Talking with Ranee Clark, author of A Contemptible Affection

What do you find most rewarding about writing? I love to go back and read something I wrote and fall in love with it again. I love it when someone finds something I've written enjoyable. It makes me flutter.

I know the feeling or its close sibling, "Wow, I wrote that?" I notice your answers are in pink so um…What’s your favorite color? Pink! I love pink!

Yeah, I have a few too many dresses, scarves and tops in pink. I prefer absolute silence when I write, but what music groups/artists blast from your CD player while you write? It depends on the writing mood I'm in. Sometimes, if I'm really into one of my YA manuscripts, I'll pick a teen station on Pandora or Spotify and just let it ride. If I just need more background noise, I turn to my soundtracks station on Pandora. I don't think I've owned a CD or a CD player for several years. ;)

What or who inspires you to write? Pretty much everyone and everything. I can be sitting somewhere and see something and I say to myself -- what would happen if ...? And it takes off from there.  Once, while sitting and watching my kids play at a kiddie pool (and also mulling over some local events) the inspiration for a short story just hit me.

Proof of an active mind on vacation! What was your favorite book growing up that inspired you to try your hand at writing? I'm not sure if they exactly inspired me, but I loved the Nancy Drew books and also the Babysitters Club Books. My first stories that I wrote in late elementary school and middle school were all little series sets, mysteries or whatnot, three to five pages long.

Have you experienced writer’s block? And if so, how did you cure it? Of course! I think that probably the best advice is to make yourself write or write through it, but I don't think that's a hard and fast rule. I think sometimes writers need to step away and do something else -- maybe that's go for a walk, listen to music, watch a movie, go shopping, eat ice cream, or maybe go to a different project. I tend to hop to different projects if I'm really blocked, but I do try to write through everything, then I'll go back and fix those scenes that I know needed help.

Good advice! I'll have to try that the next time I hit the wall. Is that when you turn to your other interests and talents? What hidden talent do you possess outside of writing... something you do for fun, but are good at? I love to scrapbook -- digitally. I've spent the last year or so learning what I can about PhotoShop and using it to create. I love the sort of mindlessness that goes into it. Whenever I need something to distract my fingers, but when my brain needs to be on something else, I scrapbook!

How did you come up with your premise for A CONTEMPTIBLE AFFECTION? I was inspired by a line in a Georgette Heyer novel. One of the heroes (the heroine didn't end up with him) said that he'd always intended to marry her. That line spun off into A CONTEMPTIBLE AFFECTION and inspired most of Lord Dersingham's character, but both he and Iris evolved over and over to create a different story than what I originally imagined.

For those who are not familiar with this story, would you please give us the blurb?
After being spurned by Lord Dersingham last season, Iris Colburne swears she'll never let him in again. But that is a lot harder than she imagined.

Are there any fun tid-bits about this story you can share with us? None of my beta readers ever liked Iris, and only through some editing could I make her likable in the end. But she's still one of my favorite characters.

How did you decide on the setting? When you're writing a regency, and you want to write a good one, London is sort of the default. 

What is the purchase link (and cost)? A CONTEMPTIBLE AFFECTION is available both at Amazon and on Smashwords for $0.99.
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009UGKEQU
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/245847

It's also available in paperback: http://www.amazon.com/Contemptible-Affection-Regency-Novella/dp/148007411X/ref=tmm_pap_title_0

Can you tell us what review of your story meant the most to you and why? The very first "actual" review I got has meant a lot. The reader loved it and really connected with Iris as a character and got Iris' motivations. I loved it. It made my tummy flutter and I had to read it to my husband. I think that review could sustain me through any bad reviews!

Getting to know Joyce DiPastena author of Dangerous Favor

Me: So here we sit, me in my fuschia and blue and you in your fuschia and teal. Romance authors at ease.
I just have to know, since we like similiar colors, do we like similair writing background noises too? What music groups/artists blast from your CD player, if any, blast while you write?
Joyce: I can’t write to music or any noise in the background. I write my best in silence. (I guess I have enough voices going on in my head to keep me company!)

Me: Me too. I'm smiling and ask: What or who inspires you to write?
Joyce: Reading other books. I guess creativity feeds creativity.

Me: So true, Joyce why did you begin writing?
Joyce: I had this story in my head that I wanted someone to write so I could read it. I remember in college how I kept going to the bookstore and looking for that book, but none of the ones I found ever came close to the story I had in my head. I finally decided if I wanted to read that story, I’d have to write it myself. At first, I never intended to share that story with anyone, but of course, once a writer finishes a book, that almost irresistible itch to share it sets in.

Me: Tell me about your latest book, how did you come up with your premise for Dangerous Favor?
Joyce: I had a pair of secondary characters from an earlier book, two young men who were best friends, and I decided I wanted to write a dual romance for them. It’s hard to say where the premise came from beyond that. I always start with some characters who intrigue me, but I rarely know where they’re going when I begin a story. They prefer to reveal that to me along the way.

Me: For those who are not familiar with this story, would you please give us the blurb?
Joyce: Mathilde de Reivelle's father has been accused of stealing from the king, an allegation that has reduced her family to poverty. She has one chance to find and marry a man who can help her prove her father's innocence. Lord Therri, heir to a rich barony, has the wealth and connections Mathilde needs to delve into the mysteries of her father's past. Furthermore, Therri embodies all her romantic dreams.
Etienne, the younger son of a disgraced family, has neither wealth nor connections, but is smitten with Mathilde at a glance. She finds the knight intriguing, but believes he is only out to seduce her. While she seeks for a way to win Therri's attention, Etienne tricks her into granting him her favor, an embroidered white ribbon, for a tournament, setting in motion a dangerous chain reaction of events. Can Etienne save Mathilde from a nightmare from her past and prove himself the true hero of her dreams?

Me: How did you decide on the setting?
Joyce: I’ve always been fascinated with the Middle Ages, and with King Henry II of England in particular. Henry also ruled large areas of France, and when I decided I wanted to set a book during his reign, I realized that all the exciting political action was taking place in his lands in France rather than in England, so I thought that would prove a fertile playground to set my characters in.

Dangerous Favor is available right now on Amazon for $18.99. http://www.amazon.com/Dangerous-Favor-Joyce-DiPastena/dp/159992806X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1328493177&sr=8-1 (But often it’s on sale, so check.) It should also be available soon on BarnesandNoble.com, DeseretBook.com, and in Deseret Bookstores.

Joyce Twitters  
Twitter: @JoyceDiPastena

Interview with Donna Hatch, author of Queen in Exile

Q: Donna, tell us a little bit about yourself.

Donna: I guess I should say right off the bat that I’m a certified loon. Not only am I an author, which means I hear voices in my head and my characters are more real to me than most “real” people, but I am also the mother of six children. And yes, I did that on purpose!

Q: Tell us a little bit about your fantasy, Queen in Exile
Donna: The last surviving member of her family, a princess must place her life, and the fate of her kingdom, into the hands of a trained killer. But accepting her destiny and her own dark powers will mean losing the man she loves.

Q: Where does your inspiration come from?

Donna: Inspiration can come from anywhere, a song, a movie, a secondary character in another book. Sometimes I can’t trace where the story actually began; it often just starts as a seed of an idea and then expands. I’ve yet to have started a story based on a dream, though ;-) But for Queen in Exile in particular – this is going to sound super lame – (cringe) but I actually was inspired in part by a game of Dungeons and Dragons. Yes, I was one of those geeks who played that game. I’ve always been a fantasy reader, and I’m so glad technology is up to the level needed to produce a truly spectacular fantasy movie. The story itself for Queen in Exile came from somewhere in my heart, but the setting is more of a Tolkien-type world.

You're not a geek, some of my neices and nephews probably "played" with you!
Q: Some writers say that they have a story that has to be told, others say that the characters come to them and demand that their story be told… how does it work for you?
Donna: Both ways, I suppose. A character usually comes to me and tells me the main idea of their story, and then I go to work fleshing out both the plot and the characters. Once or twice, I’ve started with a concept, or a problem, and then found characters to deal with it. Really, my characters drive the story; the plot, or the problem, is just a hardship for them to overcome so that they can really grow and shine and ultimately triumph.

Q: What is your favorite thing about writing romance?
Donna: I love the happily ever after. If a book doesn’t have a good ending, I feel like I’ve wasted my time because I read to escape my problems. I want to know good always triumphs over evil and love conquers all – not be bummed because all was lost. I also love watching the romance unfold and, of course, the euphoria of falling in love.

Tell us about your contest:
You can win a free copy (and you have four chances if you do all four):

1. Go to my website http://www.donnahatch.com/  and then find out what is the name of the hero of Queen in Exile (hint, read the backcover blurb underneath the book cover), then send me an email at donnahatch29@gmail.com, telling me the answer to the question and put "Queen in Exile for Free" in the subject line

2. Follow my blog, then send me an email at donnahatch29@gmail.com, telling me you're now following me and put "Queen in Exile for Free" in the subject line

3. Leave a comment here. Then send me an email at donnahatch29@gmail.com and put "Queen in Exile for Free" in the subject line.

4. On Facebook, 'like' me, (http://www.facebook.com/people/Donna-Hatch/1053967713#!/profile.php?ref=profile&id=1053967713) then send me an email at donnahatch29@gmail.com, telling me you're now my friend on Face book and put "Queen in Exile for Free" in the subject line.

That’s it! Remember, for each thing you do, you have another chance to win. Good Luck!!!

Thank you, Donna for joining us. You can find Donna’s book, Queen in Exile, at Amazon, Costcos across the country, any Deseret Bookstore, all Barnes & Noble, and Borders. If you don’t see it on the shelf, be sure to ask them to order it for you and they’ll ship it to you with free shipping.

Oops! My Bad!

Apparently Blogspot isn't letting you leave messages. But one of you has my email address and asked:
Today I was perusing your blog looking for the clean Regencies you mentioned. Could you point the way more specifically? I couldn't quite track them down.


The Wild Rose Press has a lot of regency romances as well as contemporary romance and I believe they even rate the novels as to how steamy/hot they are.

 The link to their home page is: http://wildrosepress.us/publisher/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1

Donna Hatch is an LDS Writer who has written a couple of my favorites that I downloaded/ uploaded to my kindle. Her info is as follows:

Reed and Amy's story is called Constant Hearts, also available on Smashwords. Released it a few months ago. It's available here

http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/56421
She also has a novella on the Wild Rose Press site--they are the same company that pubbed her full length Regencies. You can find Troubled Hearts here http://www.thewildrosepress.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=86_73&products_id=1198

Donna Hatch
Romance Author, Editor, Workshop Presenter, Copywriter, Business Writer
http://www.donnahatch.com/
http://donnahatch.blogspot.com/
http://www.linkedin.com/in/donnahatch

Just a note. Donna is a busy lady and we are working on an interview right here for you.