KAREN’S KILLER BOOK BENCH: Welcome to Karen’s Killer Book Bench, where readers can discover talented new authors and take a peek inside their wonderful books. This is not an age-filtered site, so all book peeks are PG-13 or better. Come back and visit often. Happy reading!

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WHISPERS ON THE WIND
Paranormal Ghost Romance
BY DANA WAYNE

Blurb

WHISPERS ON THE WIND
Paranormal Ghost Romance
BY DANA WAYNE

Interview

1. Why did you choose to write in your particular field/genre?

I’m a die-hard romantic. Let’s face it, we live in a hectic, stress-filled world today. Reading, particularly a romance novel with its guaranteed HEA (happily ever after), allows us to escape for a while and live vicariously through the author’s words. And I think we need that positivity – that knowledge that no matter how tough things are, right will prevail, the good guys win, and HEA is real. I write with a lot of emotion because I believe romance is about emotion—not sex. There is some of that as well, but that is secondary to the emotional journey my characters take. 

2. What do think most characterizes your writing?

My work is character-driven versus plot-driven, so characterization is important. I work hard to make my characters ‘feel real’ because I want the reader to connect with them, to feel like they know them. I write with a lot of emotion because I want I want the reader to feel what the characters feel, hear what they hear, see what they see. When someone tells me they laughed, cried, stayed up late reading, or couldn’t put it down, that’s music to my ears because it tells me I achieved my goal.

3. How did Whispers On The Wind come about?

Well, the character of Cooper Delaney actually came to me in a dream. A man heard a voice telling him he needed to find someone, but he had no idea who or why. I literally woke up and 3 a.m. with this idea swirling around in my head – my hubby said my invisible friends talk to me a lot, and he’s right. Anyway, I got up, typed up the basics, man hear a voice, doesn’t know what it is, etc. then went back to bed. I had just finished a book at that point, so over the next few days, did all my what-ifs, and came up with the plot for it. I had never written romantic suspense at this point and wasn’t sure I could do it. But I wanted to expand my creativity and try something new. I’m tickled pink with the results. While it is romantic suspense, it has a lot of humor in it as well. The two main characters are wilding attracted to each other and neither wants that, and it was fun to watch them come to terms with it.

4. Do you write under a pen name, and why?

Dana Wayne is my pen name. I have always wanted to write and one day, when I was a freshman in high school, I was talking with my mother about my desire to one day be a writer but thought my name didn’t sound very writery. After much brainstorming, we came up with Dana, which is a play on my middle name of Dianna, and I loved it. She immediately said Wayne for a last name because John Wayne was her favorite actor, and ta-dah, Dana Wayne was born. Unfortunately, she passed away before I published my first book, but she was convinced it would one day be a great story because I read bits and pieces of it to her over the years. As it turns out, she was right because Secrets of The Heart won first place in a statewide contest.

5. What book do you wish you could have written?

Actually, there are two very different ones. First is the ultimate romance, Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. I have read it at least six or eight times and worn out three DVD’s of the BBC production. The other is Mr. Perfect by Linda Howard. It came out in the late ‘80’s and I’ve read it multiple times, too. It’s a romantic suspense that had me laughing out loud in places and holding my breath in others. The ending blew my mind. The two MC’s are among my favorites to this day.

6. How did publishing your first book change your process of writing?

Honestly, it was really scary at first. I was about to put it out there for the world to see, to criticize, to judge. But, I believed in what I was doing, so I just went for it. The results were so encouraging that when I started my second book, I finished it in record time. And the success of that one, pushed me on the next and the next and so on. And I write romance, which is a niche market, meaning not everyone will like it. But I write because I love it. The fact that a lot of people enjoy what I write is just icing on the cake and keeps me looking for the next ‘chapter-one’.

7. Do you have a mantra for writing and/or life?

Keep looking for the pony. I know it sounds weird. My husband tells me I am the eternal optimist. He claims if walked into a room full of horse manure, I’d immediately start looking for the pony. And he’s right. Life gets hectic, your writing muse takes a vacation, people disappoint you, stuff happens. But it will pass. Maybe like a kidney stone, but it will pass. By choosing to focus on the good doesn’t mean I ignore the bad, it simply means I don’t dwell on it. I know there’s a pony out there somewhere, and I’ll find him. Eventually.

8. Who’s your favorite character in Whispers, and why?

I love all my characters, but Jack, Sam’s mixed-breed rescue, is my favorite, maybe because I love dogs. Sam needed a best friend, someone she could talk to, and who better for that role than a dog? Each time I wrote a scene with him it, he became more fleshed out, more real. So much so that several readers thought I should do a story from his point of view.

9. Do you write every day?

Pretty much. I try not to write on the weekends and save that time for my family. I’m a morning person, so after breakfast, I spend a few minutes with hubby, then head back to my office and write till two or three in the afternoon. I keep going if I’m on a roll or in the zone, as my husband calls it. I have been known to write until the wee hours of the morning, but that doesn’t happen very often.

10. Is there much ‘prep work’ before you start writing?

It depends on what I’m writing. As a general rule, I just write, that’s how my brain is wired. When I hit something I need to research, like when the railroad was completed in Texas or how many Longhorn breeds are there, I stop and look it up. I’m what is known as a pantser – I don’t plot or outline, I just sit down and write until the words quit coming. This is both a blessing and a curse because sometimes I hit a slick spot and end up in the woods, so to speak, and have to find my way out again. It’s a blessing because I have the freedom to let the story tell me where it wants to go versus me trying to steer it in a particular direction.

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Links to Dana’s websites, blogs, books, #ad etc.:

Amazon: https://amzn.to/3LrI7Zg

Universal Buy Link:
books2read.com/u/3kvKOK

Contact: https://www.danawayne.com

danawayne423@gmail.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/danawayne423

Instagram: www.instagram.com/danawayne423

Twitter: www.twitter.com/danawayne423

Special Giveaway: Dana will give away a $10 Amazon gift card to one lucky reader and a free e-book or signed paperback (U.S. Only) to another lucky reader who comments on her Karen’s Killer Book Bench blog.

Happy Reading!

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Thanks, Dana, for sharing your book with us!

Don’t miss the chance to read this book!