18 Mar 2013

Author Interview: D D Chant



Hi everyone! 

My name is Dee Dee, I’m twenty five and I live in a beautiful part of Devon, England with my family. I have a younger sister, Amy who is a brilliant guitar player, some chickens, Duck, geese, pheasants, a cat (that adopted us when we moved in!!!) and some Koi.

Broken City is actually my second novel. My first, as my Aunt so delicately put it, was crazy but in my defence I was only sixteen at the time. On the plus side I learnt a lot (or so I hope) and two years later ‘Broken City’ was finished. Due to the support I have received from everyone I have just started work on the next in the Broken City series! 

I have written another book ‘The Promise’, which is set in Saxon England it’s the beginning of a series and I have just finished my third book which is set in the distant future and is also the start of a series. It will be available for purchase early next year!!!

I really hope you enjoy reading my books as much as I enjoy writing them.

I love reading and have a kindle: I read almost anything with adventure and romance in it! I also like to cook and wear impractical high heels!!! And as you might have noticed I have a horrible addiction to exclamation marks!!!


1.  If you could work with any other author, who would it be and why? 
I guess it would HAVE to be Dickens, he's writing is incredible, his descriptions make you feel like you're standing within the pages of his books! I remember reading 'Dombey and Son' when I was about 18 and I cried the whole way through!

2.  What would be a typical working day for you? When and where do you write? 
At the moment I've set myself a 2013 challenge to complete the sequels to all three of my series. I already have the stories planed out and I decided that I just needed to motivate myself and get them down on paper!!! So I'm writing 1000 words every day at the moment. So far it's going really well, I'm already 30.000 words into Broken City 2!!!

3.  What is the hardest part of the writing for you? 
The first 20.000 words before the 'Big Scene' that changes the course of the story. You can't just jump in right in the middle of the plot, you have to build up and explain things but sometimes it can be hard holding back!!! And of course: EDITING!!!

4.  When and why did you first start writing? 
I've always loved reading and writing, my first attempt at a novel was when I was 14, it took my 4 years to write and it was terrible, but I learnt a lot. When I was 18 I started 'Broken City' and I've never looked back!

5.  How did you come up with the idea for the book your book? 
With each one it's different. 'Broken City' started off with a dream, 'The Promise' started after I was singing 'two little boys' to my baby cousin, the song is the story  of two friends who are loyal to each other over everything else. I wanted to write a book about a friendship so strong it stood against everything. 'Fracture' started as a single scene and grew from there!

6.  Are you a big reader? If so, what are you reading now? 
I am a huge reader!!! In fact I've just had a bit of a reading marathon: 11 books in 4 days!!!

7.  Do you have any advice for other aspiring writers?
Be open to criticism, it hurts worse than anything to hear that your masterpiece has some problems, but in the end you want to know about it. Find someone you can trust to be COMPLETELY honest with you and then ask their opinion, the truth is that no matter how hard an author looks at their book, other people will be able to see the faults in your writing that you can't.

FRACTURE
In a world torn apart by war and divided in to three nations Astra struggles to achieve balance. As a child she experienced a horror that caused her life to fracture around her, changing everything she’d ever known in an instant. 

Sixteen years later and Astra has been pressured into a false position by her past and is forced into taking a stand that enables her to keep her loved ones safe, but the cost is high.

Caught in an intolerable position Astra is loyal to only one thing: the family that loves her. But when a diplomatic mission from the Free Nation arrives for peace talks with the Tula, Astra’s precariously balanced world begins to fracture again.

BROKEN CITY
Deeta Richards has never seen the outside world. Before she was born a banking crisis brought civilization to an end and now no one leaves the safety of the compounds unless they need to, but Deeta still dreams of seeing more than the building she was born in. 

Tom is in the guard, this group are the only people that the tribal elders allow to leave the compound and tom knows only too well that Deeta could never survive the harshness that exists outside. Then tragedy strikes and Deeta and her sister Jan find themselves captured by a hostile tribe. Why does Tom know so much about these people? And why do they know so much about him? As this mystery draws to a climax, they discover that their friend Tom is not quite what he seems...





THE PROMISE
Dear Reader,

I wish to tell you a tale that began with a promise destined to change the lives of many.

When only a child, Lady Adele of Berron lost her family during a dreadful battle and was betrothed to a stranger.

Lord Rafe of Valrek, only a boy himself when the battle of Calis raged, grew to be a feared warrior and trusted advisor to his King. But sadness filled his past and Adele served only to remind him of all he had lost.

However the promise that bound these two together caused great anger to some.

What, Dear Reader, happened in those days of treachery and darkness? Incline your ear that I may whisper the secrets that you so desire to hear......


Lady Quill
 

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