Author Interview with Donna Crowe, Murder/Suspense Author

Congratulations To Sheila Deeth!

Sheila won a signed copy of A Darkly Hidden Truth.

 Donna Fletcher Crowe

Murder/Suspense Author

     Thank you for joining us and if you love murder/suspense, you won't be disappointed in the series by Donna Fletcher Crowe this week. She's also holding a contest with the drawing on Saturday so be sure to leave her a comment or question at the end!

     We're having an afternoon tea with Donna, her classic English scones with clotted cream and two kinds of jam, cucumber sandwiches, fruit salad and tiny cakes. The tea will be her favorite Yorkshire Gold and you can have it with milk and sugar. One lump or two? Come on, let's be seated and chat with Donna!

Reader’s Haven:  Donna, we're delighted that we could be here with you all week. Welcome to our Haven! Our readers are anxious to hear more! Tell us a bit about yourself  that our readers might not know.

Donna:  Thank you for joining me for tea! Where shall I begin? I was an only child growing up on a farm so I had to make my own entertainment— that usually meant reading or telling myself stories. I often say I grew up watching television in my head in the days before we had television.

Also, I was my father’s son, so I grew up on horseback and became Miss Rodeo Idaho and runner-up for Miss Rodeo America.

Reader’s Haven:  Wow, Deanna lives in the Pacific Northwest, so hello to a fellow Idahoian! What made you want to become a writer?

Donna:  Ironically, like most writers, I wanted to write because I loved to read. The fact is, though, that the demands of a writing life are such that one really has to fight to find time to read. I do manage it, of course, but not nearly as much as I would like to.

Reader’s Haven:  Please share a bit about your new release A DARKLY HIDDEN TRUTH, the Monastery Murders, 2, without giving away any spoilers.

Donna:  In A VERY PRIVATE GRAVE, the first book in this series, Felicity, a thoroughly modern young American woman, rather to her own surprise, has gone to study theology in a monastery in remote Yorkshire. After she finds her favorite monk brutally murdered and her church history lecturer Father Antony covered in his blood she and Antony spend the rest of the book chasing and being chased by murderers across northern England.

     It’s little wonder then, that when, in A DARKLY HIDDEN TRUTH, Antony asks for Felicity’s help to find a valuable stolen icon she declines. Forcefully. after all, she’s off to become a nun. Then her impossible mother turns up unannounced. And a dear friend turns up murdered.

     Felicity and Antony are once again launched on an adventure. This time from the busy streets of London to the soggy marshes of the Norfolk Broads. Felicity learns the wisdom of holy women from today and ages past and Antony explores the arcane rites of the Knights Hospitaller but what good will any of that do them if Felicity can’t save Antony’s life?

Reader’s Haven:  Deanna loves anything set in England and Louise loves the murder/suspense stories! This sounds intriguing. Do you write under a pen name?

Donna:  Absolutely not! One has to work far too hard for a bit of recognition to hide. I included my maiden name Fletcher when I realized there are two other Donna Crows just in my own acquaintance. And now Amazon gets me mixed up with the romance writer Donna Fletcher, so one really can’t win.

Reader’s Haven:  Oh my! That’s not good to get things mixed up with another author! What types of hero or heroine do you like best?

Donna:  I like them to be strong, kind and intelligent with just enough quirks to make them interesting. I also think it’s essential that the hero and heroine balance each other's personalities. Felicity and Antony are a good example. They are both brilliant and care passionately. Felicity, however, is rash and headstrong while Antony is much quieter and insists on thinking things through. This, of course, means they can drive each other crazy at times, but in the end they learn to appreciate the other’s qualities.

Reader’s Haven:  Readers love to hear what we do on a daily basis. Tell us about a typical day in your life as a writer.

Donna:  Oh, I love my days— especially those rare ones that run according to plan. My husband Stan and I have breakfast on our own, mine in my office with my devotional reading. Then I spend about an hour on social media and promotion before I get stuck into my day’s work. When I’m in the writing mode (as opposed to research, editing, etc.) My goal is to write 5 pages a day.

      It’s lovely when I can have that done by 3:00 when everything stops at our house for tea. We started this long ago when the children came in from school as a relaxing time to share our day and a nutritious snack. Now we often have a friend over at that time. Then I might go back to my desk or, best of all, work in my garden.

     Evenings belong to my husband. After dinner we put our feet up and watch TV— either a favorite British mystery or an old movie.

Reader’s Haven:  Do your books have a common theme or are they all different?

Donna:  Each book has its own theme but, inevitably, there will be a theme to one’s body of work because the writer’s interests and passions will come though. All of my books deal with British history in some way, even if I’m writing a contemporary murder mystery or an Idaho family pioneer saga. I think one of the themes that come through is the importance of heritage and tradition. I believe there is so much of great value to be gained from the past and I'm afraid that we are in danger of losing much of it in the frantic pace of modern life.

Reader’s Haven:  How long does it take you to write and then edit a story?

Donna: Well, that depends on the story. GLASTONBURY my Arthurian grail search epic that covers 1500 years of English history took me three years of writing and most of a lifetime of research. Normally, though I can do a couple of books in a year. Often, however, the research and planning will take at least as long as the writing and editing, if not longer. And then there’s the promotion. . .

Reader’s Haven:  Do you have to be alone to write?

Donna: Oh, yes! I’m laughing because just yesterday my husband and I were talking about traveling to visit our children (spread from Los Angeles to Boston and from Calgary to Kentucky). Stan said I could take a laptop and write along the way. “No,” I said, “I could not.”

Reader’s Haven:  How do you go about naming characters?

Donna:  Good question, I’m not quite sure. I tend to choose classic names that I really like for my hero and heroine. Place names are often helpful in choosing surnames for minor characters.

Reader’s Haven: Is it easier to write about the characters if you find pictures of them before you write or do you write then find character pictures?

Donna:  Sometimes I use a composite of the personalities of people I know for developing characters, but usually I just see them in my head.

Reader’s Haven: How do you pick locations for your stories?

Donna: One of my goals as a writer is to give my readers a “You are there” experience. Therefore, background is one of the most important elements of a story for me. I try never to write about a place I haven’t visited. The historic characters I’m dealing with dictate a lot of my settings, but sometimes I choose a setting just because it’s a place I want to visit.

Reader’s Haven:  Where can readers find you on the web?

Donna: Please visit my website. You can see videos for both of the Monastery Murders there, find pictures from my research trips, read about my other books and even visit my rose garden. Click the little orange B button in the menu to visit my blog “Deeds of Darkness; Deeds of Light.”

     I would love to have you follow me on Facebook

     And Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/DonnaFletcherCr

Contest:  Be sure to leave a comment with your e-mail address. At the end of the week I’ll select one winner to receive a free, signed print copy of A DARKLY HIDDEN TRUTH— but remember, you must include your e-mail or I can’t contact you to tell you that you’ve won!

Thank you all for joining us. We hope you add Donna's books to your e-readers or book shelves! Please visit her sites, watch her book trailers, and follow her...and don't forget to leave a comment to be in the drawing....include your email addy!

 

Renee Vincent - Romance Author

     Readers, thank you for stopping in to visit with our author this week. We're on location in Ireland and if you'll follow us up the stairway, we're going to meet in the castle courtyard. Deanna met Renee online over a year ago and they've become good friends, chatting online, helping to promote each others books. I'm sure you'll agree with us by the end of the interview that Renee is a sweetheart! She's here to promote her third book in the Emerald Isle Trilogy set in her beloved Ireland and I think our home here suits her well with our green decor!

     Renee, thank you so much for being with us this week. We both enjoy historical romances and yours are a wonderful set!

Reader’s Haven: What made you want to become a writer?

Renee: I suppose it all started when my parents had given me a personalized book during my preschool years. I was the protagonist of the book in a detective story and had to solve the mystery. Of course, I cracked the case and was the hero of my neighborhood. From that moment on, I always thought it would be so neat to see my full name printed in a real book, as an author and not a character. And so…began my dream.

Reader’s Haven: Please share a bit about your new release, The Fall of Rain, without giving away any spoilers.

Renee:  The hero, Leif Dæganssen, is a Norwegian archeologist who lives in Ireland and has dug up a very specific artifact (one that was very important in the first book of the trilogy, Ræliksen, which took place in 10th Century Ireland.)

     The heroine, Lorraine O’Connor, takes a much needed vacation to Ireland to get away from her cheating fiancé. If you’ve read the first two books of the trilogy, you know that the heroine’s name was Mara. Lorraine realizes, through the course of spending time with Leif and the many déjà vu moments she has, that she is the reincarnated version of Mara and Leif is her reincarnated husband, Dægan Ræliksen. While she may have tragically lost Dægan when he gave his life for her more than a thousand years ago, Lorraine comes to understand that they have been given a second chance at love.

      If only it were that easy to convince Leif…

 Here is the blurb:

     Leif Dæganssen, an archeologist from Norway, is determined to trace back his Scandinavian roots as far as the Dark Ages and find proof of their existence on the Emerald Isle. After several years of living off the west coast of Ireland, he finally uncovers an ancient artifact—an intricately decorated chest with pagan carvings—buried beneath the very porch of his coastal cottage. Knowing it only confirms the presence of a glorified Norse-influenced settlement on Inis Mór, he’s determined to establish a link between himself and those who once inhabited the rugged isle.
      For as long as she can remember, Lorraine O’Connor has had dreams of a Norse warrior kissing her. And even though she’s never fully understood the reason for her vivid subconscious imagination, she welcomes the meaningless and wanton pleasure of being in a Viking’s protective embrace—until the day she meets that brazen Northman on an impulsive vacation trip to Ireland.
   Though blindsided by the relevance of her dreams and the strange familiarity of the man within them, Lorraine can’t help but feel a deep-seated intimacy toward Leif. And the more she gets to know him, the more she’s convinced they’ve shared a life together in a time long forgotten.
    Are the clues to their ancestral past hidden within the contents of the chest or buried deep within their hearts?

Read the excerpt HERE

Reader’s Haven: Wow! We're already pulled into the story, looking forward to the emotional struggles these two will endure trying to figure out their past. What types of hero or heroine do you like best?

Renee:  I love Alpha males. There is nothing better than a sexy, domineering man with a rockin’ body and a charming soul. I love heroes who know how to get what they want, who don’t stop until they do, and always do so with honor and chivalry. I also enjoy humor in a man, but I usually save that for the side characters in my story. As for heroines, I like women who have a level head on their shoulders. I don’t need the heroine to be Einstein, but she can’t be too stupid to live.

Reader’s Haven:  Tell us about a typical day in your life as a writer.

Renee:  I’m a full-time writer, who’s also a mother and a wife. My morning consists of getting my two children off to school. They are always my priority. Upon returning, I have a cup of coffee to get the juices flowing, I answer emails first and do some promoting for my fellow authors on the Deep In The Heart Romance site, as well as my own stuff on my blog, then I sit down to write. I’d like to have more time in my day to write, but sometimes it doesn’t always work out that way. After two o’clock, I’m back to being the mother. I wouldn’t change a thing.

Reader’s Haven: Do your books have a common theme or are they all different?

Renee:  I write historical and contemporary, but they all seem to have a twist in the end. I love surprises and I can’t help but add them to my stories.

Reader’s Haven:  Your books certainly grab the reader's attention from the first page. How long does it take you to write and then edit a story?

 The 

Emerald Isle

Trilogy

Renee:  That’s a funny question. I’d like to say I can write a full novel in less than six months (research and editing included) but with being that mother and wife I told you about, life gets in the way and sometimes writing has to take a back seat. But I’ve never missed a deadline. I’ll work long hours into the night if I have to.

Reader’s Haven: And we can work those kinds of hours because we love what we do so we can bring our stories to our readers. Do you have to be alone to write?

Renee:  Oh gosh, yes! With kids around it’s virtually impossible to write a scene. I like to be completely absorbed in it so I can write as though I am smack dab in the middle of it and I want my readers to feel as if they are as well. I write how things smell, sound, and feel when creating that perfect scenario and too many distractions get in the way. The last thing I’d ever want to do is disappoint my readers with a poorly written romance.

Reader’s Haven: How do you go about naming characters?

Renee:  With my contemporaries, I usually find names that are “fitting” for the character. I’ve even asked my husband to help me name a few. But with my historicals, a lot more goes into it. I still choose names that fit the character’s personality, but they also have to originate from the country in which they were born during that time period. I’m pretty particular about that.

Reader’s Haven: Is it easier to write about the characters if you find pictures of them before you write or do you write then find character pictures?

Renee:  Hands down, I find the picture first. Not so much with my side characters, but with the H/H I must find a picture of a person that suits my description. I have an idea of what I want them to look like in my head before I write about them, but finding that perfect photo (usually a famous actor) helps me to really pick them apart and describe their physical features, from the color of their eyes down to their laugh lines and bone structure.

Reader’s Haven:  We do love our details but it makes for better writing. How do you pick locations for your stories?

Renee:  In my Emerald Isle Trilogy, the location picked me. Ireland is a country that is very special to my heart and the Vikings are a crazy passion of mine. So, in researching this period in the Middle Ages, there was no better place to have my hero and heroine meet than the isle with forty shades of green.

Website ~ Blog ~ Facebook ~ Twitter ~ Deep In The Heart Romance

      Please be sure to hop over to Renee's sites, follower her blog and on Twitter and don't forget to sign up for her newsletter!

     Readers, Renee is giving away a signed copy of any one of the books in the trilogy or and E-book of one, winners choice. One lucky commenter will be picked by Renee on Saturday Feb 18th - you must leave your email in your comment so Renee can contact the winner.