Author Interview: Danielle Lori

Each Sunday, I'll be interviewing a different author about their writing journey. If you are an author and would like to be interviewed for this series, please complete this application form. If you have any questions, or if you want to recommend an author, please get in touch by emailing me at bryony@bryonyleah.com.

About Danielle Lori

Danielle Lori’s novels incorporate morally questionable heroes, electric hate-to-love relationships, and sometimes sweet but mostly sassy heroines. She has written in both the Fantasy sub-genre as well as Contemporary, but will never stray from Romance.

A normal day for Danielle includes coffee, bodice rippers, and 1990s chick flicks. She lives in small-town Iowa with her husband and too many dogs.

Danielle's latest release, The Sweetest Oblivion, was edited by Bryony Leah and a free excerpt is available to read by clicking here.

Click here to read The Sweetest Oblivion by Danielle Lori

Where and when did you first know that you wanted to become a writer?

I was the girl who wrote her English paper on the wall five minutes before class. I had no desire to write, but it always seemed to come easy to me. When I was eighteen I picked up my first bodice ripper; I never looked back. After reading for years, it became harder and harder to find something to read. I found myself writing down story ideas, just so a book could go the way I wanted it. I still didn’t know I wanted to be a writer until one day, close to four years ago, my mom asked me what I wanted to do with my life. My automatic response was, “I want to write books.”

Who is your favorite author, and can you give us their best quote (in your opinion)?

I’m not someone who has “favorites”, but when I think of that word and books, Johanna Lindsey always comes to mind. Her novels are the reason I became a reader, and subsequently, a writer.

How long did it take you to write your first novel?

It took me two weeks to write my first novel, and then over six months to gain the courage to self-publish it.

Click here to read A Girl Named Calamity by Danielle Lori

Do you plan out your novels or just start writing?

I fly by the seat of my pants. If I try to outline, the story ends up worlds different from what I had planned. I’m more efficient by putting pen to paper and seeing where it takes me.

Description or dialogue?

I would say I find dialogue more difficult to write more often than description.

Have you ever read your book reviews/comments, and if yes, what did you think of them?

Yes, I read them often. Sometimes I wish I didn’t because one review can ruin my writing mojo for days. However, there is something magical about seeing others love my books just as much as I do.

Click here to read A Girl in Black and White by Danielle Lori

What has been the most difficult challenge you’ve had to face as a writer?

Writing, and especially self-publishing, can be a career full of doubt and, frankly, loneliness. I didn’t have any help in the beginning. Family doesn’t always understand the work and dedication it takes to write a book until The End. And friends can’t comprehend why you’re locked in your office on a Friday night because you have to finish that one scene. As a newer author with only three books published, the hardest obstacle was finding a support group; other writers who encouraged and critiqued, and who understood my self-doubt because they had been there before.

Do you weave personal experience into your writing?

Yes. In fact, I feel like this would be impossible not to do. We are products of our experience; everything we see, learn, feel, is through a pair of subjective eyes. I write stories about people falling in love, and it is definitely representative of how I experienced it in real life.

Do you have any hobbies aside from writing?

Reading, and I also do Schutzhund with my German Shepherd.

Click here to read The Sweetest Oblivion by Danielle Lori

Enjoyed the interview? Connect with Danielle!

Twitter: @DanielleLori2

Facebook: Danielle Lori Instagram: @danielleloriwrites

Website: www.authordaniellelori.com

Goodreads: Danielle Lori

If you are an author and would like to be interviewed for this series, please complete this application form. If you have any questions, or if you want to recommend an author, please get in touch by emailing me at bryony@bryonyleah.com.