Monday, April 7, 2014

Author Interview- Dawn Douglas

Happy Monday readers, I've got author Dawn Douglas with us today promoting her new book, Paris Rose. 
Read on as she answers a few questions and shares her excerpt with us.

Welcome Dawn, Tell me three things about yourself that start with A,B, and C.




A I am an autism mom. My youngest son, William, is 14 and non-verbal. He loves his beanie babies and trampoline – he doesn’t love his mom sitting down to write!

B Blessed isn’t a word I normally use, but that’s sometimes exactly how I feel when the writing is going well, the sun is shining (which it usually is here in Colorado) and I think of some of the great people in my life.

C Cat-lady! OK, this is a slight exaggeration – there’s a community of stray cats in my neighborhood. I’ve adopted two of them. Cloudy and Eliot drop by each day for food and a chat.

Was there any particular inspiration for your characters or story?

I was lucky enough to spend a day in Paris last year. I kept thinking how much I’d like to set a story there, and I’d written a short story several years ago that I liked and always wondered if it could be developed into something slightly longer because the characters haunted me and I thought they had more of a story to tell. In the end, I only set a small part of Paris Rose in Paris, but the heroine, Lucy Rawlinson, is a chef who trained in France and who feels very at home in Paris.

Music is a big influence on my writing. I have certain songs that inspire each chapter, or the whole book. What helps to inspire you?

 I think the answer to this has to be good storytelling. I read novels in different genres, but whether they’re romance or literary I usually have the same questions as I reach the end – Could I ever write something as good as that? How would I have written that differently?  How can I carve out more time to write?

Will there be more books in your series, or can you tell us about any previous books?

My novella, An Accidental Kiss, was released last year by The Wild Rose Press. I loved writing it. The characters all made me smile – the heroine, Marcy, has a teenage daughter I based upon my own daughter, and  parents who are getting on a bit in age named Kath and Herb. I’ve never accidentally kissed anyone but like Marcy I do have a tendency to say the wrong thing and get into awkward situations.






Paris Rose Excerpt -
 Without even bothering to pull on his jeans, Nick bolted down the stairs and out of the house in his boxers. A few months ago, there'd been reports of a peeping Tom in the next town over. They'd never caught the guy. The cool night air brushed his skin and he felt goose bumps as he pounded on Lucy's door. The stupid little dog barked frantically. It occurred to Nick that someone could have broken in through a window, or the back door. She'd never paid much attention to security. Again he pounded on the door and yelled her name, hearing the hoarse desperation in his voice, imagining Lucy with a knife at her throat, helpless . . . He heard hurried footsteps and a moment later she appeared, her face white with terror, and catapulted into his arms. "Nick!" "Sweetheart, what happened?" He held her tightly, relief coursing through him, feeling the rapid beat of her heart against his chest. "Oh, God!" "It's okay now." She smelled of sunshine and strawberries. "Do we need to call the police?" A shuddering sob escaped her as she clung to him. "Lucy, what happened?" Finally she looked up at him, her huge gray eyes filled with tears. "I - I was hungry and I decided to fix myself a sandwich. I opened the pantry door, and there he was, just sitting on top of the peanut butter jar looking at me, a huge gray mouse." "A mouse."
BUY LINK: AMAZON




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