This will be my first author interview on this blog, and I am pleased to share a very lovely debut author with you today.

 

If you are interested in having an interview featured on this blog, please send me an email at [email protected].

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Dana L. Brown

Dana L. Brown is the very lovely author of her debut novel Lottie Loser. I had the pleasure of reading and reviewing this novel earlier this month and absolutely loved it!

You can see my review of Lottie Loser here!

Lottie Loser has recently been re-published and I recommend it wholeheartedly!

Amazon  // Goodreads

 

Now, please enjoy this interview with Award winning Author Dana L. Brown!

 

Do you plan your books or let the characters drive the stories?

I planned Lottie Loser but half way through the characters took on a life of their own and truly drove the story. My goal was to write one book, but Charlotte and her friends said “no”, so one book has become a three book series!

Are any of your characters based off real life people?

Not totally.  I was a banker so I used that knowledge in my protagonist, Charlotte Luce. I like to say that she is me with upgrades!  Also, I loved my grandmother above all people, and even though she was nothing like Gran, she was the force behind the love Lottie received from her gran.

What inspired you to write Lottie Loser? Any real life experiences?

I’ve always enjoyed reading, and go back and forth between genres.  About five years ago I had just started reading romances again, and I feel in love with the contemporary story-lines, and decided I wanted to write one myself.  On the weekends my husband and I ride bicycles and the idea for Lottie Loser came into my head and grew from there.  No real life experiences, just living vicariously through Charlotte.

What do you love best about Charlotte’s character?

I love her strength and the way she cares about the people in her life. She is a champion for good, and there’s just not enough of that in the world today.

Were there parts of the story that went differently than you had originally planned?

Lottie Loser was supposed to be just one book, so even though I had a story, I didn’t have an ending. In life I am a planner, so it’s been a serendipity that my idea for a book became a three book series with the possibility of more AMI books in the future. 

Do you have any stories in mind that are just screaming to be written?

I want to write a book about a woman closer to my age, and even though I’m currently working on it, I seem to keep falling back to her youth, instead of writing about her at the age she is today.

Lottie Loser left off at quite the cliff hanger, how did you come up with this?

Honestly, it just came to me.  I didn’t really have an ending in mind, so the cliffhanger just seemed like the perfect place to stop!

Is Charlotte going to pick up right where Lottie Loser left off?

Yes, the Prologue to Call Me Charlotte is at the end of Lottie Loser and the story picks up where Lottie ends.

If you were asked to give ONE piece of advice to aspiring authors what would you say to them?

You’re never too old for your dreams to come true.  I wanted to write for years, but life always got in the way.  One day I told my husband that I wanted to retire from the job I loved so I could write a book, and the rest is history.  Don’t ever give up on you!! 

Do you have any favorite / go-to authors when you sit down to read?

I love Nora Roberts and Lisa Gardner, and recently I’ve started the Lucas Davenport series by John Sandford. Reoccurring characters really appeal to me and there are a lot of books in this series! I do need to give tribute to Liliana Hart because it was her Addison Holmes series that convinced me that I needed to write.  While it has a mystery theme to it, it’s the romantic tension that I love, and I continue to read her books whenever one comes out.

Well, That’s all the questions I have for you today! Thank you so VERY much for allowing me to host this interview with you!