Today I had the pleasure of sitting down and talking with author Poppy Dennison about her latest book and more. Take a look at what I just had to ask her. :-)
Where
do you find the inspirations for your stories?
Every
book has its own source of inspiration. The Triad series evolved both a
conversation I had with a friend. He wanted a gay paranormal romance where one
of the main characters had a child. I was so intrigued by the idea. I’d never
read about a paranormal kid before! The story developed quickly and really
centered on my love for my family.
The
Pack Partners series came from real life—my then 1 year old nephew bit my
sister *really hard* and it was a big kerfuffle! Once I stopped laughing at them both, I began
to wonder what would happen if a paranormal kid bit a human. Could a toddler
turn a human into a werewolf? I couldn’t get the idea out of my head and it
turned into Accidental Alpha.
What
is coming up from you in 2014? Anything you want to tease us with?
I’m
a busy bee this year. Belligerent Beta, the sequel to Accidental Alpha is out
now. In August, the first book in a new series called Coconut Cove comes out.
It’s a collaboration between myself and M.J. O’Shea, and is my first
contemporary! Later in the fall, Creature Feature 2 will be released. That one
is co-written with Rhys Ford! Then it’s back to the Pack Partners world for the
next book in that series!
If
you had a reporter follow you around for the day, what would the readers get to
see in your
daily
schedule?
Well,
I think a reporter would shake his head at my weird routine! LOL. First thing I
do is stumble to the coffee pot then it’s a quick email check while my brain
begins to function. I try to get most of my writing done in the morning hours
and then I edit and do other work in the afternoons. Since I work from home,
and find that I tend to be a bit on the messy side, I do what I call “cleaning
Zambonis” every hour. I get up for 10 minutes and clean up my mess! LOL. It
helps me keep up with the housework and keeps me from sitting on my bum all
day. I’m really pretty boring to be
honest.
When
you begin your stories, do you go with the flow, or go with an outline?
You
know, I don’t think I’ve done the same thing twice. Some
stories really demand that I start writing the chapters first and then go back
and do a little planning. Others, I have to sit down and really plan the world
out before I begin to write. Usually, it’s some combination of the two. I keep
little notebooks handy for each world to keep everything straight. I don’t
think I’ve ever gone with the flow for an entire book. I do tend to do better
with at least a *little* planning.
Is
it hard coming up with titles or characters names?
Yes!
Character names are a real challenge for me. I have to keep a spreadsheet of
names I’ve already used. The hardest part for me is naming the secondary
characters. Sometimes the name changes for them half way through the story once
I get to know them better. In Creature Feature 2, the book I recently finished,
I ended up changing the names of three of the secondary characters at the end!
Names are so important. I thought for a while I was weird about naming them,
but after speaking with a few other authors, I think a lot of us put a lot of
importance on the names. At least it’s not just me who obsesses! LOL
Has
there been any character that started off as supporting character, but then
developed into a
more
prominent character?
Um,
all of them? LOL. I love creating a full world for my characters, including all
the family and friends who help make them the person they are. Accidental Alpha
was supposed to be a stand-alone story, but once I began creating the pack, I
realized I had a series on my hands! Readers seemed to respond to Nathan, the
omega character in the book as much as I did when writing him. His story
wouldn’t leave me alone! I had to figure out what happened to Nathan to make
him the omega. I rarely write a story
without having a handful of fully developed secondary characters. This is a hazard because then readers want
more stories…and I want to write them!
What
is the best trick to overcome writer's block?
I
have two tricks that seem to work best for me. The first is to always stop
writing before I’ve written myself out. What I mean by that is to know at least
the next scene for the next day. It helps me dive right back into the world the
next morning, and the story flows better when I can get on a roll.
The
other trick I use when I’m really stuck is to write something that isn’t part
of the manuscript, but is still part of the world. Usually this is some scene
from the character’s past. In the case of Nathan in Belligerent Beta, I went
back and wrote some scenes of him growing up. Even though those scenes aren’t
in the final manuscript, I knew Nathan’s thoughts and feelings. It helped make
his character more fully developed-- and broke my heart for him at the same
time!
What
is the next book you'll write?
Right
now, I’m working on the first Coconut Cove book. It’s called “Life’s A Beach”.
I’m also knee deep in world building for a new paranormal series I’ll start
writing once Coconut Cove and the Pack Partners series are complete! I don’t
generally write more than one book at a time; I’m not that great of a
multi-tasker. But I do like having the next world ready to go when I send one
off to a publisher!
Belligerent Beta by Poppy Dennison
Pack Partners Book Two
Release Date: May 14, 2014
Available at Publisher
As Dan struggles to balance his growing feelings for the young wolf with his responsibilities to his pack, new threats emerge and Nathan’s loyalty is questioned. Not understanding the basics of being a wolf leaves Nathan vulnerable and the pack at risk. Can Dan embrace the true role of a beta so he can protect the man he has grown to love and save his pack?
Poppy Dennison Belligerent Beta Blog Tour
5/14/2014 Wordsmith Wednesday
5/15/2014 Mrs Condit & Friends Read Books
5/20/2014 Literary Nymphs Hotlist
5/21/2014 MM Good Book Reviews
5/24/2014 Coffee Thoughts, The Book Blog
5/27/2014 Love Bytes (Formerly Sid Love)
5/28/2014 The Novel Approach
5/29/2014 Michael Rupured
5/30/2014 Top2Bottom
6/2/2014 Fallen Angel Reviews
6/3/2014 Dawn's Reading Nook
6/5/2014 Joyfully Jay
6/10/2014 Little Read Riding Hood
About the author and where to find her online
A sassy southern lady, Poppy Dennison developed an obsession
with things that go bump in the night in her early years after a barn door flew
off its hinges and nearly squashed her. Convinced it was a ghost trying to get
her attention, she started looking for other strange and mysterious happenings
around her. Not satisfied with what she found, Poppy has traveled to Greece,
Malaysia and England to find inspiration for the burly bears and silver foxes
that melt her butter. Her love of paranormal continues to flourish nearly
thirty years later, and she writes steamy love stories about the very things
that used to keep her up all night. If her childhood ghost is lucky, maybe one
day she’ll give him his own happily ever after.
You can find out more about Poppy’s books on her website http://www.poppydennison.com/
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