Interview with Dee Owens

Jen: This weekend we welcome Dee Owens to Book Talk. Dee, will you please share a short bio with us?
Dee: Sure, first let me say thank you for having me here. I am a mother, wife, paranormal romance author, editor, and freelance publicist. I started writing in 2004 since then I have published several articles, a second novel, and started my own publicist company. I have had many roles in the writing world, but have found that my heart will always belong to telling the life of my characters.

Jen: Tell us about Fay’s Wish and where it's available.
Dee: Fay’s Wish is a story that was released in 2006 however the publishing company had some cut backs, and I am now self-publishing the eBook and print version in 2009. The story is getting a fresh look and with self-publishing it I can offer Shayla (the heroine) a chance at getting her tale out there.

Fay’s Wish is a Paranormal Romance set in Scotland. Shayla is a Princess of the Fae and her time has come to find a husband and take her father’s place on the throne. However Shayla does not love or want any of the Fae Males offered to her, so fulfilling her mother’s wish she heads out into the mortal realm. Shayla faces, gods, goddesses, and the worst fate of all, the love of a human. You can read an excerpt of Fay’s Wish at http://www.deeowens.info/FaysWish.html and purchase the eBook version at my online store http://www.deeowens.info/WebStore.html on January 23rd and the Printed version on February 14th with a special gift and discount. The paperback versions will be in P.O.D. with a link to where you can safely order your copy.

Jen: At what age did you discover writing and when were you first published? Tell us your call story.
Dee: I had not really considered the poetry and short tales I did in high school writing until a couple years ago. A friend of mine mentioned something about writing in school and after we got to talking I realized that though nothing ever made it past my own eyes, that is I had wrote in school as well. My first book was released in December 2005 by Publish America. I had been looking for a place that offered publishing to new authors; I have learned many things over the last few years and make my choices more carefully now.

Jen: Are there any other writers, published or not, in your family?
Dee: There are a couple people actually, I found out a couple years ago that my Grandmother had penned a story of her childhood and my daughter has recently began trying her hand at it. My youngest told me only a few days ago that she wanted to be in the book writing business as well, when I asked her how, she had replied well what you do mommy. I hope that when she gets to where this dream is possible that she takes it by storm as she does everything in life.

Jen: Describe your writing in three words.
Dee: WOW ok. Sensual, fulfilling, fun. Ok so not so much fun when I argue with a character, and the fulfilling part is reaching the end and knowing that I did the best I could, and then pushed myself more. Sensual well its romance, so it has to be sensual so that it can seduce the heart.

Jen: Do you have a writing routine?
Dee: I turn on my music, generally Creed, most of the time I use headphones so that the world and my keys hitting the keyboard don’t interfere. When it comes to a certain time, I am like most moms I don’t know what free time means, so I leave my writing to tell me when its time, besides I cant stand forcing something out knowing I am going to erase it anyways. If I am wanting to write but needing inspiration I often light candles and then close my eyes to let whoever is talking to me that day get their voice heard. Each of the books I have written or are writing have been inspired by different things. La Roe’s was a dream about a dress, Fay’s Wish was the day of rain and the mourning I felt at my mother’s loss, while Chocolate Seductions was a need to learn more and a challenge by some friends.

My Muse has taken on her own persona and Brady Raye Daniels is going in a direction that I had not and could not foresee. Some may remember BrandyWine my reviewer name, well now she has an author side to her as well.

Jen: How do you shut out disruptions?
Dee: Can you really shut them out? My daughter is right now poking my arm. I guess I let the world of my writing and my home life mix combine; I don’t try to shut out either, but focus on each equally.

Jen: What kind of research did you do for this book?
Dee: I have never been to Scotland so I found myself at the library looking and reading over everything I could find. I scoured the internet for maps, weather reports and images of anything Scotland I could find. I also talked to friends that had been there online. I will admit I am not found of research, so when someone offers to tell me their own experience I grab at the chance. Fay’s Wish would not have been possible if not for my friends in R_W_P formally Romance_Writing_Period. These ladies saw me through some troubling times with Shayla and her own personal losses.

Jen: What did you do to celebrate the sale of your first book?
Dee: My children and Husband had a party for me, it was filled with love and laughter, and yea a Chocolate Cake. Only family and close friends were there, but why celebrate with strangers when you have loved ones instead.

Jen: Is there a genre that you’d like to write? Is there a genre you’ll probably stay away from and why?
Dee: A new Genre, I guess I would like to try my hand at a Humorous contemporary romances. I enjoy reading stories where the heroine has a smart wit, or continually finds herself in amusing situations. I am not that funny or light so I doubt that will ever happen but I imagine it would be a fun ride.

A genre I will never write? I would say Historical Fact, since I am not a fan of research. At one time I may have said Mystery but each romance at least a good story has some form of mystery in it.

Jen: Do you feel as if the characters live with you as you write? Do they haunt your dreams?
Dee: Definitely my characters live with me, and drive me insane. It can be a hair pulling experience when you need them to do one thing and they want to do something else. Haunt my dreams? Ya even when I am wide awake, lol.

Jen: What’s the most interesting comment you have received about your books?
Dee: I had someone once tell me they hated a hero in my book. That was great, since at the time and place she was at in the story he was supposed to be at least disliked. Another person also commented that they wanted to smack the heroine because of how silly she was, yet aren’t characters meant to grow as the story moves forward? I considered both of these comments memorable and some of the highest praises an author can get.

Jen: What's next for you?
Dee: I hope that 2009 brings more people to my publicist service, I enjoy helping others and find that being able to do that with my company is rewarding in itself. I want to work on the rest of the Cursed Seduction series, give Brandy her time and due, and just spend time reading a good book as well. I don’t see me doing more than what I am at this moment, running a company is a full time job, plus I have other work I do as well. So what’s next? More advertising and clients for Personalized Marketing, giving my writing career its chance to go where it may, but most of all spending time with my Kids, since they are my inspiration and motivation to do the very best I can.

Jen: Where can you be found on the web?
Dee: I have several places.
My Personal Sites are http://deeowens.com, http://www.deeowens.info/index.html, http://deeowens.webs.com
Other Sites: www.myspace.com/dee_owens, http://www.youtube.com/owensdee, http://www.facebook.com/people/Dee-Owens/1116133491, http://www.articlesbase.com/authors/dee-owens/13273.htm
Personalized Marketing http://personalizedmarketing.info/, http://www.myspace.com/personalized_marketing, http://deespersonalizedmarketing.blogspot.com/

Jen: Is there anything you’d like to ask our readers?
Dee: I had to think long and hard on this one, I wanted to make sure that I asked the question that had the most impact on my career while being open enough for the variety of readers you have.

What is the one thing that stands out the most to you when choosing your next book to read?

Thank you again for the interview and I wish Book Talk with J & J continued success.

Jen: And thank you Dee for the wonderful interview. Readers, Dee is being quite generous with the giveaways this weekend. She's got four prizes, but I've decided to break it up into prizes. One is for a reader and one is for an author. The reader's prize will include a free eBook copy Fay's Wish as well as a free eGift basket, the basket will contain images, bookmarks, music, and a discount for the e-version of La Roe's on sale at http://www.deeowens.info/WebStore.html. The author's prize will include a free eBook copy of La Roe's as well as a discount applied to Dee's services at Personalized Marketing. To enter the contest, please answer Dee's question and then tell me which prize you'd like to receive if your name is chosen as a winner. The contest will run until Sunday, January 18 around 5:00pm PDT.