Hi Donna! It's great to have you here - I'm looking forward to learning more about you and your books. Wishing you many sales and much success with your latest release, A SWEETER SPOT! Let's start with my questions...
1.)
What is the strangest talent you have?
Hmm…this is a tough
question! Maybe the ability to open any book to an “inappropriate” passage. For
many years, I worked in the library at a boys middle school, which is a tough
group for whom to select books. The 8th graders can be very mature,
and some of the 6th graders very young. Whenever my boss wanted to
check to see if a book might be better-suited for our upper-school library, she
would have me look at it, because I had the unerring knack for opening up to a
curse word or a sex scene. Maybe it was some sort of romance writer
super-power!
2.)
What is the best Halloween costume you’ve ever
worn?
I dressed as Cleopatra for a
Halloween party once. It was not terribly authentic…more like the Elizabeth
Taylor movie version of Cleo, than the actual woman. But I spent a lot of time
making it, and doing my hair and make-up. I lost the costume contest to a woman
who rented a clown costume, and I’m still a little bitter about it.
3.)
Are the titles of your books important?
Titles are very important to
me. I look for quotes that relate to the theme of my story, and then try to
find a piece of the quotation that would make a good title. A Sweeter Spot is from a poem by Robert
Montgomery––“Home, the spot of
earth supremely blest. A dearer, sweeter
spot than all the rest.”
I was struggling with my current work-in-progress,
book 3 of the Rivers Bend trilogy, until I thought of a new title, and it spun
things off in a better direction, and is moving right along now!
4.)
If you’re struggling with a scene or difficult
character, what methods help you through it?
Stepping away from the story
for a bit can sometimes work for me. I’m usually working on more than one thing
at once––for example, right now I’m doing Galley edits for Love is Lovelier, book 2 in the Rivers Bend trilogy, and also
writing book 3, as well as a ghost story that I’m really enjoying writing. If I get stuck on one, I’ll work on one of the
others for a while, and sometimes that’s enough to clear my head and provide a
way forward.
5.)
Do you prefer dog, cats or none of the above?
Dogs all the way for me!
Nothing really against cats, although I am allergic to them. I’m just a dog
lover! I still miss my beloved Shih Tzu, Wendy. She was trouble on four paws,
but I loved her to bits! Petunia, Magda’s dog in A Sweeter Spot, is loosely based on Wendy.
6.)
Who’s your favourite author? Why?
I love so many, it’s hard to
narrow it down to just one! Hmm…probably my favourite author would be Agatha
Christie. I can read and re-read her mysteries over and over again, and still
enjoy them. She also wrote a non-fiction book about being on a dig with her
archaeologist husband, and I love that one too! It’s called “Come Tell Me How
You Live”, and it’s funny and interesting.
7.)
Do you have a pet peeve?
This question tripped me up,
I know I have pet peeves, but for some reason I was drawing a blank on it, so I
asked my husband what he thought my pet peeves were. He came up with two––one,
is amusing, and I acknowledge it is true. I’m fortunate that my husband enjoys
cooking, and on the weekends will whip up a fabulous dish for us that will
usually feed us for a few days during the week, hence freeing up my writing
time. That being said, he seems to be physically incapable of shutting a
cabinet door once he opens it. When he leaves the kitchen, it looks like a
tornado blew through and opened all the cabinets! The second one was that I
hate it when people are mean to children and animals. This one, I wasn’t as
aware of, so I asked him what I do, and he said I get steamed. True. But I
hadn’t really thought of it as a pet peeve before.
8.)
Do you remember your dreams when you wake up in
the morning?
I do! My husband rarely
remembers his, so he always enjoys hearing mine in the morning. They can be
really cinematic. A lot of times, I get great ideas for my writing during that
fuzzy half-awake/half-asleep time in the morning. I keep a notepad next to the
bed, to jot them down before I forget them.
Magda knows a 28-year-old shouldn’t
run away from home, but Rivers Bend is the ideal escape. Helping out her best
friend will get her away from her uber-wealthy, controlling grandmother and
duplicitous ex. She doesn’t expect the quirky little town to feel so much like
home. Add in hotter-than-the-sun Jeff and his daughter, and leaving seems as
unthinkable as it is inevitable.
Raising Sam alone, Jeff knew he
wanted her to grow up in his supportive hometown. The arrival of a feisty new
tenant sends Jeff's world spinning. Magda fills a void in his life that he’d
like to make permanent.
Will love triumph over the most
powerful woman in the country, and can they figure out how to make this
happy-for-now in Rivers Bend into their happy-ever-after?
Amazon:
TWRP:
Barnes & Noble:
Amazon UK:
Kobo:
BIO:
My
career has been a winding road. I worked in the business world for years, got
my MLS and worked in a school library, and am now living my dream as an author.
I love to read and write contemporary and fantasy romance. I live in Maryland, with my husband, who is my real-life
romance hero. We both enjoy traveling to visit our far-flung family and
friends, and spending time on the beach with an umbrella drink and a good book.
Thank you so much for letting me visit your blog! I really appreciate it so much!
ReplyDeleteHappy Holidays!
: )
Donna