or six years. It just hasn’t worked out. There was COVID, but my husband and children all travel with me. We go where we want to go on holiday. I hadn’t been invited to a signing in the States where it fit into our schedule to go, but this year it’s time to get back!

What’s next for TL Swan in 2024/2025? 

My Rules, the second book in the Kingston Lane series, comes out in September, and that’s very similar to The Bonus, not in storyline, but in that it was such a joy to write. The next release after that will be an e-book release that will be Valentino, which is in the Italian series. We’ll also get Mr. Prescott, which is from the Mister series– not planned, but he decided to show up as I was writing this year’s Christmas short story. It’s turned out that three of the books from there have turned into full books.

I’m sure it’s like picking a favorite child (impossible), but do you have a favorite character or series that is extra special to you? 

My story is that ten years ago, my husband and I bought a business and went broke, we lost everything. I read a book called The Secret by Rhonda Byrne and it changed my life. Basically, we’re given signs from the universe and we often miss them. Two weeks later, I found my diary from when I was 17 while I was cleaning out the garage. It was full of these books I’d written when I was 17. The first book I wrote was the Stanton series, about Joshua Stanton. I went on to write four books with him. I sat on my garage floor thinking, this was a sign. When I was younger I remembered that I’d wanted to be an author. After seeing that, I decided to download a free 30-day trial of Windows, because I couldn’t afford to pay for it, and that’s how I wrote that book. I kept re-upping it, figuring out how to get another free trial, and look where it led me. It’s just incredible. He’s been with me since I was 17 so he’s very close to my heart.