Welcome, readers! I have another Clean Reads author for you to meet: Danielle Doolittle. AND…congratulations are in order as today is her 10th Wedding Anniversary as well! CONGRATULATIONS, Danielle and hubby!! Hope your day is filled with wonderful things 🙂
I’d love to gab some more about the greatness that is Clean Reads, but if you’ve been following my blog for any length of time, you already know it. And I am eager for you to learn more about Danielle and her books (both of which are only $0.99 right now!!!! So, let’s jump right in…
Oh, Danielle is also offering a GIVEAWAY (details below)!!! So, be sure to enter!
Thanks for being with us today, Danielle. It’s always nice to have another Clean Reads author on the blog. First, can you share a little about your inspiration for Royal Pain?
Prince Harry was 100% behind Royal Pain. Seriously. I wrote this book when Harry was getting himself into all kinds of trouble *cough* the Vegas incident *cough* and I really wanted to know what would happen if a royal was forced to turn his partying ways around and maybe find love along the way. Thus, Prince Henry took on a life of his own.
What about for Regret?
For Regret I was looking for something to read and just couldn’t find anything that interested me. I really wanted something that pulled in some history with myths and theism, plus kissing because almost all good books have kissing. I wanted something that was adventurous, with a strong female lead who didn’t have to play the damsel in distress. At the time I couldn’t find it, so I decided to write it!
Interesting. I like strong female leads who aren’t damsels in distress!
Did you always want to be a writer? If not, what did you want to be when you were a child?
A singer songwriter! I had notebooks full of lyrics I just knew were going to be hits. They weren’t. Ever.
🙂 I was supposed to be a famous pianist at one point. Oh well, we move on, don’t we?
When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?
I’ve always been a storyteller, but I really started to take it seriously in college. It wasn’t until my later 20’s that I took the risk and finished my first full length manuscript.
It doesn’t take a genius to realize writers love what we do, but there are parts of that we don’t love so much. What part of the writing process do you dread?
REVISIONS! I know they’re necessary but I always, always, always find a way to ADD words instead of slim down in this phase.
Isn’t that the truth! I always want to go deeper…when I should be cutting…c’est la vie
I always “set the mood” for my writing sessions. Music is a big part of that for me. What kind of music, if any, do you listen to when you write?
It depends on the story and where I’m at in the storyline itself. I tend to pick a genre based on the feel of the book. For Royal Pain I listened to a lot of indie folk music, for Regret it was a mix between early 2000s pop punk (read: basically the music of my soul in high school) and rock music. Each of my books has their own black moment anthem.
Fun. Do you have a favorite time of day to write? What about a favorite place?
Because I have four kids I tend to write at night after they’ve gone to bed. This way I don’t get distracted and can wear one hat at a time so to speak. I usually write at my desk in the corner of my living room with my ear buds in and Spotify on my current book mix.
You are speaking my language. It is so difficult to write with the kiddos around, isn’t it?
How long does it take you to write a book?
It really depends! I wrote Regret in a month, Royal Pain took me about two. I’ve been working on their sequels for AGES! I blame the new baby. He’s cute, he can handle it.
LOL! It does seem to go in ebbs and flows…and, I agree, life is mostly to blame for that!
Do you have any current projects you’re working on? Care to share?
ALL THE SEQUELS! I have Henry’s Royal big brother, Alexi’s story started (it’s super fun I promise!) and Pen and Kane from Regret are getting another book!
It’s a lot of work there, but I’m sure you’ll get it done 🙂
Thanks again, Danielle, for being on the blog today and for offering a GIVEAWAY! I look forward to reading more about your books (below). So, I’ll stop yapping and let my readers get to the goodies!
Royal Pain
Prince Henry Fitzgerald’s life has taken a drastic turn. The once high flying playboy finds himself grounded and forced into rehab after one too many wild nights. Changing his ways wasn’t in the cards, a fact he makes loud and clear during treatment. But when he faces off with feisty horse trainer, Carleigh Philips, Henry starts thinking he’s not as far gone as everyone-including himself-thought.
Carleigh Philips has had her fill of arrogant, too good looking to be true men. Since discovering her ex in bed with another woman she’s contented herself with training the horses on her family’s ranch turned rehabilitation center. But when Prince Henry comes storming into her life she can’t ignore him, even if half the time he makes her want to scream, she learns that some men are worth taking a risk on.
When a series of accidents add up to foul play, Henry must set aside his fear of failure and act quickly to save the woman who made him believe he could be a better man.
Enjoy an Excerpt
“What is wrong with you?” Carleigh hissed as soon as she was sure they were out of earshot of everyone else.
“ I don’t believe I know what you mean. “
Don’t play games with me, Henry. You’re shaking like a leaf. You’re sweating. Your color sucks, and I bet you’re burning up. They stopped walking once they reached the living room. Carleigh folded her arms over her chest, hoping to convey how serious she really was.
What are we wagering?
Henry looked down at her in mock superiority. Carleigh would have been offended, but she recognized that his flirting was just a defense mechanism. Well, it wasn’t going to work on her. She stepped closer to him, hoping to push her point. If he was going to try intimidation, two could play at that game.
Listen here. I’m sure you’re used to everyone around you breaking under that condescending glare you’re trying desperately to hold on to, but it’s not going to work around here. It sure isn’t going to work on me. You need to look past your overinflated ego and realize all those people who you think are just trying to ruin your good time are genuinely concerned for you and only wish to help.
Carleigh hadn’t realized she’d been inching toward Henry until her finger poked the solid wall of his chest, emphasizing her last few words with sharp little jabs to his sternum. She had to crane her neck to maintain eye contact, but she wasn’t going to let his size — no matter how impressive — intimidate her into backing down. The man was going to hurt himself if he kept insisting he was perfectly fine. Carleigh pushed aside the prick of pain caused by thoughts of him injured or seriously ill. Now wasn’t the time. She wasn’t sure there would ever be a time for that.
“Are you genuinely concerned for me, Carleigh?” Henry asked after a long beat of silence.
“Yes, you big dummy, or I wouldn’t be standing in my living room, screaming at you.”
Carleigh didn’t see him move. One second he was standing in front of her with his arms relaxed at his sides, and the next she found herself in those arms, the hand she’d been poking him with now flat upon his muscular chest. She told herself it was the shock of his swift movements that made her unable to back away as she watched his mouth descend upon hers. Surely, her eyes closed in panic, not longing, as he gently brushed his lips across hers. Once, twice, his full lips teased hers with the barest touch before deepening the kiss, and Carleigh began to drown. She wasn’t sure the moan that filled the room was hers or his, as strong arms pulled her closer into his embrace.
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Regret
Life in a small town had its perks. Knuckle-dragging jocks, obsidian-eyed hunks, and creepy growly things in dark caves don’t exactly make Penelope Green’s top ten list (well, except for the hunk part).Either way, life is about to get a whole lot more complicated.
Since her family moved to Martha’s Vineyard, Penelope’s enjoyed comfort of the insular community. When a new family makes the island their home, her world gets turned upside down. She comes face to face with her past, the truth of her birth parents’ deaths, and the secret heritage that makes her so much more that a typical teenager. Not to mention the moody, broad-shouldered Kane Whitmore.
Learning she is a Guardian with a special talent for manipulating energy to heal isn’t the hardest pill to swallow for Penelope. It’s the dreams—both frightening and heart-wrenching—that nearly bring her to her knees.
As each dream returns more of her memories to her, she is both frightened and thrilled at the possibilities that open up before her, one of them a very real future with the man who’s loved her most of her life. When the vengeance of madman bring everything crashing down, Penelope is faced with the very real possibility of losing the very person who’s come to mean more to her than anything…even her own survival.
Enjoy an Excerpt
I was fifty feet from the house when something grabbed my hair and pulled. Hard. I fell to the ground with a resounding thud and looked up into searing red eyes. The monster looking back at me looked nothing like the man he once was. His skin stretched tightly across the bones of his face, and those red eyes were slightly sunken into his skull. He reminded me of the photos of the emaciated victims of famine I had seen in a history class once.
Still holding me by the hair, he circled around and sat on my chest. My arms were trapped at my sides by his knees. Under his weight I could barely breathe, let alone wiggle free. I was trapped, and he knew it, judging by the smile that bloomed across his haunting face. He squeezed his thighs, proving to me how strong he was and struggling would be useless. Putrid spit ran down from the corner of his mouth like he had forgotten how to swallow, or maybe he was just really hungry. He bared his sharp, shark-like teeth and gave a self-gratified growl. Okay, hungry then.
“Thisss was much easssier than we were led to believe,” he hissed to himself, blowing fetid breath in my face. “He won’t mind if I have a little tasssste.”
He ran a sharp-nailed finger down the side of my throat like he was deciding the best place to sink in his teeth. I nearly gagged at the thought of his mouth any closer to me. I knew what would happen if he managed to get his mouth that close. I wasn’t ready to be anyone’s snack. I pushed at his shoulders, tried kicking my legs, doing anything to try to fight back.
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More About the Author
Danielle Doolittle has always had a knack for storytelling. When she completed her first work of fiction at age six about a bunny and particularly juicy carrot she was hooked. Years later, she’s spinning tales of first loves, awkward moments, and the occasional creature that goes bump in the night. She lives in the wilds of a Northwest Ohio college town with her husband and four small children where she consumes above average amounts of coffee and dark chocolate and spends way too much time on Twitter.
Connect with Danielle and her books
GIVEAWAY
Danielle is offering one ebook copy of each of her Clean Reads titles: Royal Pain and Regret. The winner will be selected by Rafflecopter (below) which will run until MONDAY. For those of you unfamiliar with Rafflecopter, use the arrows underneath the ebook and title to get to the other giveaway (there are 2 giveaways – one for each ebook):