Hi Donna! Welcome to Fallen Angel Reviews! Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule this holiday season to visit with us. I know that I appreciate this opportunity to visit with you as I am sure that the readers out there are too.

In your new book, The Letter, you have created a story that is mixed with many emotions, loveable characters, and a superb love story that is ensured to touch many. If you were going to quickly describe this story to someone that has never heard of it or read the blurb, what would you tell them in your own words?

I tell people it is a touching story of betrayal, love and happily ever after, with a twist. Then I mention that Carrie received a letter from her husband of thirteen years, six months after his death, to tell her he has two children. To find out what happens next, you have to read the book.

Can you give us an idea what inspired this story and what this book meant to you?

The Letter is actually the first book I wrote after a trip to Sedona, which is a wonderful site for a story to take place. I read a lot of Harlequin along with the many, many authors who are not associated with them. I enjoyed reading about the children of these books, but I wanted something different and a little more controversial. That’s how the artificial insemination came in. What this book meant to me was that I could write. What a feeling of satisfaction to discover a new talent as a senior citizen.

Per your website, you also have another new release, Amaya’s Keep available now. Based on the blurb attached to this book, readers will be offered a funny yet unique romance set in the wonderful backdrop of a castle with its own ghost. Do you have a favorite character from this story and if so, why?

I had so much fun writing Amaya’s Keep. When you deal in Cinderella and ghosts, anything is possible and I hope I portrayed that in this book. To answer your question, yes, I love Aunt Linda, who is a secondary character, because she is an elderly woman who is still interested in men and pursues them with a passion The reason she is so unique to me is that she behaves in the manner of a twenty something at the age of sixty plus and everyone loves her. . I also have a great fondness for Granddaddy, the ghost, just because he is so much fun to have around.

I also see you have an upcoming release, Protecting Rena. This story seems to be a mix of suspense and romance. It would seem that your stories offer readers a wide variety of emotions and genres. What was your favorite part of this story to write?

I had never written suspense before so it was a challenge for me. I liked the idea of telling one story that everyone believed and another that was the reality. I enjoyed writing about Tim, the young man sent to kill Rena who teamed up with our hero to protect her. I also love Matt, our hero, because he didn’t take over the task of saving the day by himself, only aided in it, which made him strong, yet vulnerable and real.

Can we get a teaser for what else you are working on right now? (grin)

I also have a book called The Grant coming out in August 06. This book is a contemporary or chick flick set in the desert near Tucson, Arizona. It’s about two young girl friends that meet two young men when they go to a resort as manager trainees. It has a plane crash, amnesia, losing virginity, acquiring wealth, finding ones self and prioritizing ones values and finally romance and love.

I am at present working on a sequel to Amaya’s Keep, called, Imogene’s Flower Garden, which takes place at the farm Granddaddy owned and is now a home for abused women. I am also working on a book, tentatively titled, The Ghost of Sheffield Manor, that will soon be finished. This book takes place in Illinois on Lake Michigan and involves solving a wrong that was done in the past to send the ghost on his way. It’s a love story with a ghost that’s just a little darker than the ghost of Granddaddy in Amaya’s Keep.

What motivated you to try your hand at writing a story? A story you read? A person?

I have been an avid reader all my life and I always thought I would write a book and talked about it often, but never really believed I would. When I retired at fifty, single with grown children, I had so much time I took a couple of writing classes at the college and then began playing around with writing. When I wrote THE END at the bottom of, The Letter, I decided to try to get it published, never believing it would actually happen. I found I enjoyed writing so much that I just kept going.

In looking over your website, I find out that you live in the warm southern state of Arizona. When you are not writing, what is your favorite thing to do there?

I am a Taurus and very easy going. I enjoy the small pleasures of life. I read and write and bake and cook. I enjoy time on the patio enjoying the heat of the dessert and going for walks. I like the theater, and old movies, but my favorite thing to do is spend time with my children and grandchildren.

Would you say that your outside interests contribute to your writing?

I think anything you do or see or think in life contributes to your writing. The Letter was inspired by a trip to Sedona, which is only two hours drive from Phoenix, but a world of difference. It’s filled with the splendor of the old west tucked away in the mountains and accented with the tall red rocks that stand so majestically in the air. I just had to put a book in Sedona. Amaya’s Keep was inspired by my grandson who came home and said that a schoolmate’s family found a secret room in their house of six years. The secret panels of Amaya’s Keep were inspired by that story and the rest is Amaya’s Keep.

How do you keep your ideas fresh & imaginative when you offer readers so many choices in genres and locations?

That’s really funny because I am sixty-three years old. I think by the time you reach my age you’ve had a lot of experiences in life that you can draw on to write a book, and then on the other had, things just pop into my head that need to be put on paper. There is no way to explain how a writer gets ideas and inspiration, it just happens.

To date, what has been the most rewarding aspect of your writing?

Holding that first book in my hand, having my children tell me they are proud of me, receiving a card from an old friend in Alabama who collects Harlequin and had at least ten thousand of them in her home. She told me it was better than anything she had ever read and that her judge of a good book was if she forgot who wrote it, and she did, until she finished it. I suppose we all want attention and praise, but there is a personal satisfaction of knowing that I can actually write that fills my heart with pleasure.

As a writer, do you also take time to read other works? If so, do you have a particular author or style of book that you enjoy?

I have two favorite authors among the hundred or so that I really enjoy reading. Agatha Christie is my all time favorite. For some reason I am fascinated with England and if I believed in reincarnation, I would think I had at one time lived there. I love her books because they are unlike the blood and gore of so many mystery writers. She starts out with a dead person or two and the entire book is a puzzle to figure out who dun it. My second favorite is Nora Roberts and I enjoy everything she writes. When reading her books I forget I am reading and feel like I am actually living the story and that is the best compliment anyone could get.

What would we find on your bookshelf?

Anything and everything. I have one entire wall in the den that is bookshelves. You will see school books, dictionaries, thesaurus, along with Agatha Christie, Nora Roberts, John Grissom, Diana Gabaldon, Roz Denny Fox, Barbara Cartland, Judy McCoy, Mauve Binchy, Belva Plain and so many many more. You will also see biographies and photo books and anything else with a binder.

With the holiday season upon us, do you have a favorite tradition or fond memory that you would like to share with us?

Thanksgiving is the beginning of the season for me. I really enjoy baking so I do a lot of that, but my favorite things are watching old Christmas Movies and sitting in the quiet of the night with all the lights off and only the Christmas tree lit. When I lived in Illinois where I was born and raised, I use to wish for snow on Christmas Eve so I could play out this ritual of sitting in the dark with the tree lit while snow fell outside the window, but in Arizona we all know that isn’t going to happen. That is the only day of the year I miss the snow.

Is there anything else you would like to share with us?

I would like to say if you are a writer, don’t stop writing, and if you are a reader, don’t stop reading. Read to your children and encourage them to read. Keep lots of books in your home, read to learn and read for pleasure and read to escape the reality of daily living for a few moments and enter an unknown world just for the pleasure of it. Please stop by my website and learn a little more about me and my books. www.donnasdesk.com or drop me a note. I love hearing from all. donnasdesk@cox.net
I would like to thank Fallen Angels for giving me the opportunity of sharing my writing with all of you. Thank you very much.

Thank you so much for stopping by Donna. For anyone looking for a beautifully written, romantic tale mixed within wonderful genres, look no further. Stop by the Donna’s website to see what you don’t want to miss. I have had the opportunity to read one myself and you won’t be disappointed. It has been a pleasure talking with you and I know I hope that there are many more stories out there waiting to be told by you.


Interviewed by: Jessica