Tina Sloan Inspires Readers With Her Thrilling Stories, Life Lessons And Unstoppable Spirit

Celebrating A Life of Adventure, Creativity, and Storytelling

Tina Sloan shares how her acting career, adventurous spirit, and global travels shape her award-winning novels filled with romance, intrigue, and vibrant characters.

Tina Sloan is nothing short of a force of nature. A highly accomplished actress with a storied career spanning theatre, television, and film, she captivated audiences for decades with her portrayal of Lillian Raines on Guiding Light, one of television’s most beloved soap operas. Beyond the screen, however, Tina has dazzled the literary world with her transition from actress to author, proving that her talent knows no bounds. Her books are a testament to her ability to weave drama, romance, and intrigue into evocative page-turners that transport readers across the globe.

From her heartfelt debut Changing Shoes, which inspired a hugely successful one-woman show, to her award-winning Chasing Cleopatra, Chasing Othello, and the thrilling recent addition, Chasing Czars, Tina’s writing is the result of a vivid imagination shaped by rich life experiences. An avid globetrotter, marathoner, and mountaineer, Tina brings her adventurous spirit to her characters, crafting resilient heroines and high-stakes narratives set against a backdrop of exotic locations. Whether immersing her readers in romance, espionage, or powerful reflections on life’s transitions, her work bursts with authenticity, wit, and depth.

In this issue of Reader’s House, Tina Sloan reflects on her journey from soap opera icon to bestselling author, her inspirations, and the art of reinvention. A woman who has conquered 20,000-foot peaks, both literally and metaphorically, her insights on writing and living with purpose are as compelling as the stories she tells. It’s a pleasure to offer you this intimate conversation with an author who continues to inspire us on and off the page.

How did your experiences as an actress, particularly on The Guiding Light, influence your approach to writing novels?

Spending 30 years reading my 72-page scripts daily, 52 weeks a year, I was inundated by drama and secrets, love and jealousy, murder, romance, and surprise endings. These things leaked into my writing by osmosis. What I added was a great deal of research, but the plots just flowed from all those years on Guiding Light.

Chasing Cleopatra and Chasing Othello blend romance, espionage, and highstakes drama- what draws you to this mix of genres?

As a child, I loved Nancy Drew, and as a young adult, it was Agatha Christie. As an adult, books about spies like Kim Philby fascinated me. I always loved solving mysteries and still do, and I have thrived on romance my whole life, so as I wrote, romance and mystery just came out of my keyboard. .

Your book Chasing Shoes encourages women to embrace life’s changes with style and humor- how has this philosophy shaped your own personal and professional journey?

CHANGING SHOES I wrote this book initially to help women deal with aging and with the family drama of aging parents and all the things the ends of life show us. It was easy for me to feel sorry for myself as I helped my parents into their 90s, so I decided to help others and, in turn, made it a discovery for myself. I wrote a one-woman show from the book, which was also called Changing Shoes.  I did the show all over the US and in London. President and Barbara Bush came to see it in Houston, Texas!!

Cleopatra Gallier is a fascinating character- how much of her is inspired by your own life and adventures? You’ve climbed 20,000-foot peaks and run multiple marathons- do these achievements play a role in shaping your characters’ resilience and determination?

Cleopatra is someone I would have had adventures with. I ran marathons in Honolulu as she did, I climbed Kilimanjaro in Africa, and I skied in St Moritz as she does. I had one child late in life, as she does, though she has a second child in CHASING CZARS, book 3 of the series, which just came out. In many ways, she is an alter ego, though I give her far more drama in her life than I have in mine. But having done strenuous things, I certainly wanted my heroine to have a zest for life and an attitude of making things seem easy. 

What was the biggest challenge in transitioning from acting to writing, and what surprised you most about the process?

Transitioning from actress to author was FUN. I now had as much power over my characters’ lives and deaths as the writers of Guiding Light had over me for decades. 

Your books take readers from Hawaii to Dubai and beyond- how important is setting in your storytelling, and do you draw from your own travels?

My locations are another character in my novels. Dubai, Honolulu, and St Moritz are places I know well, having often spent vacations there. I love them as much as I love Cleo.

What advice would you offer to other authors, particularly those looking to transition from a different career into writing?

 Put everything else aside. Be like Virginia Wolfe and have a room of your own, even if it is a closet. I think you need to have your partner stay away while you work. You must never get distracted by your iPhone or seeing friends for lunch. You need to be all in. Then, when the thoughts and the words start coming, you are ready, but sometimes they don’t come, and that is all part of the game. I am not a plotter of a book. I just get surprised by what my characters choose to do. Many authors love to have it all laid out ahead. There are so many ways, but as Nike says, JUST DO IT!