Interview with Gina Danna

GinaDanna_Great&UnfortunateDesires_200pxAPlease help me welcome Gina Danna to my blog today. Gina will be giving away an ecopy of her book Great & Unfortunate Desires to the best commentor, so be sure and leave her a comment.
How did you get started writing? 
I’ve always read historical novels and research books. After a while, I wanted more than what was available and thought I can write that! Started seriously back about 6 years ago when I heard about RWA and thought, wow! there are people, local people, who do this! Need to check it out and got inspired by those I met.
What genres do you write in & why? 
I write several – Regency (a favorite I love to read), Victorian England, American Civil War (my most favorite period  & one time I know a lot about by my education, career in museums/historical parks and as a reenactor) and Ancient Rome (my father’s family is Sicilian and I’ve loved Rome & my heritage in Sicily for as long as I can remember!)
My current series – Split at the moment. 1. I’m writing the sequel to my Civil War novel The Wicked North and 2. writing the next book in my gladiatorial series (due out late next summer!)
What inspired my latest book?
My latest releases (cuz they came out within 3 weeks of the other): Great & Unfortunate Desires was inspired partially by the Sherlock Holmes movies with Robert Downey Jr. and Love & Reckoning was inspired by the Starz’s series Spartacus.
How has my experience w/ self-publishing been?
Interesting. I like it but it is loads of work, the biggest is promoting. I’m more of a shy person to start with so throwing myself out there is hard.
Do I have critiques partners?
Oh yes! So need them to help me refocus.
Do I prefer to read in the same genres I write in or do I avoid reading that genre & why?
I love historical novels, Regency in particular, though there are some authors I love to read & they write late 19th century and into early 20th century. But I avoid reading Civil War mostly – why? not sure on that one. Really.
Has my muse always known what genre I’d write and publish in?
Yes, my muse knew because she always aimed me for those periods. Very confusing though, mentally, to write one era and then switch to another…

Great & Unfortunate Desires EXCERPT

What made him say that, of all things? Fiancée? Engaged to the ice queen? Tristan noticed how pale Evelyn turned, and part of him tightened. When that fop moved away so quickly, it was obvious the man wasn’t really interested in Evelyn. But Tristan’s interest surely could have been expressed less dramatically.

“Tris.” Harry stood behind him. “What are you doing?” It was a low whisper.

Tristan forced a smile, concentrating to make it more of a devil-may-care grin. “It wasn’t to be announced just yet,” he replied, his gaze on Evelyn. She still looked a bit shocked. “Come, my sweet.” He held his hand up for her to take.

Her eyes still wide, but her mouth now shut, Evelyn gently laid her hand on his, like a butterfly landing on a flower, fragile as spun glass. She blinked and managed to return a timid smile as he led her away.

Several feet from the croquet game, she stopped, withdrawing her hand, as if he had stung her.

“Do you care to explain yourself, captain? Wait, no, my lord?”

He wanted to laugh at her attempt to guess his rank but heard the anger in her tone. Ah, so his ice queen wasn’t entirely frozen. Her anger melted that lovely aloof façade. Pity.

“I’ve come to a conclusion, my dear…”

“I am not your ‘dear’,” she snapped.

He snorted at her reaction. “But for all intents and purposes, you are. Now hear me out.” Tristan directed her to the oak tree near the edge of the grounds. They were in full view of everyone, so he figured she’d be calmer there than in the house. Evelyn reminded him of a skittish colt, on the verge of darting off if threatened.

“I need a wife. You are searching for a husband. That braggart there was too close for comfort. Therefore, I rescued you.” He chuckled. “And he won’t be bothering you again.”

Her gaze narrowed. Ah, the fire in her eyes lit to blazing. “Whose comfort?”

That question made his skin prickle, like being stabbed with a million pins. Surely she knew that fop’s “familiarity” with her was the stuff of scandal…right? Or was it really that it made Tristan uncomfortable? As if the man had tried to take what was his? And if so, when had that feeling formed?

“You had no right,” she continued, still fuming.

Oh, how he wanted to burn in her fire. “We suit each other perfectly.”

“I will not marry you,” she hissed.

His attraction to her, now his fire and ice queen, grew. As her breathing deepened in anger, he noticed her breasts swelling in the confines of the corset, barely contained. Her illusion tulle fiche was more decorative than concealing, and his cock hardened with each rise of her bosom. Blood racing through him, he struggled to maintain his composure. Despite the warning inside his head to give her sufficient space, he leaned toward her, his hand taking hers again. Evelyn hardened and tried to withdraw it, but he wouldn’t let her go.

To everyone else, they looked like a couple, enraptured with each other. Exactly what he wanted them to think.

Buylinks –

Amazon –  http://amzn.to/1ERFHZb

Nook –  http://bit.ly/1xpB0lQ

iBook –  http://bit.ly/1sAsmg9

Kobo –  http://bit.ly/1wf9Kn0

 

Gina_036Bio –
A USAToday Bestselling author, Gina Danna was born in St. Louis, Missouri, and has spent the better part of her life reading. History has always been her love and she spent numerous hours devouring historical romance stories, always dreaming of writing one of her own. After years of writing historical academic papers to achieve her undergraduate and graduate degrees in History, and then for museum programs and exhibits, she has found the time to write her own historical romantic fiction novels.

Now, under the supervision of her three dogs and two cats, she writes amid a library of research books, with her only true break away is to spend time with her other life long dream —her Arabian horse—With him, her muse can play.
Twitter:  @GinaDanna1

 

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