Jamie DeBree's Blog, page 56
July 31, 2011
Code Name: Succulent – Living on Reserves
Succulents really are amazing plants.
The ability to store up moisture and use it for weeks, even months
during a drought makes them incredibly strong, hardy and long-lived.
Most of them store it in the leaves and/or stems, so the small root
system many succulents have is simply for taking up water and
nutrients when they're available.
The longer they have to live on
reserves, the weaker the plant gets, as one would expect. Some are
equipped to deal with drought for longer than others, but all will
start to get weak and wrinkly the longer they need to be
self-sustaining.
As I look around my house at the
succulents I bought when this project started, I find them looking a
wee bit wrinkly. Most of them haven't had much (or any) water since
I brought them home, and they're thirsty to replenish their stores.
It's a mirror of how I feel at the moment – like my own reserves
are running on low, and I need to replenish them before my leaves
start flopping over. Luckily, I should be getting that chance in
another week or two.
The fact is, we all have times in our
life when we are forced to live on our reserves. There's nothing we
can do to avoid that. And we're going to end up a little wrinkly
too, but if we make sure our reserves are well-stocked when water and
nutrients are plentiful, it ensures that we'll make it through the
lean times with less overall distress.
I'll admit, when I started this
project, it was largely because I was always running a little to
close to "empty" for comfort. I needed to stock my reserves,
"just in case" something happened that required me to be
self-sustaining for awhile. Then two weeks ago, something did happen,
and I found myself calling on those brand new reserves far sooner
than I thought I'd need them. While I could have used a few more,
what I'd already done was enough to make a difference. Two months
before, the same situation might have had far more dire consequences
for my personal/mental health.
So for the last two weeks, I've been
unable to really participate much in social media
(chatting/interacting with friends), do much with my tea blog, missed
a nail art post, and haven't read much of anything (I charged my
Kindle today in hopes of getting back to a story tonight, but it's
been so long I'll have to start over with what I was reading). All
of those things are "water & nutrients" for me, and the more
time goes by that I can't get to them, the "wrinklier" I get.
Even so, I know that the situation
won't last forever, and I've been able to do a few things
(mindless games, listening to some music while multi-tasking,
writing) that are sort of keeping me afloat while I wait for things
to balance out again. I think this week will be just a little better,
and the week after I should be able to refill the wells and start
living normally again.
More than anything, this whole
situation has underscored the need to live a succulent life, and to
keep my leaves stocked to weather whatever drought might come next.
Even with all that's going on right now, I'm still happy and
hopeful, and looking forward to getting back to enjoying the things I
love.
Are your reserves well-stocked? If
you're living too close to the edge, what could you do that might
make it easier to weather the next drought?
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July 30, 2011
Serial Novel: Falling in Public, Ch. 11
Ch.1|Ch. 2|Ch. 3|Ch. 4|Ch. 5|Ch. 6|Ch. 7|Ch. 8|Ch. 9|Ch. 10
Falling in Public
Chapter 11
Eddie disconnected the call, shrugging at Vincent. "She's not answering. Maybe she's taking a nap or something. We were up awfully late."
His manager shook his head, holding one defensive hand out. "Don't remind me," he said, leaning against the stone counter close to where Holly had been leaning the night before. Eddie grinned, thinking of how cute she'd looked worrying about water stains on the stone.
"You think this is funny?" Vincent straightened, his whole body tense and for a moment Eddie thought the man would take a shot at him before he continued. "Your little fling is a romance author who's about to go on TV for a live interview in..." he checked his watch, "...four hours. If she confirms this story on national TV, there's no putting it back in the box. No controlling the information. Your reputation could skyrocket or plummet based on what that woman says about you, and it might be a long time before that dies down. Do you really want to take that risk?"
"I really think you're making too much of this," Eddie said, gladly handing his coffee over to the housekeeper for a refill. "Holly isn't like that. She won't say anything bad. We had a good time. I'd like to see her again, to be honest."
Vincent shook his head again, hard enough to make Eddie worry about the man's brain. "No. Absolutely not. You can't see her again, no matter how awesome you think she is, or how great a time you had. She's a writer, you're a rock star. If you ever made her made, she could skewer you in print so many different ways I don't even want to think about it. Stay away from her, Eddie."
Eddie frowned thoughtfully. "I thought you wanted me to call her and work out the interview thing. That will be hard to do if I'm supposed to stay away from her. I'll have to talk to her, at least."
Vincent sighed, running a hand down the side of his face. "You're right. Don't worry about that either - I'll take care of it." He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket, and started tapping the screen. "I think I still have her agent's number here, I'll just give her a call on my way out to the studio." Looking up briefly, he gave Eddie a stern look. "Stay away. Trust me on this."
Eddie put his coffee cup on the counter and lifted his hands in surrender, careful not to say a word. After Vincent was gone, Eddie picked up his coffee and his phone, dialing the number Vincent had given him again.
"You're not going to listen to that buffoon, right?" Esther wiped down the counter with efficient strokes, glancing at him over her glasses as she worked. Never afraid to speak her mind, he could always count on Esther to share her honest opinion.
He shrugged, holding the phone to his ear. "Of course not," he said quietly, listening to Holly's phone ring back at him several times before going to voicemail. He disconected the call, then choose a cinnamon roll off the plate she'd set in front of him. "Well, not until I apologize for this morning, anyways. Then it's up to her, but I did pretty much throw her out. I told her I'd call her later too, and what kind of a man would I be if I didn't do that?"
Esther snorted. "A normal one."
Eddie raised his eyebrows. "Well we already know I'm not normal, so I'll take that as a compliment." He stood, trying Holly's number one more time. "Still no answer. Guess it's time for Plan B."
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July 29, 2011
Release Day! The Biker's Wench...
The Biker's Wench is now available for your reading pleasure! Links and blurb below. The one thing you don't want to miss is the contest for a $25 gift certificate from Amazon or Barnes & Noble. Stop by FantasyRanchNovels.com for details...
Free Sample Chapters (.pdf)
Print ISBN: 9780983198888
Print - Brazen Snake Books | Amazon | Barnes & Noble
Ebooks - Brazen Snake Books | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | All Romance eBooks
Signed print copies available exclusively from Brazen Snake Books.
Signature for Kindle copies available from Kindlegraph
On the run from her father and the
marriage he wants to force on her, Monica Burns gets a job at Fantasy
Ranch outside Reno, Nevada. Her hopes of staying in one place for
awhile are dashed when he tracks her there, but before she can run
again she gets an offer she can't refuse from adult playground
owner Harlan "Harley" Majors.
Harley's lawyers have advised him
that getting married is the best solution for his current legal
issues. When Monica reveals her predicament, he offers a marriage of
convenience as the solution to both of their problems. But the union
catapults them into a world of smuggling and lies, where the only way
to survive is to work together.
I'll be over at Fantasy Ranch Novels...join me there! 
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July 27, 2011
Writing Notes: Sequential Series & Stretching
So you can imagine my dismay when I was filling out the title card for The Biker's Wench, and realized that by adding my epilogue (something I also prefer to do without), I forced my previously non-sequential series into "sequential" status, merely because the story thread I ran with in the epilogue will be continued throughout the next several novels as a sequential sub-plot.
Dang it anyways.
The more words and stories I write, the more I find that the story wants what it wants, and to be true to that, I have to employ some techniques that tend to drive me nuts as a reader. Does this make me more tolerant as a reader? Not really, to be honest. But it does make me very much aware of how the construction of my stories has the potential to affect readers in very different ways, and I find myself wanting to improve those techniques so that picky readers like me can at least *tolerate* the construction because of the story itself. If that makes any sense.
How do you feel about sequential series? Read 'em? Write 'em? Avoid 'em like the plague?
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July 25, 2011
Weekly News, Goals, & Archives 7/25/11
*Deep Breath*
Settle in, folks – lots of info to cover today. 
It's been busy around here, as usual, and I've nearly got The Biker's Wench up and available in most places. The official release date isn't until Friday, and by then I'll have signed copies available at Brazen Snake Books as well. As always, if you do buy a print copy (anywhere), send me the receipt (a copy via email is fine, remove all acct. numbers, please), and I'll send you a digital copy for free.
I hope you'll join me Friday at FantasyRanchNovels.com for a release day contest in honor of The Biker's Wench – fun stuff that only happens on release day, so don't miss out.
In other news, I need to move the blog schedule around a bit to fit better with my new "condensed" overall agenda. Nothing too huge, just a couple minor changes.
The Weekly Archive will now be included with the Weekly News & Goals post on Monday
Code Name: Succulent will move to Sunday
Why? Because I have a business blog that I want to post to on Thursdays, and I've been consistently unable to get posts done for that when I have a Thursday post scheduled here. So clearing my schedule here for Thursday means I'll be able to post there. It's kind of like one of those slider puzzles where you just keep moving the tiles around until the picture comes together. Sure, I could just take some tiles out to make them fit better, but what kind of a challenge would that be?
Tuesdays are still open for guest posts/author interviews, and Saturdays are still open for excerpts, so don't be shy if you're an author, and want to jump in (email me – blog calendar is linked on the right if you want to pick an open date). All genres welcome – this is The Variety Pages, after all...
This Week on The Variety Pages
Monday: Weekly News, Goals, & Archives 7/24/11
Wednesday: Writing Notes: Sequential SeriesFriday: Ch. 11 of Falling in Public
Sunday: Code Name: Succulent – On Food
Elsewhere
Tuesday: Chapter 10 of The Minister's Maid at Fantasy Ranch Novels
Tuesday: New design at NailArt Tuesday
Thursday: Release Comparisons at Beyond the Words
Saturday: Tea review at Tea onTap
Sunday: Progress Report at Body in Motion
If you missed a post last week and want to catch up, here's the link list. Note that this includes *all* of my posts, including for my pen name genres and non-writing blogs, so click at your own risk.
Posts for July 16 - 24
Fiction
Chapter 10 of The Minister's Maid (Romantic Suspense, FantasyRanchNovels.com)
Chapter 10 of Falling in Public (Romantic Suspense, The Variety Pages)
Chapter 1 of The Pile Driver (TrinityMarlow.com – Erotica, Adults only, NSFW)
Chapter 51 of Angel Eyes (AlexWesthaven.com, Thriller)
Writing/Reading/Publishing
Writing Notes: Sleep & Words (The Variety Pages)
Hobbies/Other
Green Holo-Mask (Nail Art Tuesday)
Health & Personal Wellness
(The Variety Pages)
Goal Reports
I'm about 50/50 again this week as far as getting stuff done goes. All my serial chapters got done last week (the most important part), and I did finish the beta read I was working on. I didn't get the edits done to my erotica short, but that will just roll over one more week. I got TBW formatted and uploaded to most sites, I just have to tweak one of them a little before I pronounce it "done". I didn't get my web sites updated, so that will roll over too.
I did decompress when needed, which was...necessary, but a bummer to have to spend the time, nonetheless. I got three workouts in, and made a little time to read, though not nearly as much as I'd have liked. But I'm getting used to my new schedule, so this week should be a little easier.
Goals for the Week
Writing
Five serial chapters
Edits to the latest short
Beta reading
Business
Update web sites
Update both business blogs
Finish uploading TBW
Format new short & upload
Bookkeeping
Personal
Workouts
Read more
Play some
And that's my week, along with the day job, of course. What's going on in your world? Any posts I missed last week you want to share? What's top on your priority list?
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July 23, 2011
On the Bookshelf: Twenty-Eight and a Half Wishes by Denise Grover Swank
Excerpt
There was another knock. My front door had seen more action in one evening than it had in the last two months. I took another deep breath and opened it, half expecting to see Joe again. Instead, I saw the Pillsbury Doughboy, or as close to what I'd ever see in real life. He was missing the chef's hat and the kerchief, but his face was a pasty white and chubby, with big wide eyes like the Doughboy. His button-down shirt barely contained his wide, round gut, and the buttons threatened to pop. I resisted the urge to poke his belly with my finger to hear him giggle.
"Rose?" he asked, his voice shaking from fear. At least I think it was fear, from the look of pure terror on his face.
Nope, no giggling.
"Steve?" I asked, but I already knew it was him from the tie he wore and the Walmart flowers he held in his hand. Either that or he was a really generous Jehovah's Witness. "It's very nice to meet you." I said, trying to sound cheerful.
He stood in silence, staring at me with his big round eyes.
"Do you want to come in?" I raised my eyebrows in a happy, questioning look.
He remained rooted to the porch. It occurred to me perhaps Joe or Mildred had applied Super Glue on the wood slats.
"I'll just grab my purse." I said and he thrust the flowers toward me. "Oh, are those for me? Why, thank you!" I took the flowers, leaving the door open and Steve on the porch.
"Here!" I shoved the flowers at Violet in the kitchen. "Take care of these."
Violet's face lit up like a kid getting cotton candy at the carnival. "He brought you flowers?"
I glared at her.
"Who brought y'all flowers? The devil next door?"
"No, Miss Mildred." Violet said, patting Mildred's arm. "It's Rose's date."
"Date?" Mildred crowed. "After she carried on with that Yankee?"
"Don't worry, Miss Mildred. Steve's a good boy, good Henryetta stock. He's Stan Morris' grandson."
I already regretted agreeing to this date and I hadn't even left yet. I grabbed my purse and headed out the front door before Mildred and Violet decided to start checking Steve's teeth. He stood exactly where I left him, wearing the same terrified expression, except he leaned to the side. I worried he would fall over trying to see something in the living room.
"Looking for something?" I asked, glancing over my shoulder.
If possible, his eyes got even bigger as he violently shook his head.
I shut the door as I realized what he was looking for—evidence of Momma's murder. We started walking across the porch to the steps and I caught the glance he shot my direction, a look of fear. He thinks I killed Momma. There was no way I could go out with him. What I couldn't figure out is why he agreed to go out with me in the first place.
I stood next to the passenger door of Steve's car. "Steve, I…" My words stopped on my tongue. Joe sat on his front porch, drinking a beer and watching my every move with a suspicious glint in his eye.
Crappy doodles.
Steve waited for me to finish.
I smiled up at him with my sweetest smile, which I hoped would convince him I was incapable of murdering anyone, least of all my own Momma. "I just wanted to tell you how delighted I am that you're takin' me out to dinner." I said loud enough for Joe to hear. To finish it off, I raised up on my toes and kissed Steve on his pasty cheek, surprised it didn't taste like biscuit dough. I hoped Joe didn't see Steve cringe at the contact.
I sat in the front seat, waiting for Steve to get in, smiling my fake happy smile. I was almost surprised to see him get in, half expecting him to run screaming down the street. I had to admit he had a nice car, one he probably didn't want to leave behind with a murderer. If I could murder my own Momma, I bet he could only imagine what I would do to his poor Buick.
Purchase Twenty-Eight and a Half WishesEbook: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Smashwords
Print: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | CreateSpace
Connect with Denise: Web Site | Twitter | Facebook | Formspring
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July 22, 2011
Serial Novel: Falling in Public, Ch. 10
Ch.1|Ch. 2|Ch. 3|Ch. 4|Ch. 5|Ch. 6|Ch. 7|Ch. 8|Ch. 9
Falling in Public
Chapter 10
Holly's cell phone rang while she was sitting in the back of the car Eddie had so thoughtfully called for her. Tired, fighting back tears and more than a little irritable, she tried to make her voice sound normal as she answered.
"You are a genius! The press is going to love it, and your book is going to sell out before it even hits the shelves. How did you do it? How did you manage to sleep with Eddie Pierce?"
Closing her eyes, Holly rubbed her forehead. Sandra Newton, her agent was always far too cheerful in the morning, and apparently she had a more optimistic view of this photo than Eddie's did.
"Good morning to you too," Holly said finally, opening her eyes again as the car stopped outside her hotel. "Honestly, I haven't even seen the picture yet, and I certainly didn't set out to seduce Eddie into bed. The whole thing just sort of happened, really." She handed a few bills to the driver and went into the hotel, glad to see there weren't too many people milling around just yet. "Last night at the club, I was waiting in line and--"
"Save it for your interview," Sandra cut in briskly. Holly imagined her looking at her watch, in a hurry to get somewhere, even if just for coffee. "Maybe you could dress it up a bit, make it romantic. You're a writer, you can do that. Don't forget it's at two, so you need to be at the studio at one. Don't be late. Do you have the address?"
Holly yawned and nodded her head as she stepped onto the elevator. "Got it. Studio at one, interview at two. I'll be there. Anything else?"
"Just one thing - I don't think you should see him again. This is a great angle, but a relationship could get messy, especially with such a public figure. So blow him off if he calls again, okay? Trust me on this."
Holly nearly laughed as she got off the elevator and went down the hall to her floor. "That's not going to be an issue, Sandra." She reached her door and put her fingers in her back pocket for the card key.
Damn.
"I've got to go, Sandra. I seem to have lost my room key last night, so I need to call someone..."
"No problem. Good luck getting in, and I'll call you after the interview."
Holly disconnected the call and shoved her phone in her pocket. Giving her door one last wistful look and thinking about the shower and bed that lay just out of reach, she started for the elevator. A maid came out of a room and tossed an armful of linens in her cart, and Holly stopped, remembering to smile.
"I don't suppose you could let me in my room," she said, holding up a hand as the woman started shaking her head. "Please? I just locked my key in the room, and I really don't want to go all the way back downstairs for a replacement. Can't you help me out just this once?" The woman shook her head again, and Holly sighed, holding up both hands.
"Fine," she said, turning to go as the maid went back into the guest room. A tabloid paper lay sideways on the top of the maid's cart, and she glanced at the front page on the way by, then stopped, picked it up and looked again.
And froze.
"Oh. My. God," she murmured, holding the photo closer in hopes that it was just a trick of the light. It wasn't. She thought back to the moment it was taken, when she'd been riding Eddie slow, grinding down deep on him as he guided her hips. They'd been in perfect sync at that moment, and her face burned as she analyzed her own facial expression. With all the skin showing in the photo, her face exposed the most.
"Hey, that's you!"
Holly looked up to find the maid looking back and forth between the paper and her face. Nodding, she agreed, though she'd prefer to crawl under all those towels and disappear. How could this happen? Someone had to have either gotten on to Eddie's estate, or already been there - neither of which seemed plausible.
"Come on," the maid said, a sympathetic smile at her lips. "I'll let you in your room. I'd imagine you'll get enough attention over that today."
"Thanks," Holly replied, following the woman back down the hall. She pointed out the door, and was so happy when it opened she almost cried. She tipped the maid, and then headed for the shower, her phone trilling from her pocket. Taking it out, she looked at the screen.
"I don't think so," she murmured, tossing the phone on the bed as she headed for the shower.
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July 21, 2011
Code Name: Succulent – When Life Hands You Lemons
So...yeah. This project is all about
getting the most out of life, and making time for the little things
we enjoy even when time isn't exactly lying about like spare
change. I should know better than to tempt fate like that by now –
I'm 36 years old, and pretty much every time I've made any kind
of overreaching statement or goal, life conspires to make it as hard
as possible for me to reach it.
At the risk of sounding like an
ego-maniac, I do normally reach my goals eventually. It has
far less to do with being talented or organized than you'd think –
it's mostly just because I'm very persistent and focused. Or
stubborn.
So this summer, I figured after two
years of pretty solid focus on the writing goals, I'd give myself a
bit of a break. Branch out, explore my other interests, and have a
more rounded conversational set for those rare times I do go out in
public. And while it's been a pretty hefty transition to make, I
was just getting settled in and really starting to enjoy myself last
week.
Then the day job exploded. I won't
talk about specifics here (because I don't think it's
professional), but suffice it to say that my job has gone from a
fairly mundane eight hours per day to a very intensely focused eight
hours per day. The mundane 8 hours job thing left me plenty of
creative energy to burn at night, as well as social steam. I had
plenty of energy to work on my writing, promotion, my web sites and
blogs, and hang out all over my favorite social networks chatting
w/friends.
The intensely focused eight hours
leaves me barely enough energy to chat with my husband, poke my head
in on the social arena, and get a scene written every night. Needless
to say, this frustrates me, and I've been whining about it for the
last week or so. Because sometimes, you need to just wallow for
awhile.
But all things eventually come to an
end, including wallowing. Personally, I can't wallow for long.
Actually, this is the longest I've felt sorry for myself in awhile,
and it's because I got spoiled and took the good situation I had
for granted.
In any case, it's time to buck up,
realize that this new reality is not going away anytime soon, and
figure out how to deal with it. I'm not cutting back anymore on my
writing, so all that has to stay. And I'm keeping some of the fun
things too, because I really do need more interests than just work
and writing (second job). But I will need to cut back a bit on some
things, because...well, because a side-effect of being human is
wanting to do more than we can.
So once again I find myself in a state
of flux, redoing my schedule and trying to organize my life. It's
all good though. I can do this – I've done it before, and once I
settle into a new routine, things will be business (and fun stuff) as
usual.
First order of business...set up the
home office for a workspace. I had planned to do that awhile ago,
then hubby was going to use it for working at home, found out he
couldn't really, and now it's free again. So work space and
regular home "office hours" for evenings and weekends. Defining
those leaves me time to pursue fun things in the off hours. Like
Facebook gaming and TV shows I can't live without. And twitter.
What do you do when life throws you a
curve ball? Do you roll with it and stay the course, or do you need a
little time to wallow before you accept the inevitable?
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July 20, 2011
Writing Notes: Sleep & Words
It's 1am on Weds. as I write this. Monday night/Tuesday morning, I was up until 3am finishing a scene...and not really because I wanted too, but because I needed too. It was a force of wills - and I won, but it took some wrangling. Discipline is a funny thing - the more you practice it, the less you need it...
Long story short, I can't do 3 hrs of sleep twice in a row. And the scene I'm working on tonight isn't finished - and will stay that way until I can get back to it tomorrow evening.
It's not uncommon for me to give up sleep for words...but it always requires an extra cost the next day. Still, sometimes it's worth it.
Other times (like tonight), it's not.
I'm headed to bed - nearly 5 hours sleep will set me back to "good as new" for tomorrow. Even if the scene (a serial scene for one of my blogs) will probably be late.
When was the last time you denied yourself sleep in lieu of writing?
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July 19, 2011
Meet the Author: Denise Grover Swank
1. When did you decide to pursue writing seriously?
I had a family blog I started when I was in the process of adopting my second daughter, Emma, from Vietnam. Lots of adoptive families had blogs and I'd read Dawn Meehan's blog, Because I Said So, and thought "Oh my word, that is perfect for me, my sarcasm and my overactive imagination." And it was perfect for me. My six kids provided plenty of fodder and I could be goofy and creative. I would post something kind of "out there" then fret that I'd gone too far. But I developed some very loyal readers and consequently, some awesome friends.
It was two years later that I heard about NaNoWriMo. I'd always wanted to write a book (had tried several unsuccessful times) and decide it was now or never. I wrote my first completed novel for NaNoWriMo 2009-- 96,000 words started on November 1 and finished December 10. I wrote The End and realized I'd found the profession I'd been searching for my entire life. One and half years later, I've written six books.
2. How did you choose what genre to write – or did it choose you?
Um, no actually I didn't chose. I just write the story that comes to me.(thus the hybrid Twenty-Eight and a Half Wishes) But I read mostly thriller, suspense and paranormal books so obviously, my stories lean that direction. So far, I've written Twenty-Eight and a Half Wishes a mystery (with shades of romance, chick-lit, and paranormal.), the first two books of a paranormal thriller trilogy (Chosen will be out in September, book two-- Hunted, will be out in November), a young adult science fiction (alternate universe) and a middle grade urban fantasy. And of course, that first NaNo book, a romantic suspense, which will live forever on my external hard drive. Amen. The common tie is there's always a hidden mystery and thriller aspect. And there's always some type of fantastical element. They need to make a genre for that combination.
3. Tell us a little about your writing process. How do you get from idea to completed draft?
Butt in chair. People think there's some magical component to writing a book-- a muse, inspiration, whatever you want to call it. And while it's true, you have to be inspired by your story, you have to write it. You have to sit your butt in a chair and write the story. I usually set a daily word goal while I'm writing first draft and a final completion date. I record my word count every day.
Also, you better love your story when you start 'cause you're going to need that love when you hit the middle and think "Oh my word, this is the stupidest story ever written," And maybe it is (probably not) but you keep going. You keep putting those words down until your story is done, and by done, I mean your first draft is done, because it is FAR from done. It's usually when I'm making my fifth to seventh editing pass when I'm trying to clean out wases or stripping out echoes at two in the morning I ask myself why I ever thought writing a book was a good idea. Then I read the story and fall in love all over again.
4. What are some of your favorite authors to read?
I'm kind of eclectic in my reading. And my music. And my writing. (I'm noticing a trend here...) I read everything (except non-fiction. snooze...) but here's a few:
Paranormal romance: Shannon K. Butcher. She's brilliant. Her plots for her Sentinel War series are intricately woven and her characters are always well developed.
Magical Realism: Sarah Addison Allen. Her characters are always sweet, southern (part of the inspiration for my book Twenty-Eight and a Half Wishes) and a touch of paranormal. Total win.
YA: Stephanie Perkins. (although, honestly, it's hard to pick one.) Her contemporary romance Anna and the French Kiss was one of best books I'd read in ages.
Middle Grade: Rick Riordan. I loved the Percy Jackson series.
Mystery: Bill Cameron. The man is brilliant and his characters are flawed but sympathetic.
Paranormal thriller: Dean Koontz. He's the master. 'Nuf said.
5. What do you like do when you're not writing?
I garden, watch a few television shows, mostly hang out with my kids. Four of my kids are ages 4-14, so they keep me busy.
6. How do you balance writing with the other aspects of your life?
Honestly, it's hard and sometimes I don't do a very good job at it. I'm a single parent with workaholic tendencies. And while working from home is a good thing, it can also be bad in that I have no real work hours so I tend to work all the time. (Thus six books in a year and a half.) I can pretty much guarantee you that if you drop by my house, it will be an utter disaster.
7. Who is your favorite literary character or couple?
Wow. This is really, really hard. In my own writing, for a couple it's Will and Emma, the main characters in Chosen, my paranormal thriller series. They are both complex characters who are so utterly flawed yet striving for something better, whether they realize it or not. But I love Rose in Twenty-Eight and a Half Wishes. She's spent her entire life suppressed and once she decides she's going to live it, she does so with such enthusiasm but also sweetness and innocence. Sometimes I wish I could be more like her.
In other authors, I love Stephanie Plum from Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series. Hilarious. (another inspiration for Twenty-Eight and a Half Wishes) If I have to pick a couple, probably Anna and Etienne in Anna and the French Kiss. (My 14 year old daughter will be so happy. LOL)
8. Is there anything else you'd like to add?
Writing is magical, which I realize directly contradicts my answer to # 3 so let me rephrase that. The writing itself is hard, hard work, but the resulting story and how it blooms and grows and the characters become living people inside your head is nothing short of magic. Or insanity. I'm still trying to figure out the difference.
Purchase Twenty-Eight and a Half Wishes
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Thanks so much for joining us today, Denise! It's good to know you better, and what a great inspiration you are, following your dreams and working hard to make them reality, even when it's overwhelming. My house is a mess too, and I don't even have kids to take the blame.
I have Denise's book on my Kindle just waiting for me to dig in. Stop back on Saturday for a free excerpt!
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