Denise Moncrief Biography
Writing is my passion. I tell people accounting is a skill I learned to earn some money to support my writing habit. I've been writing off and on since I was seventeen. I have a wonderful husband and two incredible children. They not only endure my writing moods, but also encourage me to indulge my passion.I wrote my first "novel" when I was seventeen. It was seventeen handwritten pages on school-ruled paper and an obvious rip-off of the last Harlequin I read. The urge to write wouldn't let go of me. In my twenties, I started another novel, only to abandon it after Chapter Four or Five. I started writing seriously about eight years ago and now I write every chance I get.
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Smash Words https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/159430
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Thank you so much, Denise, for agreeing to be here
today. You must be very excited about
releasing Eye of The Storm. Thank you so much for having me here.
Tell us a little bit about Eye of The Storm. I enjoyed writing this story so much. The
characters sort of defined the drama. The dark situation evolved from their
dark past. The tension seemed to create itself.
I wrote Eye of the Storm for a prompt. The publisher was looking for
a beach romance. So I thought to myself, “Everyone will be writing those fun
and sun, meet at the beach romances. I wanted to do something a little
different. What if there is a hurricane to interrupt their romance?” After that
the story wrote itself.
Eye of the Storm didn’t
end up in that anthology, but rather was published a stand-alone story.
How very neat that something so wonderful came from a publisher's prompt! I've never thought of trying anything like that before.
Who is your favorite character from the story and why? Oh no doubt my favorite is Davis, the hero.
Despite his obvious physical and emotional scars, he still has a sense of
mischief. He’s direct, a mean what you say and say what you mean sort of guy.
And…he’s hot.
Hot men are always a plus! :-)
Where does the inspiration for you stories come from? Almost
anywhere. An overheard conversation. A picture. A movie. A news report. An
abandoned house in Arkansas jump-started a new plot for me once. Some little
something will capture my imagination.
What made you decide to publish short stories versus
novel-length books? Well, actually my
first submission to Still Moments Publishing was a full-length novel which as
of now I’m in the process of working my first edits. Between the time I
submitted Deceptions of the Heart and
when they offered me a contract, I submitted the short story Snow White and
the Seven Dogs for their Unleashed Hearts anthology. I’ve written quite a few
full-length novels and queried more than a few agents. But I’ve spent a lot of
time on writers’ critique sites writing to short story prompts for contests. So
writing to a specific prompt on a deadline is not new to me. I think writing
the shorter lengths helped honed my skills for writing full-length novels. I
like both and will probably continue to submit in all lengths.
We will be sure to be looking for your novel in the future as well as more shorts!
What do you have planned next as far as writing goes? I would
like to stretch my writing by mixing other genres with romantic suspense. Right
now, my focus is suspense with a healthy dollop of romance. My work in progress
adds a paranormal element that I’m really excited about.
Paranormal is hot right now. Sounds like a great plan!
Most writers I know (myself included) love to read. Are you a reader as well, or do you prefer
to wait for the movie? I would rather
read the book. I am an avid reader. My Good Reads profile doesn’t even begin to
list all the books I’ve read. Seldom do I think the movie is better than the
book. The most recent exception is The Hunger Games. I might have done myself a disservice by watching the movie first.
What is your favorite book (or movie if you’re not a
reader)? Favorite book and movie is
without a doubt Gone With the Wind.
And yes, I liked the book much better.
What advice do you have for other aspiring writers? Write, write, write. Don’t stop collecting
ideas and creating stories for them. Don’t let rejection or strong criticism
keep you from doing what you love. Most writers do what they do because they
want someone to read what they wrote. Find someone to critique your stories.
Hone your craft. Go to seminars. Read books on writing. Network with other
writers. Join critique sites. But mostly…don’t stop writing and don’t stop
submitting to agents and publishers. I waited eight years before I signed my
first contract. It was well worth the wait. During that wait, I perfected my
writing skills. That moment when I put my signature on my first contract was
priceless.
That is wonderful advice, Denise!
Have you released any other titles? Tell us a little bit about them. Still
Moments Publishing released my first short story in April. Snow White and
the Seven Dogs appeared in the Unleashed
Hearts anthology. All of my pending
released will be published by Still Moments. Sleepless in St. Lucia will be released by in the Something
Borrowed, Something Blue anthology in
June 2012. My first full-length novel Deceptions of the Heart will be released in the fall of 2012. My
short story Trail’s End will be
released in the Bullets and Boots anthology
in September 2012 and my short story Ghost in the Garden will be released in October 2012 in the Haunted
Shadows anthology.
Wow! Your upcoming release schedule sounds to be busy. That's terrific!
Anything else you’d like to talk about? I’m
a Southern girl. I’ve lived in Louisiana all my life. And yes, I have a drawl.
Writing is my passion. I tell people accounting is a skill I learned to earn
some money to support my writing habit. I’ve been writing off and on since I
was seventeen. I have a wonderful husband and two incredible children. They not
only endure my writing moods, but also encourage me to indulge my passion.
Thank you so much for being here today, Denise
Moncrief. I appreciate you sharing with all of us. Best of luck in
your writing career moving forward!
If you would like to follow Denise and keep up with what she is working on, you can get in touch with her at the following sites:
twitter @dmoncrief161
Once again, Denise's stories are available at the following links:
Unleashed Hearts buy links
Smash Words http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/152478
Eye of the Storm
Smash Words https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/159430
Both stories can be purchased directly from Still Moments
Publishing
Have a terrific week everyone! Thanks for reading!
Thank you so much for having me here, Chantel. I enjoyed answering your questions very much!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Denise! It was fun and I appreciate you being my first author interview and being so patient with how new I am to all of this. I wish you every success! Have a fantastic day!
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