UPDATE-My Interview of FIRST BLOOD Author David Morrell

Nancy Lee Badger & David Morrell 

The annual WRITE NOW Conference in Raleigh North Carolina is over, and I raced home to get some ideas onto my computer. I am looking forward to writing more and more. David Morell was our Keynote Speaker, and taught several workshops. The photo is him and me! In case you missed it, here is the interview, posted April 30th.

Nancy- a big welcome to David Morrell. He stopped by to share a little bit about himself, and his writing. Please tell my readers a little bit about your books.  

David- This is my 43^rd year as a published author. I started with First Blood in 1972, the novel in which the character of Rambo was introduced. Since then, I explored various ways of writing action and suspense, especially in The Brotherhood of the Rose (1984), which was one of the first novels to combine the British and American espionage-novel traditions (authentic spy-craft blended with action). It was adapted into the only television miniseries to be broadcast after a Super Bowl. 

Another personal favorite is Creepers (2005), which mixed the thriller and horror genres so that it was difficult to decide what kind of novel it was, and recently a Victorian 
mystery/thriller Murder as a Fine Art (2013) in which my fascination with the weirdness of the Victorian world made me want to make readers believe they are truly on those fogbound streets. The main character is an actual historical person, Thomas De Quincey, who invented the word “subconscious” and anticipated Freud’s psychoanalytic theories by 70 years.

Nancy- Wow! So many genres! And First Blood was your very first novel?

David- Yes, First Blood was my first novel. Through my Penn State writing instructor, Philip Klass, I was introduced to an agent who agreed to represent the manuscript. He sold it within six weeks. That’s very unusual. Most beginning authors struggle to make that first sale. Hemingway put a lot of value in luck, and with First Blood, I was indeed lucky. But it took me three years to write the book, and the manuscript didn’t leave my hands until I had done everything I could to make it professional. So discipline and determination are also part of the mix.

Nancy- Why have you become a published author?    

David- In my writing book, The Successful Novelist: A Lifetime of Lessons and Writing and Publishing, my first chapter is devoted to reasons for people to want to be writers. The worst reasons are fame and wealth. Not that anybody should turn down a big advance from a publisher. But usually the motives of fame and wealth simple mean that someone wants to win the literary lottery, and most of the time, that means imitating another author who is famous and wealthy (for the record, very few writers earn huge dollars). When I teach writing, I emphasize two mantras. 1. Be a first rate version of yourself and not a second-rate version of another writer. 2. Don’t chase the market. You’ll always see its backside. The reason to want to be a writer is that there’s a pressure inside us, a story, a secret, that demands to be told, and we’ll do everything that’s necessary to get it onto the page.

Nancy- Exactly why I will listen to your wisdom at the WRITE NOW 2015 Conference. What is your writing routine like?

David- There’s no correct routine. Some people write early in the morning before they go to work or before the kids get up. Some people wait until it’s late at night. The main thing is to be steady about it—to do it every day. A page a day is 365 pages a year—in other words, a novel.  I work on a computer, but some people prefer to write a manuscript by hand. Whatever feels good. I’m blessed to be able to write full time, so I start around 8 in the morning and work until late afternoon, with an hour of exercise in the middle. (All that sitting can be brutal on my body unless I exercise.) I think it’s important to understand “introvert” and “extrovert” as the Myers-Briggs psychological profile defines those terms. An introvert gets renewal and refreshment from being alone. I can spend 10 hours a day alone—every day if necessary. I find it refreshing. If I need to do a lot of socializing, I’m exhausted, and I don’t like talking on the phone. In contrast, a Myers-Briggs extrovert loves being with people and can’t bear isolation. I know many great storytellers who never had a writing career because their personality was such that they couldn’t sit alone in a room.

Nancy- I love working in an empty house. Not much writing gets done when hubby is home! Are you a member of any writing organizations and, if so, have they helped?

David- I co-founded (with Gayle Lynds) the International Thriller Writers organization, which helped tons of writers get a start. I belong to the Mystery Writers of America, the Horror Writers Association, and the Western Writers of America. The professional friendships I formed there have been immensely helpful. One of my recommendations to beginning writers is to attend conferences for the type of writing that they do. Make contacts. Learn the business side of things.

Nancy- Conferences are fun, too! Will you share some encouraging words for authors still struggling for that first contract? 

David- Write the book you feel you were meant to write rather than an imitation of a book that’s on the bestseller list. You might not sell the book, but at least you fulfilled yourself, and that’s what writing’s supposed to be about. The WRITING page of my website, www.davidmorrell.net has several free essays about writing.

“David Morrell is the finest thriller writer living today, bar none.” Steve Berry

How can readers buy your book?

Murder as a Fine Art - HERE

Inspector of the Dead  - HERE

MORE ABOUT THE AUTHOR

David Morrell is the author of First Blood, the award-winning novel in which Rambo was created. His numerous New York Times bestsellers include the classic spy novel, The Brotherhood of the Rose, the basis for the only television mini-series to be broadcast after a Super Bowl. An Edgar and Anthony finalist, a Nero and Macavity winner, Morrell is a recipient of three Bram Stoker awards and the prestigious Thriller Master award from the International Thriller Writers organization. His latest novel is the acclaimed Victorian mystery/thriller, Inspector of the Dead.

You can find more information about 

David Morrell here:

WEBSITE      Facebook

@_David Morrell  Twitter

Nancy Lee Badger Interviews Author Giulia Torre

Nancy- Today I’m interviewing Giulia Torre. Her book, Wolfe Island is a historical romance and it was released in e-book on 12/24/2014 and in paperback just last month, and is giving away 5 paperback copies! Please tell my readers a little bit about your book.  

Giulia- Wolfe Island is a historical romance set in the Thousand Island Region of Upstate New York and Canada in 1893. It fictionalizes the launch of the then-visionary St. Lawrence River international Seaway Commission.  The romance tells the story of two people living on neighboring islands, but from different worlds. Meredith Wells, a native girl, daughter of a botanist and herself a botanical illustrator, calls the Islands home. Tristan Wolfe, son of a Russian shipping tycoon, lives in New York City and travels the world when he’s not spending summer months in the Islands. The story opens at Wolfe’s return to the Islands after a five-year absence. He’d abandoned the River and Meredith without a word of explanation. Now he’s back, and it’s his vision to introduce large freighters to the seaway, to open it up as the nation’s fourth coast. Meredith has her own ambitions, including progressing the women’s movement with an expansion of her artistic repertoire to include male anatomy. If only she can get Wolfe to assist in her rendering of his anatomic detail. Meredith is a distraction Wolfe finds difficult to ignore. But it’s fun to watch him try.

Nancy- Describe the genre of this particular title, and is the only genre you write in?

Giulia- This is a historical romance set in Upstate New York in 1893. It’s outside popular conventions for historical romance in that it’s set in the U.S., but not “out West”. I’ve filed it in “Victorian” on Amazon, because it’s the closest era offered by Amazon for its browse categories, but it’s outside that well-known era as well. Instead it’s set in the Gilded Age, smack in between Victorian and Edwardian eras.

Nancy- Why have you become a published author?

Giulia- I’ve always loved romance novels, and I tried to write my first one when I was 17. I fantasized about getting published, getting discovered. Now, I want readers. It’s not about “getting published” anymore. “Getting published” is no longer as important to me as it once was. The most important thing for me now is to write a compelling story, one that I would want to read. Wolfe Island is the first novel I’ve finished, and I can’t imagine finishing it and not getting it out there, somehow.

Nancy- What sort of promo do you do? Do you have help?

Giulia- At this point, it’s all word of mouth. I’m working on my second book (with paranormal elements), Swan Bay, and realize that writing another book, and another, will be my most important promo for Wolfe Island. I’m thinking long-game. Building a brand with my academic background and the message that romance novels have cultural significance. As I wrote in a recent post titled Regulating Romance:

Rather than to pass it off as worthless, artless, wasteful, or pointless, wouldn’t it instead be valuable to understand the power of romance?

Nancy asked Giulia to share three fun facts about her that most people don’t know.

1) I’m Italian. 100%. I have two grandparents from Sicily; one from Tuscany; and another whose family emigrated to Venezuela from Northern Italy before coming to the US

2) I’m training to swim a mini-triathalon. It will be a mile and I’ll probably drown.

3) My favorite place to be on a boat is the bow.

Nancy- What’s next for you?

Giulia- I’m working on the next book in the series, Simon Low’s story, called Swan Bay. Simon Low is a rake. But whereas Wolfe is a full-on Alpha Male, Simon is a Beta Male. Sexy, but sweet as tropical fruit.

Excerpt from Wolfe Island

As the applause from the introduction died away, Wolfe stood. He looked neither relaxed nor uncomfortable. He simply appeared as he always did, unflappable, formidable, elegant. He leaned into the table’s edge, his fingertips extended, touching the table’s white cloth. He straightened the silverware beside his plate before his eyes lifted to the faces before him. His eyes met many of the men and women there, moving from table to table as he began speaking.

“I’ve spent the last several years visiting waterways around the world, ports where my father’s ships have been anchored. I have lived in each port long enough to watch our ships leave and return. I came to know each one. I have seen other seaways, lived in other ports, and I’ve found them wanting. Of all the rivers in the world, this one is the most welcoming, the most difficult to leave. When you swim in its waters, and see the diamonds that sparkle across it in the late afternoon, as the faces of your friends become shadow, you learn that the power of its magic is unfathomable.” He paused, and the tension in the air crackled.

“It is also the most fortuitously placed.” His hands lifted from the table, drawing a map in the air. “Quite simply, it is this river that connects the Great Lakes to the sea. We have witnessed the engineering feats that have built the Sault locks.” He pronounced them as a native would, Soo. His fingertips returned to the table. “These locks are being replicated, creating ports in Duluth and Superior, Erie and Chicago. With our river, New York will see the same ports rise in Buffalo, Rochester, Oswego and Ogdensburg. We are the key that will unlock the door from the Midwest to the ocean. We are the country’s fourth coast.” This last word held a note of wonder, as though he could barely believe his own promise.

He was an exceptional speaker. He could have been a statesman. His presentation was superb. Meredith scanned the room. All eyes were fixed on him. Every face in the room was mesmerized. It was impossible to look away.

His eyes moved slowly from table to table, resting on one person, then another. The room held its collective breath. He continued, “They have designed an iron freighter nearly five hundred feet in length. It has been made to traverse the breadth of the Great Lakes. It is a ship larger than I’ve ever seen, half the distance of Mosquito Island, end to end.”

At the sound of her own home, Meredith must have visibly started. A lapse in Wolfe’s words coincided with his eyes finding hers amidst the crowd. She knew in that moment that Simon had been correct. Wolfe had not known she was there.

He stopped speaking. His eyes did not make their practiced move to the next table, the next listener. They stayed with her. He looked neither glad nor pained. His thoughts were perfectly opaque. The pause grew longer.

When he started speaking again, it was only to her. His words were hypnotic, so close they blocked out all other sound. His voice filled the room, yet he was telling her a secret.

“Someday large ships will pass before us. They will be mammoth, larger than our imaginings. Each will be silent, except for a long low horn, vibrating through the air like the song of a whale. They will be different colors, bright reds and greens. Shapes moving across the landscape. We will come to recognize them and welcome their arrival from each direction. They will connect us, like magic.”

She was transfixed by the vision, as if she could look out across the water at the picture he described. She knew in that moment that it would happen. He would see it done. The reality made goose bumps on her skin.

Meredith looked at her plate, no longer able to hold his gaze. He straightened. His shoulders pushed back, and then relaxed. He raised his chin, and a curtain was drawn on the passion that imbued his words.

Then there came uproarious applause, the kind usually reserved for the opera house in Denton at the end of a superior musical theater performance. Wolfe sat down, as though the rest of the room were not standing. He straightened the silverware again, piece-by-piece, eyes at his plate while the room roared.

Meredith glanced at the woman beside him. The smug pride she saw on Holly’s face made her wary. The raw cherrystone clams she had eaten with such relish before dinner sat heavily in her stomach.

“I see you’ve taken note of Miss Van Ogden.” Sitting to her left, Danny Waterstone leaned in to make himself heard over the sound of applause, and Meredith dropped her eyes from the woman’s hair.

“You know her?” She had been noticing the ribbons laced through it, and had counted eight little feathers also in residence, each dyed perfectly to match her gown. There might have been more, but the feathers flapped delicately with the motion of her head, and Meredith twice had lost count.

 “Yes, she is striking, isn’t she? I’m familiar with her set in the city. Her father is rich as Croesus. She’s a great catch for Wolfe.”

Meredith’s eyes traveled to Danny’s face. It was a nice face for a young man. Warm brown eyes. Brown hair full and charming as it fell over his forehead. Meredith would remember the slight lift at the corner of his mouth for the rest of her life. “A great catch?”

“I can’t say he was actually fishing for her.” The young man laughed again, low and without malice. “I think she just fell in his lap. Her father and Wolfe, you know, are quite in bed together.”

“In bed together?”

His face took on the appearance of chagrin. “My apologies. They are in business together. These plans to ship goods from the Great Lakes to the ocean? Wolfe has collected millions from Van Ogden to seed the project. I believe Miss Van Ogden will be the glue that will fix them inseparably. Beyond the usual business contracts. You know, they can be overthrown quite easily nowadays. Big ships need solid financing. And Miss Van Ogden comes with quite a bankroll.”

The elderly matron to Simon’s right gave another fierce tap on his shoulder with her fan, her voice loud and piercing even amidst the din of several large tables of conversation. The sound drew Wolfe’s attention, and his eyes met Meredith’s over Simon’s shoulder. She looked away.

Could it be true? Could he be intending to marry? “Are they engaged then?”

“Hmm?”

She touched his sleeve to capture his attention. “Miss Van Ogden and Mr. Wolfe. Are they betrothed?”

“I haven’t heard anything announced, no. But announcements like that are usually made at grand affairs. I expect it will be made official at Wolfe’s ball.”

The ball. Meredith returned her gaze to Holly. She grasped at the roman punch that had replaced her soup, a sweet creamy concoction that had as much rum as champagne. She downed it in a single gulp.

“I think that was for after dinner.” She heard Danny’s soft chuckle as she replaced the glass, the cloth muffling the noise of the heavy crystal.

Meredith understood the half-truths and outright lies that gossip carried in its wake. But was there truth in this? She remembered Simon’s words to her before dinner, warning her vaguely of Wolfe’s plans. It made sense to her now. It seemed that he had chosen a wife. Holly Van Ogden was not a Russian princess. But marrying this woman would give him something infinitely more compelling than control of a well-managed port on the Baltic Sea.

She looked for what she told herself would be the last time and saw Holly lean toward him. She said something so close to Wolfe’s ear that her lips must have brushed his hair. She must have been able to breathe him in. Meredith remembered the thrilling scent of him. She remembered with a winded feeling how close they had been today, how only yesterday his fingers had felt beneath her hair and touched the nape of her neck.

BUYLINKS

Ebook and Paperback on 

Amazon    

MORE ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Giulia Torre reads, writes, and thinks about books. She lives in a small town with a thriving Main Street in the Finger Lakes region of upstate New York, where she plays with her neighbors in lakes, yards, and barns. Wishing she could kiss them all, just once.

Giulia has her Ph.D. in Reading/Writing/Literacy from the University of Pennsylvania, where she focused her research on reader-response and the social life of literature. Before earning her Ph.D, she completed doctoral coursework in eighteenth-century literature at the University of Washington in St. Louis, where she studied literary community and the quixotic principle.

All that to say, she likes to read romance novels, and she can tell you why.

You can find more information 

about Giulia Torre here:

             WEBSITE     BLOG      Twitter                     

Facebook     Goodreads    Pinterest       

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Nancy Lee Badger Interviews FIRST BLOOD Author David Morrell

Nancy- a big welcome to David Morrell, who will be the Keynote speaker at Raleigh’s WRITE NOW 2015 Conference on May 2nd. He stopped by to share a little bit about himself, and his writing. Please tell my readers a little bit about your books.  

David- This is my 43^rd year as a published author. I started with First Blood in 1972, the novel in which the character of Rambo was introduced. Since then, I explored various ways of writing action and suspense, especially in The Brotherhood of the Rose (1984), which was one of the first novels to combine the British and American espionage-novel traditions (authentic spy-craft blended with action). It was adapted into the only television miniseries to be broadcast after a Super Bowl. Another personal favorite is Creepers (2005), which mixed the thriller and horror genres so that it was difficult to decide what kind of novel it was, and recently a Victorian mystery/thriller Murder as a Fine Art (2013) in which my fascination with the weirdness of the Victorian world made me want to make readers believe they are truly on those fogbound streets. The main character is an actual historical person, Thomas De Quincey, who invented the word “subconscious” and anticipated Freud’s psychoanalytic theories by 70 years.

Nancy- Wow! So many genres! And First Blood was your very first novel?

David- Yes, First Blood was my first novel. Through my Penn State writing instructor, Philip Klass, I was introduced to an agent who agreed to represent the manuscript. He sold it within six weeks. That’s very unusual. Most beginning authors struggle to make that first sale. Hemingway put a lot of value in luck, and with First Blood, I was indeed lucky. But it took me three years to write the book, and the manuscript didn’t leave my hands until I had done everything I could to make it professional. So discipline and determination are also part of the mix.

Nancy- Why have you become a published author?    

David- In my writing book, The Successful Novelist: A Lifetime of Lessons and Writing and Publishing, my first chapter is devoted to reasons for people to want to be writers. The worst reasons are fame and wealth. Not that anybody should turn down a big advance from a publisher. But usually the motives of fame and wealth simple mean that someone wants to win the literary lottery, and most of the time, that means imitating another author who is famous and wealthy (for the record, very few writers earn huge dollars). When I teach writing, I emphasize two mantras. 1. Be a first rate version of yourself and not a second-rate version of another writer. 2. Don’t chase the market. You’ll always see its backside. The reason to want to be a writer is that there’s a pressure inside us, a story, a secret, that demands to be told, and we’ll do everything that’s necessary to get it onto the page.

Nancy- Exactly why I will listen to your wisdom at the WRITE NOW 2015 Conference. What is your writing routine like?

David- There’s no correct routine. Some people write early in the morning before they go to work or before the kids get up. Some people wait until it’s late at night. The main thing is to be steady about it—to do it every day. A page a day is 365 pages a year—in other words, a novel.  I work on a computer, but some people prefer to write a manuscript by hand. Whatever feels good. I’m blessed to be able to write full time, so I start around 8 in the morning and work until late afternoon, with an hour of exercise in the middle. (All that sitting can be brutal on my body unless I exercise.) I think it’s important to understand “introvert” and “extrovert” as the Myers-Briggs psychological profile defines those terms. An introvert gets renewal and refreshment from being alone. I can spend 10 hours a day alone—every day if necessary. I find it refreshing. If I need to do a lot of socializing, I’m exhausted, and I don’t like talking on the phone. In contrast, a Myers-Briggs extrovert loves being with people and can’t bear isolation. I know many great storytellers who never had a writing career because their personality was such that they couldn’t sit alone in a room.

Nancy- I love working in an empty house. Not much writing gets done when hubby is home! Are you a member of any writing organizations and, if so, have they helped?

David- I co-founded (with Gayle Lynds) the International Thriller Writers organization, which helped tons of writers get a start. I belong to the Mystery Writers of America, the Horror Writers Association, and the Western Writers of America. The professional friendships I formed there have been immensely helpful. One of my recommendations to beginning writers is to attend conferences for the type of writing that they do. Make contacts. Learn the business side of things.

Nancy- Conferences are fun, too! Will you share some encouraging words for authors still struggling for that first contract? 

David- Write the book you feel you were meant to write rather than an imitation of a book that’s on the bestseller list. You might not sell the book, but at least you fulfilled yourself, and that’s what writing’s supposed to be about. The WRITING page of my website, www.davidmorrell.net has several free essays about writing.

“David Morrell is the finest thriller writer living today, bar none.” Steve Berry

How can readers buy your book?

Murder as a Fine Art - HERE

Inspector of the Dead  - HERE

MORE ABOUT THE AUTHOR

David Morrell is the author of First Blood, the award-winning novel in which Rambo was created. His numerous New York Times bestsellers include the classic spy novel, The Brotherhood of the Rose, the basis for the only television mini-series to be broadcast after a Super Bowl. An Edgar and Anthony finalist, a Nero and Macavity winner, Morrell is a recipient of three Bram Stoker awards and the prestigious Thriller Master award from the International Thriller Writers organization. His latest novel is the acclaimed Victorian mystery/thriller, Inspector of the Dead.

You can find more information about 

David Morrell here:

WEBSITE      Facebook

@_David Morrell  Twitter

Join us May 2nd in Raleigh, NC

at the

WRITE NOW 2015 Conference

David Morrell’s Keynote Address:

‘Be Yourself: Finding Your Own Voice and Subject Matter’

He will also teach these workshops:

‘The Trap for the Unwary: The First Person Viewpoint’

‘Easy Ways to Improve Your Description & Dialogue’

For more info click HERE

Less than 2 Weeks until the WRITE NOW 2015 Conference!

Don't miss out! Less than 2 Weeks until...

REGISTRATION NOW OPEN!

Write Now! 2015, Triangle Area Freelancers’ 8th annual freelance writing conference, will be held on Saturday, May 2, 2015 at Wake Technical Community College Northern Wake Campus in Raleigh, North Carolina– and it promises to be our best event yet!

Keynote speaker:

NYT best-selling author David Morrell

the father of Rambo.

David will also be presenting two sessions as part of our new Fiction Track: A Trap for the Unwary: The First Person Viewpoint, and Easy Ways to Improve your Description and Dialogue.

David will be joined on the Fiction Track by 2014 Piedmont Laureate Carrie Knowles, who will be presenting a session titled No Conflict, No Story, and veteran screenwriter Scott Myers, who teaches screenwriting at UNC Chapel Hill.

Other Write Now! presenters include Linda Formichelli, who will be offering an informative session on writing a killer query letter; award-winning NC author Kala Ambrose, who will discuss How to Build Your Brand, Create Your Platform and Establish Your Expert Status; and veteran freelancer Mark Cantrell, who will be offering a session on research that will appeal to both fiction and nonfiction writers. In addition, Melissa Jeglinski of The Knight Agency and Lisa Hagan of the Paraview Literary Agency will be co-hosting a session about the writer/agent relationship and taking questions from the audience.

But that’s not all! For the first time, Write Now! will be offering a third track devoted exclusively to technical writing, in association with the Society for Technical Communication.

Sessions will include a Technical Communication Round Table, Visual Web Design, Grant Writing and Content Strategy.

Write Now! 2015 is pleased to return to Wake Technical Community College Northern Wake Campus in Raleigh. Amenities include a 250-seat amphitheater with stadium seating, additional classrooms that seat 60 each, and an atrium with tables and seating for 100, so you’ll be able to sit with friends and make new ones during lunch.

TAF has worked extremely hard to keep the cost of Write Now! 2015 affordable for all writers. Registration is just $69; $59 for seniors 65-plus and students with valid ID; and $80 at the door. Registration includes all conference activities, continental breakfast during registration, catered box lunch and all beverages. We also will be giving away some exciting door prizes.

To learn more, or to register via PayPal, please visit http://www.tafnc.com/WriteNow.html. We look forward to seeing you there! Have a question? Contact Conference Director Donald Vaughan at dvaughan@mindspring.com or by phone at 919-873-9833.

I attended this fabulous Conference last year, and I recommend it. I will be attending again this year!

Nancy Lee

Nancy Lee Badger Interviews Donna Steele

Nancy- Donna Steele stopped by to share some intimate details about herself as well as share her book, The Melting, Book 3 - Cohesion. This is a sci fi/paranormal romance and was released on February 10, 2015. Please tell us a little about the book

Donna- This is the 3^rd book in The Melting series.  In this series, a science fiction/medical thriller the glaciers have melted, thawing out an old virus for which humans have no immunity. In the third book the virus has run its course, but civilization, as we know it is gone. The first winter has passed, showing the survivors their vulnerabilities. What civilization is left was clustered around the Center for Disease Control in Atlanta, but the ‘us vs. them’ dynamic had groups defecting and melting into the darkness. Now two of those groups have found each other, and the changes the virus has left behind is beginning to manifest itself within them…

Nancy- Describe the genre of this particular title, and is the only genre you write in?  

Donna- This is definitely sci fi/paranormal. I love the possibilities of an unknown future, both reading and writing it. I have several books in the paranormal bent; however, I find myself also writing small town romance – I came from a very small town and though I left it years ago, apparently you never really get away.  I know, the two genres couldn’t be more different, but then I am a writer – LOL!

Nancy- What is your writing routine like?

Donna- It has just changed! I have retired to write full-time. Snatching minutes after work or weekends did allow me to complete twelve books/novellas/short stories, but I wanted the time to do it exclusively. Having one of the world’s best husbands helped there. I’m best in the mornings, so 8-12 I’m off-limits - no internet scrolling, no emails. I’m at work and have things to do. The afternoons (unless it’s really flowing) are current set aside for internet, research and the dreaded housework.

Nancy- Are you a member of any writing organizations and, if so, have they helped?

Donna- I’m a member of Romance Writers of America (RWA) and within that, a member of the Raleigh, NC chapter – Heart of Carolina Romance Writers, as well as the special interest chapter of RWA - Fantasy, Futuristic and Paranormal. I can’t even describe how helpful these groups have been. That first meeting I was so nervous – I didn’t belong in a room with published and well-known authors. I was only a wannabe, but they embraced me, encouraged me and just being in the same room with all that creative energy, inspired me and showed me I was in the right place. They explained things I didn’t know to ask and made me one of them.

Nancy- Will you share some encouraging words for authors still struggling for that first contract?

 

Donna- The most important thing is not to give up. I’ve heard so many stories from authors – best sellers – you have been rejected over and over. Now there are other options, self-pub for one, but the key is, they didn’t quit. If that submission isn’t going where you want it to, safe it and go on to the next story. It’s still there waiting and can always be polished and resubmitted, but don’t stop there. There’s another story to be working on while you’re waiting. And I’m waiting to read it, so get to it!

Nancy- Please Share three fun facts about you that most people don’t know:

1) I started out writing fan fiction for the X-Files

2) I just became a grandmother for the first time

3) I still get together with my college roommates at least a couple of times a year (our kids call each other cousins)

Nancy- What’s next for you?

Donna- I’m finishing up the first draft of the story of a woman who wakes in the hospital with no memory and apparently no past. It is sci fi and I’m really enjoying where it’s taken me.

BOOK BLURB  for The Melting, Book 3 - Cohesion

It began in the north, in the ancient cold from before the birth of man. Whether from the actions of man or the cycles of the planet, the primordial ice was melting and bringing back to the atmosphere a virus. One with no known cure for modern day humans.

Civilization has we knew it is gone, but civilization does still exist and is beginning to grow again. David Morrow, world-renowned scholar in global warming and sustainability and Amanda Sutton, physician turned researcher are swept up in the pandemic. She received one of the precious doses of a vaccine that is developed too late. But he recovered, the only one found to have done so.

Both lived at what used to be the CDC, but civilization is not what it once was and their safety depended on their escape.

Meg Adams, former office manager and Jim Stephens, former army sniper led more survivors in an exodus from the CDC when the new regime began an attempt to take power there. The first winter, with little time for preparation and no civilization to rely on, has ended.  But can these far-flung survivors continue without cohesion?

Cohesion, and all of 

The Melting Books 

are available at:

Amazon    NOOK    AllRomance

MORE ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Women strong enough for love.

I write science fiction , paranormal and women’s fiction romance eBooks about women coming into their strength and having the courage to find and accept love.

As an empty nester with my beloved best friend and husband (who actually encourages this mad passion of mine) I write all the time – whether or not I have a pen or keyboard handy.

Ever since I learned to read—from Superman Comics, Dick, Jane and Sally held no appeal—I’ve wanted to write. The possibilities of science fiction have always drawn me and I’ve read them all.  There just needed to be a little more romance in them. I finally got up the courage and I’m delighted

that I’m able to share these stories with you.

My premiere novel, a science fiction romance – Rth Rising – was released on March 3, 2012 through Rebel Ink Press. My paranormal romance eBooks Learning Trust, Wraith’s Heart,  and The Melting, Book 1-The Infection and Book 2-The Progression are now available at all eBook sellers. Wraith’s Heart  and Learning Trust are also available in paperback through Amazon.

My small town romance novels – Homecoming, Welcome Home, Red Shoes, Nowhere for Christmas, Christmas Present and Dance Partner are available at all eBook vendors.

I’m a member of Romance Writers of America, the Fantasy, Futuristic & Paranormal Chapter of RWA and the Heart of Carolina Romance Writers. You can find more information about me here:

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