Thursday, October 03, 2019

Interview - Dreams of a Fierce Heart by Danube Adele #scifiromance





Are you currently binge watching anything on Netflix, Hulu (or elsewhere)? What keeps you glued to the screen?

While everyone was enjoying the excitement of “Game of Thrones”, I was working my tail off in a very demanding job that left me little free time, so I didn’t get a chance to watch it at all over the years that it was being produced. Well, this last summer, I binge-watched the entire show, all seasons and episodes. What was it, some 80 hours’ worth of viewing pleasure? And I loved every bit of it. There were so many amazing moments, ones that left me biting my nails, gasping in disbelief, and at some points, crying. My favorite character from within the entire cast was Arya. She embodies the independent spirit that I love to see in women. 

Do you prefer movies or TV series?

Movies definitely have their place in my life, but more often than not, I find myself watching shows. They’re shorter and easier to walk away from when I have work to get done. There are some reality TV shows that are like watching a train wreck. Every episode houses all kinds of cringe-worthy moments, but you can’t look away. One such show is “Married at First Sight” and it is exactly what it’s titled. People marry the moment they meet after being matched by “experts”. They have two months to live as a married couple before they have to decide if they are going to stay married or get a divorce. How can this go wrong, right?

When it comes to reading do you prefer standalones or series?

I do love getting involved in a new and exciting world. There have been several series that have sustained me and become part of my precious reread shelf. Some of my older series books that I first bought years and years ago have now become old friends that offer comfort when I’m going through hard times. Grabbing an old book, appreciating the dog-eared pages again (I know, that’s bad – book abuse), and curling up on the couch with nothing else to do but read for several hours is a perfect afternoon.

Do you prefer to start new book series when the first book is released or do you want for a several books in the series to be released so you can binge read?

I like reading a good series as soon as I find it. I don’t like putting off an exciting story. Instead, I use it as motivation for getting my own work done. I can create work goals for my own writing projects between books when I’m waiting for the next one in a series to come out. It becomes my reward for my hard work.

What are some of your hobbies, interests or guilty pleasures?

Something that I have loved over years is kickboxing. No, I haven’t actually sparred with anyone – getting punched in the face is not on my list of things I want to do – but I absolutely love it as a workout. Learning how to punch and kick with power and good form just makes you walk down the street feeling like a badass. You have this “bring it on” attitude as your personal aura when you walk down the sidewalk. And I do have favorite female MMA fighters. Check out Thug Rose on the UFC. She is a bad*ss.

Have you ever peeked at the ending of a book?

Never ever ever. I want to work for that ending. I want to ride that rollercoaster and experience the highest highs and the lowest lows along with the characters because I want to feel like I deserve that happily ever after at the end of it. That’s the whole reason, in my mind, for reading the book in the first place.

When it comes to your own writing are you a plotter or a pantster?

I’ve often been driven by a scene that plays itself out in my head. From that scene, a story can radiate around the characters. However, then I have to plot. I like to see who my characters are, where the story is going, and make sure that I create a pace, a tension, and a beautiful ending that allows a reader to want to hop on the ride and take it for a spin, hopefully more than once. It would be an honor to be on someone’s reread shelf.


Dreams of a Fierce Heart
Dreamwalkers
Book Four
Danube Adele
            
Genre: Paranormal/Contemporary/Sci-fi Romance

Publisher: Danube Adele Publishing

Date of Publication: 9/9/2019

ISBN: 9781733191609

Number of pages: 470
Word Count: 132, 843
         
Cover Artist: Evernightdesign – Elle Rossi

Tagline: She’ll do anything to redeem her honor, including putting herself in enemy hands; he’ll do anything to stop her

Book Description:

Fearless.

Some have called me impulsive, and maybe I was, much to my own detriment … at seventeen.

A social pariah in my own nation after being found in a fatally compromising position, I tucked tail and ran to Earth for study, work, and to heal my wounded heart. It took seven years for the opportunity at redemption, to earn my way back home, but it means infiltrating dangerous enemy territory. If the Brausa catch me, I might wish for a quick death.

My goals? I have two of them. Save my childhood friend, our Sunan leader’s last surviving daughter, and, get away from Nick Dylant. His deathbed promise to my older brother has him bulldozing into my life, making demands regarding my safety. He’s even found a way to force a marriage using some obscure, arcane law of old in order to protect me, but if he thinks he can force his will on me, he can think again. There is no way he’s going to control who I am or what I do in this world. 

I don’t need his or anyone’s permission to steal away in the middle of the night with a disguise, a rough map, and an even rougher plan of action, because one thing is for certain: I refuse to join with anyone who sees me as a duty, not when I’ve loved Nick since I was a child. Not when I dream about his kisses and crave his touch.

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  Excerpt                

My voice sharply cracking the air between us, I snarled, “You had no right to run him off. You had no right to threaten him with a beating. I saw what you put into his mind. Who the hell do you think you are?”
            The only hint that he heard what I said was a slight narrowing of his eyes for the briefest of seconds. Then he turned his attention to the drink Greg had bought for me as though it were tainted. He completely ignored my outburst. “You aren’t going to drink that.” He made it a blanket statement. Firm. Like he had the right to do that.
            “Wanna bet? Who’s going to stop me?” I hadn’t planned to drink it, considering my allergy. That is, until he’d told me not to. For some reason, he had the ability to piss me off on sight and give me childish thoughts of violence. Like, how much fun would it be to throw the drink right in his face? Again, I envisioned the complete shocked surprise that would transform his expression, his stormy eyes wide, his brows and lashes dripping with the sugary, citrus cocktail.
            “I’ll stop you.” Casually, he grabbed the drink and set it on the tray of a passing waitress who barely noticed.
            Fury burned like fire in my gut, but I hid it behind a cold smile. “You think I can’t go buy a drink when I want one? I can walk myself over to the bar and order whatever the hell I want, Papa Bear. Last time I looked, I was an adult woman with her own money to spend. I’m not a gods damned child.”
            There was no change of expression. The grim look that seemed permanently etched on his face remained, but I did note that a muscle twitched along his square jaw, the only sign that I was getting under his skin, which gave me a hit of satisfaction. Then his full lips thinned, compressed into a tight line before he bit out, “Why the hell are you bent on causing a problem?”
      “I’m not your problem. I’m not forcing you to stay. I didn’t ask you to do anything. You’re welcome to go finish your playdate with Ryder as far as I’m concerned. I didn’t invite you to sit at my table.” My own heart, acting like an innocent bystander, stuttered with dismay at my harsh words. It ached, squeezing painfully against my chest, but I needed to desensitize it. My heart was not in charge. It hadn’t been for years. If I was really going to move on, this had to be part of my therapy.
            Nick stared at me in silence for a few moments, his gray eyes roaming my face briefly, searching for something. Whatever he saw prompted him to say in an undertone, “You need a keeper.”
            “And if I did, it wouldn’t be you, Papa Bear.”
            “Stop calling me that,” he snapped. “I’m not trying to father you.”
            “The hell you aren’t. I’m having a perfectly nice time with a good guy, and you come stomping over and puff out your chest. You don’t have the right to tell anyone else whether I have plans for the night, and you sure as hell don’t have the right to threaten a guy with violence because he’s into me.”
            “What does it matter? It’s not like you can date him. You don’t live near him.” He didn’t deny any of it. Wasn’t the least bit repentant.
            I gave him my best, wicked smile, knowing this would thoroughly piss him off. “Maybe I just wanted to have sex with him. Sometimes, a girl needs a little skin-on-skin. Some body heat.”
            His blue eyes turned glacial, flicking over the bodice of my dress where I’d grown more cleavage since my seventeenth year; his nostrils flared, and anger put a snarl to his words. “And we all know you aren’t shy about propositioning yourself.”
            My smile never faltered when his poisonous dart hit the bullseye, but I had no control over the long-ago humiliation that washed my skin in violent, crimson shades, which he noted with a sudden frown, like he was about to take it back, but screw him. Throwing that in my face after all this time made my heart clench with a sense of betrayal. I kept my voice as light as I could, trying to brush it off. “That’s right. I did offer up panties to you long ago. I’d forgotten about that. How embarrassing, right? Because I’m like your sister.” I almost pulled it off but for the last word. My voice cracked, and the feeling of utter foolishness, something I was all too familiar with in relation to him, left me exposed.



About the Author:

Danube Adele wrote her first romance at the age of seven when she penned the story of her dogs falling in love and having puppies. She’s been dreaming up romantic tales ever since. A lifetime resident of southern California, she spends time playing at the beach, camping in Joshua Tree National Park, and hiking Mammoth Mountain. Always a lover of adventure, she and her husband took their sons on a cross country road trip to Florida and back in an old VW Westfalia, that had no A/C, in the month of July, and still, it continues to be the best trip they ever took. Extensive travel and trying new things has kept the creative spark alive. Danube lives with her biggest fans, her loving husband, amazing and wonderful identical twin sons, and a teddy bear of a Rottweiler.

You can find other books in the Dreamwalker series, Quicksilver Dreams #1, Dark Summer Dreams #2, Dreams of a Wild Heart #3, at www.danubeadele.com

www.facebook.com/Writer.D.Adele              





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