Today I'd like to welcome Dani A. Camden to Fallen Angel Reviews. Thanks for taking the time to answer a few questions for us today.

What made you pick up a pen and begin to write?

I don’t really know how to answer that. I have always written really. I can remember writing silly songs and poems when I was little.

When I was a teenager I started writing my dreams down in a journal and turning them into short stories. It wasn’t that I consciously said to myself “hey I want to be a writer” it was that I had all these stories going on in my head I had to get them out! HA! It was like I was narrating my life in my head all the time so my mother suggested I keep a journal and when that got full she got me a typewriter! It became my necessary therapy! Anytime I felt overcome or overwhelmed, I went to my typewriter.

As a woman who's overcome a lot in her life, how did you translate your struggles into inspiration for your novel?

Well, I didn’t really in the beginning, or at least I didn’t realize that I was. I had this idea in my head kind of marinating up there for about 3 years, so when I finally began writing it out it came so quickly that I didn’t notice what I was doing! I mean I was constantly asking myself, how would I react to this, or fell about this situation and it wasn’t until about three-quarters through that I saw I had painted a picture of myself! And once I realized that I knew exactly how it should end; how I wanted it to end. Once I came to that point, I decided to just use all that anger and frustration that I felt with myself and the world around me and just poured it out, unfiltered, into this story. I basically just used my characters as punching bags! HA!

What was the first story you ever wrote?

The first STORY I remember writing was probably in the 1st grade. I wrote about a little girl who could transport herself to her own personal fantasyland. I think my mother still has it somewhere actually! The first published story I wrote was an article in an Army spouse newsletter regarding September 11th.

Has being published changed you at all? If so, how?

Yes. I am exhausted! I am constantly promoting and marketing my book at every opportunity! I don’t have an agent or a manager so with the help of a couple of my friends; I am doing this by myself! If I am not out hitting book stores, coffee shops and any other place of business that will have me, I am at my computer working on my official web-site, official myspace profile, sending out emails to newspapers, magazines, radio stations, e-zines etc… the list goes on! Simply put, if there is an outlet, I will exploit it! HA!

What would we find on your bookshelf?

Mostly Anne Rice, I just love her! I also have Dan Brown, Sherrilynn Kenyon, Jamie Caldwell, Homer’s The Odyssey (seriously, I stole it from my mom! Haha) and a bunch of Wonder Woman comics! HA!

What makes a great book to you?

Anything that surprises me! I want to read something that takes me for a ride and really makes me feel everything that the characters are going through! I guess it would have been a lot easier to say lots of suspense and emotion!

I've been seeing a number of discussions on the Yahoo groups about Happily-Ever-After. Do you feel that HEA is necessary to a romance novel?

No and I will tell you why. Romance, lust, love, by any other name would be just as messy! Love is never easy and rarely perfect! Reading a good passionate romance that ends with the couple living happily ever after is heart warming yes, and that is great every once in a while. But it doesn’t always happen that way! People aren’t perfect. I want something I can relate to!

How many hours a day do you spend writing?

A couple. I have a three children and a husband so they always come first. But I do make it a point to write for a couple of hours a day!

What do you do to relax?

Actually I go to the gym! Running helps me focus and get rid of the day’s stress.

If you could go anywhere, be anyone, do anything for 24 hours, what would it be?

I would be me, but alone and in a cabin on a quiet beach. I think if you asked any mother that question you would get “quiet” and “alone” in the response! HAHA!

Do you have any indulgent behaviors one might find surprising?

I don’t know if they would be surprising, but I LOVE watching Sci Fi! HA! The geekier the better! Love Star Trek and my new favorite show these days is Heroes! Holy cow that is the best show on television and EVERYONE should check it out! Seriously! It’s awesome! There ya go, I’m a Sci-Fi geek!

What is the best advice that anyone ever gave you?

Never do anything half way.

Do you have anything in the works at this time?

Yes I do. I am working on the sequel to “One Foot in Darkness” as of now it is called “Origin of the Species”. I am also working on an unrelated piece called “The Pandora Project”.

Is there anything else you'd like to add?

I just would like to take this opportunity to thank my friends who have been working as my assistants lately, Meredith, Heather, and Tamarra. They have been such a huge help recently at all of the signings I don’t know how I could every repay them! And of course I would be remiss not to add my husband Chandler to that list, he really is a trooper, he really puts up with a lot! That’s one thing about trying to get your work out there. If you don’t have the support of family and friends, you might as well be walking a tight rope without a safety net! Without my husband and my friends, I might have been another broken acrobat!

Thanks for taking time out of your busy schedule to answer some questions for us today Dani! Readers can learn more about Dani A. Camden and her books on her website.

Interviewed by: Serena