Saturday, August 18, 2012

Meet Harlequin author Barbara White Daille

Hi Barbara, thank you for joining me today and for sharing your Adventure with us.

Hi, Jean.  Thanks so much for inviting me to chat with your readers!
 
When did you first consider yourself a writer?
 
Almost since the time I learned how to print.  Officially, though, I say it's when I was in fourth grade and wrote my first short story.  On lined binder paper, it spanned three pages in longhand.  Along with it, I included a paper cover with an illustration, the title in bold print, and my byline.  It was a mystery starring my two best friends and me.  I don't remember much about it, but I know we were in great danger—and at the end, we triumphed over the bad guys!

What inspired you to write your first book?
 
I'd always loved reading and writing short stories, mostly mysteries, so I decided to find out if I had what it took to write a novel.  My first book featured two female teenaged amateur sleuths, one of them an only child (and probably related to Nancy Drew) and the other from a family of four kids.  It was an awesome mystery with many twists and turns.  At least, I thought so!  LOL  (And it had a romance in it.  One of the sleuth's brothers fell for the other sleuth.)  When I wrote this one, I was in eighth grade.
 
Do you see writing as a career?
 
Definitely!  I've always juggled writing and days jobs, so in essence, I have two careers.  While it would be nice to devote all my attention to writing, I don't know if that will ever happen.  But I am positive I'll always be a writer.

Do you hear from readers much? What kinds of things do they say?
 
It's difficult to answer this question without sounding like I'm blowing my own horn.  I'll try not to.  Here goes... 
 
Most of my readers tell me they love the characters, which is awesome, since I'm a character-driven writer.  They feel joy when the characters do and cry with them over their disappointments.  They worry about whether or not—and how—the hero and heroine will get together.  And they get a big kick out of the quirky secondary characters. 
 
To be honest, those are all things I put in my books because they're what I love to read about.  So I'm always grateful, thrilled, and humbled when readers tell me I've hit those marks for them.
 
As  a child, what did you want to do when you grew up?
 
Write.  I know, short answer.  But there's not much more I can add.  Writing has always been with me.
 
Can you give us some details about your latest release?
 
I would love to!  Thanks for asking. 
 
My latest book from Harlequin just released last week.  HONORABLE RANCHER tells the story of Ben Sawyer, who long ago lost the woman he loved from afar to his own best friend.  When that friend dies a military hero, Ben has to keep the promise he's made to watch over the man's family—and to keep his hands off his best friend's wife.
 
Dana Wright, a widow with three small children, will do anything to protect them and to safeguard her secrets.  Of all the folks in town, Ben would be the person most devastated by what she's trying to hide.  Unfortunately, he's also the one determined to make her reveal what she knows.
 
I love this story!  And I wanted so much for the hero and heroine to get together because...  Let me show you.  (FYI, Dana and Ben are matron of honor and groomsman at their friends' wedding.  They've just been talking out in the garden of the reception hall.)
 
~~
 
Before he could get to his feet, she left, running away like that princess in the fairytale his niece asked him to read to her over and over again.
 
No, not a princess.  The one who took off without her glass slipper—Cinderella. 
Dana was no Cinderella.  She hadn't left a shoe behind.  Hadn't even dropped a button from that pink dress as something for him to remember her by.  As if he could ever forget her.
 
She'd been the heroine of a story he'd once created long ago, a story he'd had to write in his head because he hadn't yet known how to spell all the words.
 
How did it go?  Like in his niece's storybook...
 
Once upon a time, that was it.
 
Once upon a time, in the Land of Enchantment—otherwise known as the state of New Mexico—Benjamin Franklin Sawyer had high hopes and a huge crush on the girl who sat one desk over from him in their classroom every day.
 
No other girl in town, Ben felt sure, could beat Dana Smith, and most likely no other woman in the world could compare to her, either.  In any case, without a doubt, she was the cutest of all his female friends in their kindergarten classroom.
 
Unfortunately, when the teacher moved his best friend, Paul Wright, to the desk on the other side of Dana's, Ben saw his hopes dashed.
 
The crush, however, continued.  For a good long while.
 
As for Benjamin Franklin Sawyer's hopes...
 
Well, not every story had a happy ending.
 
~~
 
Originally from the East Coast, award-winning author Barbara White Daille now lives with her husband in the warm, sunny Southwest, where they love the lizards in the front yard but could do without the scorpions in the bathroom.
 
From the time she was a toddler, Barbara found herself fascinated by those things her mom called "books."  Once she learned the words between the covers held the magic of storytelling, she wanted to see her words in print so she could weave that spell for others.
 
Barbara hopes you will enjoy reading her stories and will find your own storytelling magic in them!
 
She would love to have you drop by her website:  www.barbarawhitedaille.com and look for her on Facebook and Twitter:  http://www.facebook.com/barbarawhitedaille  and
 
Thanks for joining me today, Barbara. Here's to your next Adventure in Authorland