Danielle Ravencraft
Romance Author
Thank you for stopping in! We're on location in Chicago where Danielle's heroine is from so we wanted to stop back here for her. Come on in, we're all gathered here in the cozy cafe away from the noisy streets. Grab a chair and coffee and dessert is on the way. I hear their desserts are to die for! Ah, here comes Danielle so let's get started!
Deanna: Hi Danielle! Chicago is great and I love this little cafe! Our readers are anxious to know all about you. Tell us a bit about yourself.
Danielle: First, thank you for joining me in Chicago! Hmm, well, I’m a licensed dog trainer and used to work at a veterinary clinic before I became a full-time writer. Though training is now mostly done with my own dogs as a hobby, I still occasionally give advice to friends and family when they are having problems with their fur-babies. When I was in high school, I want to be a wolf biologist. Obedience training for domestic dogs was the closest I ever got to that dream, but I find writing suits me better than field work.
Deanna: I have a soft spot for wolves too! What do you do to relax when you aren’t writing?
Danielle: When I’m not writing, I’m reading something. My love for writing steamed from my love for reading. All my life I’ve had my nose stuck in a book and I won’t stop reading until my eyes fall off. I get to wrapped up in the characters and their magical worlds, it’s a better vacation than Disney Land.
Deanna: Do you have to split your writing time between a day job?
Danielle: Right now, no - and I’m very lucky I can write full-time. It wasn’t always that way. When I did work, my hours were crazy, but I was devoted to finishing my manuscript and I would wake up an hour early so I could write for an hour before work. When I got home, I’d go straight to my computer and write some more until I passed out on key bored at three o’clock in the morning.
Deanna: As authors, we’ve sometimes been accused of being several people. How many personalities live in your mind?
Danielle: More than I count on my fingers and toes! My family thinks I’m absent minded because I’m always starring into space, but they don’t hear the conversations going on in my head. Haha.
Deanna: *accepting a coffee refill and a dessert* How many plots do you include in one of your books?
Danielle: I don’t decide this ahead of time, I leave it up to the characters. But there are always at least a few subplots going on. I’m very character driven and my characters wear many faces just like people do in real life. We don’t always see how things connect in real life, but in books it becomes more clear how circumstances shape the story.
Deanna: I love it when our characters jump in and write a scene or two for us! Readers love to know how writers spend their day. Tell us about a typical day in your life as a writer.
Danielle: Oh gosh, it’s really boring! I spend all day in my room in front of my computer. I don’t have kiddies to worry about so I only ever have to step away from the screen to feed myself or use the bathroom, LOL. My social life is almost entirely online because my business is entirely online - but hey, I love what I do and wouldn’t change it for anything.
Deanna: I love being online with my readers. What one thing would you pass on to new writers?
Danielle: Writing is more important than promoting. I don’t care what anyone else tells you. You need to develop a back list and keep producing new books because the one-hit-wonder lives a very short shelf life and promo will leave you feeling burned out before you know it.
Deanna: Do your books have a common theme or are they all different?
Danielle: They have a theme. I write erotic romance, but more than that, I try to touch on life issues, specifically on issues that concern women. You’ll never find my books in a breast cancer support shop or anything like that, but there is, I think, that underlining message of hope and inspiration in all my stories.
Deanna: What are the physical characteristics that you admire in a man?
Danielle: Physical? Oh gosh…the eyes, the smile, the abs, the ass, the biceps, the hips and everything else in that general area…I just really love men…lol.
Deanna: Let's do a few questions for fun. For an evening out, would it be dinner or a movie? What would the dinner be? What might the movie be?
Danielle: It would be BOTH dinner AND a movie. LOL. My boyfriend and I have wide tastes in movies so it can be anything from a romantic comedy to action to horror, though he prefers the horror and I prefer the romantic comedy! We both love ethnic food so we usually hit the local Asian or Mexican restaurants for dinner, or sometimes we’ll grab coffee from Starbucks.
Deanna: Do you prefer wine, whiskey, scotch, or ice tea?
Danielle: Try margaritas or Captain and Coke. LOL. Okay, I’ll go with ice tea.
Deanna: I love the cover of your new book! Tell us about it and the type of reader if may appeal to.
Danielle: My newest book is a short story called “A Trace of Passion”. It’s the sequel to my first short story title “A Trace of Love”. In TOL, a young woman named Ophelia gets a rare chance to fraternize with a rock star - but he’s not just any rock star, he actually a guy she used to know and crush on in high school. When he doesn’t recognize her, she decides to take the risk thinking there won’t be any consequences. Of course there is…Trace the rock star falls in love with her and won’t take ’no’ for an answer.
“A Trace of Passion” continues the story as Trace tries desperately to win Ophelia over, but there’s a twist at the end that makes Trace question everything.
Deanna: Tell us about Trace, the hero of your latest book.
Danielle: Trace is a rock star who’s been feeling hallow and lonely ever since the death of his father. Despite the fame and fortune that surrounds him, he feels disposable. He’s truly a sweetheart at his core, though. Stubborn, yet gentlemanly.
Deanna: Tell us about Ophelia, the heroine of your latest book.
Danielle: Ophelia is a young woman with the weight of the world pressing down on her shoulders. She’s given up on life and waiting to die. She thought she had come to terms with her fate, that she regretted nothing, until Trace comes back into her life.
Here's an Excerpt:
Ophelia rushed into the first stall. Her nose wrinkled. She never understood how other women managed to pee on the rim of the toilet…or the floor for that matter. She was about to try the next stall when the restroom door opened, followed by a cloud of shouting and the click of high heels. Ophelia yanked the stall lock home and backed into the corner between the drippy toilet and the metal frame.
She managed to avoid the House of Blues for eleven months, twenty-three days, ten hours and forty-five minutes. But fate twisted a knife in her back one week ago when her friends surprised her with tickets to a Molten Silk concert for her birthday.
They didn’t know. She hadn’t told anyone. Now she wished she had.
This morning, her mind stooped so low as to consider telling her friends she was ill. But she couldn’t disappoint them. Molten Silk tickets were expensive and the girls had pooled their money together to make sure she had a great birthday.
Once the door swung closed, the tile amplified the click of the woman’s heels as she neared. “Ophelia, are you in here?”
Her breath hitched as she debated her next move. This is stupid. I can’t hide in the women’s bathroom all night. But she could try.
“Ophelia?”
She squeezed her eyes shut. “I’m in here.” Damn it.
Ophelia glanced at the space between the stall and the floor as a pair of black stilettos came into view.
“The show’s about to start. Are you all right?”
She sighed and unlocked the stall door. It swung open to reveal the tall brunette. “I’m fine,” Ophelia smiled. “Just using the bathroom.”
“Well hurry up,” Alana urged.
Ophelia strolled to the sink and washed her hands. He won’t recognize me. It’s been almost a year. He probably has a real girlfriend now. Her chest constricted and she winced. How could she still have feelings for him after all this time?
Alana rolled her eyes. “Ophelia, I love you but if you move any slower I’m going to have to hurt you. Now let’s go!” She grabbed Ophelia’s hand and flung her out of the restroom into the crowd chanting “Mol-ten Silk! Mol-ten Silk!” The venue was packed to the brim, muggy, and smelled like B.O. She wouldn’t have minded expect her friends had their hearts set on standing in the middle of B.O. central. The pair squeezed through the crowed until they caught up with the bubbly blonde standing alone in the center. “Oh good, you found the birthday girl,” Lizzy yelled over the demanding horde. She clapped her hands in excitement. Ophelia managed a small smile. Alana stretched her neck and glanced around. “Did I miss anything?”
Ophelia looked too, taking note of the obese gentleman on the left. She could always duck behind him. She doubted anyone would notice. Although, with an energetic crowd of rough rock’n’roll fans, ducking of any sort could be suicide.
Lizzy leaned toward Alana and opened her mouth to speak, but the lights dimmed and the crowd erupted in cheers. Ophelia winced as her stomach did a flip-flop. She touched her fingers to her lips. I hope I don’t vomit. Smoke spilled from the stage like a waterfall as the curtain lifted. Five male silhouettes stood in the dark. The one on the right strummed his guitar, earning shrill applause from the audience. Lights of every color illuminated the stage as the rest of the band joined in the performance. Ophelia’s gasp went unnoticed as her friends cheered.
Trace Curtis stood center stage, microphone in hand. His voice flowed in harmony with the guitar riffs. His black, unbuttoned vest accentuated his flawless chest and chiseled abs. His black curls were a bit longer than she remembered and hung over his baby-blue eyes. Ophelia’s throat dried and she struggled to swallow. “I’m going to get a drink,” she said to herself. She backed away from her star-struck friends.
Ophelia didn’t breathe until she reached the bar at the very back. Her breath rushed past her lips in a heavy sigh as she sat on the worn leather stool and ordered a beer. The bar tender winked at her as he handed her selection. Ophelia bit her lip. The old man remembers me after all this time…
The lyrics stopped. The microphone gave a squeal amplified to a glass-shattering pitch. Ophelia cupped her hands over her ears and turned in her seat without thinking. Everyone stared at Trace. His eyes were so wide, she saw the whites despite the distance and crowd. Everyone slowly turned to face her. Heat rushed to her cheeks. She faced the bar and pressed the neck of the beer bottle to her lips. Just keep singing, Trace. Please, just keep singing.
Deanna: Tell us about the third book in the series?
Danielle: “A Trace of Hope” is the title of the third and final installment of the series and will be out sometime at the end of this year or the beginning of 2013. All I can say about A Trace of Hope is that Trace and Ophelia are trying to tie the knot - but there are number of complications and trials still in the way.
Deanna: Where can readers buy your books?
Deanna: Thank you so much for being here this week. I hope the cafe has great desserts all week. Where can readers find you?
Danielle: My website, facebook fan page, and twitter profile. Fans can also email me at danielle_ravencraft@yahoo.com
Contest: Yes, I will giveaway one ebook copy of either A Trace of Lover OR A Trace of Passion (winner’s choice). Please leave your email address so I can contact the winner on Saturday!