1. What inspired you to become an author?
My father was a great orator. He loved books and loved
words - how they can be put together to inspire, to persuade, or even used as
weapons. After I had exhausted the Bobbsey Twins series and Child Craft, he
bought me the set of Scribner classics which was a library of the best
literature for young readers. These included Jules Verne, Robert Louis
Stevenson, James Fenimore Cooper and F. Scott Fitzgerald.
Out of all those stories, I was captivated by the two that featured a young female
protagonist who was physically capable and intellectually superior. One of
these was a fairy tale called "The Last Dragon". The other was one of
the Arabian Nights.
I wrote a lot of Bobbsey Twins novels as a preteen and
wrote several pages of a paranormal romance in my mid-twenties, but put it down
when it failed to impress my spouse. Now it's excruciatingly obvious that he is
not the reader I'm trying to please. Duh.
Anyway, all this is to say the answer to the question is
two words: Kresley Cole. I discovered her books two years ago and remembered
how I loved those proactive young women and their adventures. I then set a goal
to try and carve out time for writing. Kresley - thank you. You're the
best.
2. Do you have a specific writing style?
I've never had a class on writing so I don't know how to
answer this question. I have picked up some of the inner circle writer's lingo
from reviews because I had to look up what POV means. I can tell you that,
three months after initial publication, my target audience are right brained,
meaning women who want to become emotionally engaged by a story, leave reality
behind for a few hours, and come to the end of the book wishing they could
experience it all over again. If you nodded and laughed when, in the movie
"Dead Poets' Society", the Robin Williams character told the class to
tear out the page that attempted to graph poetry, high fives all around. In my
opinion, if you're not a rebel, you're probably not a writer.
3. How did you come up with the title for your
latest book?
Right up until
release, the working title was Familiar
Stranger taken from the song,
"Stranger" by Jefferson Starship. At the last minute I searched Amazon
and discovered that there were several other books by that name. So I added the
"My" to get a unique title.
4. Is there a message in your novel that you want
readers to grasp?
Yes and I use it in promotional material all the time.
The message is that true love can find you when you least expect it, in the
strangest places, even when you're far, far from home.
5. Is the book, characters, or any scenes based on a
true life experience, someone you know, or events in your own life?
We are all
defined by our experiences. Certainly that includes writers. Characters and
events in my books are a little like a house of mirrors. They may be based on
something real, but expanded, elongated, distorted, or otherwise manipulated
into what serves the story best. They may just as easily be based on an idea
gleaned from another book or a movie. Once I digest media through my own
filter, it's also a true life experience.
6. If you had to choose, which writer would you
consider a mentor?
Kresley Cole. I
have never interacted with her by any means. If I were she, I would think it
strange to be considered a mentor by someone I didn't know existed. But there
it is. As I say in my books - often - life is strange.
7. What is
your current “work in progress” or upcoming projects?
The third book in
The Order of the Black Swan series entitled "The Summoner's Tale"
expected to release February 14, 2013.
8. Is there anything you find particularly
challenging in your writing?
I am locked in
a life/death battle with time and, although I fight the good fight, I suspect
I'm predestined to lose. If I had four clones, I would still not have enough
time to pursue every interest or project I'd like.
I still publish Seasons of the Witch every year and oversee the operations at 7th
House. The only way I could find time for writing was to back off music. My
Classic Rock band broke up a few months ago. I can say I had the full rock and roll experience. I got to
play Warrior Dash to 35,000 people and I got to play late night biker bars to
fifteen people. It ended with slamming doors, lots of f u's, and "I
wouldn't play with you again if you were the last bass player on earth!"
type proclamations. Sigh.
So, rather than
get with another band, I took that time and applied it to improving my guitar
(my first instrument is keys). And started writing.
10. Who designed the cover of your latest book?
I do the covers
and the book trailers personally. It's not that I'm controlling. Okay. Well.
Maybe it is.
11. Do you have a song or playlist (book soundtrack)
that you think represents this book?
The song that
backs the book trailer for My Familiar
Stranger is "At Last", the
classic love song originally recorded by Etta James. The version on the book
trailer is done by Alicia Brass who is lead singer for a popular Houston
variety band that I manage and, I might add, she is better than the late, great
Etta James.
The song that
backs the book trailer for The Witch's
Dream is actually an integral part of the story. I found a real life (or
close enough) Rammel Hawking who backs the book trailer with an acoustic
version of the mystery song - used with his permission, of course. I plan to
release the book trailer on October 1st, two weeks before the book in available
for download.
August 5 Interview
Read 2 Review
August 7 Guest blog
Fang-tastic Books
www.fang-tasticbooks.blogspot.com
Aug 9 Guest blog (possible review)
Grave Tells
Aug 13 Interview
Beauty and Books
August 20 Interview
Roxanne’s Realm
Aug 21 Promo
A Great Book Is The Cheapest Vacation
August 23 Guest Post
August 24 Interview
August 25 Promo and reviews
Paranormal Cravings - Paranormal Book Review Blog
August 26 Interview,
Paranormal Romantic Suspense,
Aug 31 Guest blog and book 1 review
Louisa Bacio -- Love Knows No Bounds –
Sept 2 Interview and review
On the Broomstick
Sept 3 Author created character interview
Butterfly-o-Meter Books
Sept 5 Review
Books, Books, and More Books
Sept 6 guest blog (review both)
Lissette E. Manning
Sept 7 Guest blog
Sultry Storyteller/
Sept 9 Reading Between the Wines
Sept 10 Interview
Simply Infatuated
September 13 Guest blog
The Creatively Green Write at Home Mom
Sept 21 Interview
Mary’s Garden
Sept 24 Guest blog
Book Lover's Hideaway
October 1 promo and reviews
Andi's Book Reviews
October 5 Guest blog and review
Book Maven
October 6 Guest blog
October 7 Guest blog (review book 1)
Oct 14 review book 2
October 8 Promo and reviews
whoopeeyoo :D
October 13 Review (both)
A Bibliophile's Thoughts on Books
October 25 Guest blog (review both)
For The Love Of Film And Novels
October 31 Halloween Guest Post
Fang-tastic Books
By Victoria Danann
The Order of the Black Swan #1
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Publisher: 7th House
Date of Publication: April 21, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-933320-49-6
ASIN: B007V8RAKW
Number of pages: (estimated 370)
Word Count: 111,268
Purchase Links: Amazon Smashwords
Book Description:
Of course a girl could suffer worse problems than having gorgeous suitors. Perhaps more importantly, in the midst of an epidemic of vampire related abductions, can she stay alive long enough to choose between an honor debt, true love, or the breathlessness of single-minded passion?
My Familiar Stranger is a full length, stand alone, Paranormal Romance novel that also sets up the foundation for the Black Swan series. It is loved by fans of paranormal romance, fantasy romance, and urban fantasy.
Erotica quotient: A few steamy scenes. No menage. No BDSM.
Author Bio:
For the past thirteen years, Victoria has illustrated and authored Seasons of the Witch calendars and planners.
Though works of fiction are a departure for her, she has had this series simmering on the back burner of her mind for years. In addition to authoring and illustrating Seasons of the Witch, she plays rock music and manages one of Houston's premier R&B/Variety/Pop bands.
This series will include some of my actual experience in the paranormal with fictionalized anecdotes from my journals during the years when I was a practicing "metaphysician", but most of the material is fantasy.
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