Our Interview with Dawn Smith!

       


                                       Bio
Dawn Smith lives in Arizona with her husband, three daughters, and two very rambunctious Jack Russell Terriers. By day she is only Mommy, but by night she lets her many personalities out to play. She enjoys reading as much as she does writing and never misses out on a chance to curl up with a good book.


                                 Bio provided by author's site

1. What makes for a good hook in your stories? Where does your inspiration come from?

I always try to make my story line and plots original.(Which writing in the paranormal romance genre can be pretty difficult. There is not much that hasn’t already been done.) I think that is the best hook there can be. I also try to grab reader’s right from the start, sending them into a scene with action from the very first chapter.

My inspiration would definitely have to be my wild imagination. I also get inspired by the beauty of the city around me. Walking down the street I can come up with a hundred different characters and stories that beat on the doors to get out by the time I get home.

2. Are you an organized writer? Do you do things like take notes and make lists of characters? Or do you free write and work it out as you go?

I try to be organized, I really do. It never ends up that way though. Somewhere along the way my characters run away with themselves and I’m left wondering how it was they got themselves into the mess they’re in. The only lists I make are of the main characters, and I do go into quite a bit of detail working out who they are as a person.

3. What is your normal writing day like? Do you write when you are inspired or do you have a schedule?

A normal writing day for me starts when the day ends and peace and quiet finally rule my home. I try and stick to a schedule but mostly my muse likes to throw that out the window. I can’t write unless the inspiration is there. I don’t like forcing it because that shows in your story.

4. Who is your favorite author and how did they inspire you to write?

I have so many favorites it’s hard to name just one, JR Ward, Sherrilyn Kenyon and Kresley Cole just to name a few. My inspiration, I desire to create a world for the reader to escape into, as do my favorite writers.

5. It’s easy to see that you have a passion for writing but is there any part of it you don’t like?

Right now the only part I don’t like about it is that I don’t have as much time to devote to my writing as I would like. My desk is a piled mess of papers that I write down snippets of story on throughout the day. Then I have to sort through it all and figure out what went where!

6. Do you make time to read and if you do what are you reading right now?

I always try and make the time to read at least a little every day. I actually just finished reading Lunar Light by Penelope Fletcher. I absolutely loved it!

7. How did you get started in writing in this paranormal romance? Is there personal life experience in the writing?

I started writing Hailey’s Coyote with the thought of sending it to Harlequin nocturne cravings. When that didn’t go the way I would have liked I self published instead. In Hailey’s there is not a drop of life experience, but the characters are loosely based on people I know.

Crimson Fury was a brain child that started a year ago when I a discussion about government experiments sparked the idea in my head. What would the government do if paranormal creatures were real and discovered living among us? In Crimson Fury there is a lot of my own life experience woven into the main character. Being thrust into a situation that completely and irrevocably changes your entire life, and how she deals with it.

8. Your books have been published with Amazon.com, Does this mean you see the publishing industry headed this way?

I do. I feel like unfortunately the days of driving to the book store and standing among hundreds of books are quickly coming to an end. It is much more economical and convenient for a reader to pick up their tablet or e-reader and download the book they want. Even I, who said I would never own an e-reader, bought one last year for just that reason.

9. Do you have any online sites where others can read more of your writings?

Yes I do. They can go to my blog dawnsmithbooks.blogspot.com and find not only short stories written by myself, but other guest Indie authors as well.

10. Do you have any more stories in the works? What kinds of stories do you plan to write next?

I actually have three in the works right now. Time Ever After, a vampire short should be ready for my blog in a couple of weeks, another book based on a succubus is in the beginning stages, but should be ready by fall 2012. I plan on finishing then moving on to the next volume in the Bear Canyon Shifters Series.

11. Who would be your first choice to play Evan in your book "Hailey's Coyote"

Chris Hemsworth without a doubt.

12. If you could meet anyone from any time who would it be and what would be your first question?

Amelia Earhart. What was it like to be the first woman to pilot an airplane? And just what is in the Bermuda triangle?