Author Mistral Dawn Shares Their Story
Mistral Dawn is a thirty-something gal who has lived on both coasts of the US but somehow never in the middle. She currently resides in the Southeast US with her kitty cats (please spay or neuter! :-)) where she works as a hospital drudge and attends graduate school. Taken By The Huntsman is her first effort at writing fiction and if it is well received she has ideas for several more novels and short-stories in this series.
About the Author
Mistral Dawn is a thirty-something gal who has lived on both coasts of the US but somehow never in the middle. She currently resides in the Southeast US with her kitty cats (please spay or neuter! :-)) where she works as a hospital drudge and attends graduate school. Taken By The Huntsman is her first effort at writing fiction and if it is well received she has ideas for several more novels and short-stories in this series.
What inspires you to write romance books?
Well, the inspiration for my first book, Taken By The Huntsman, came from a dream I had after a rather spirited debate with an online friend about the nature of consent (and some other political issues I won’t bore you with). When I woke up I thought about the dream and realized it might make an interesting story (as well as provide me with a soap box ;-)). I texted a friend and asked her if she thought the idea had merit. She said she did and so I wrote the first couple of chapters and emailed them to her asking her to read them and tell me if she was bored yet. She was kind enough to say that she wasn’t bored and that she’d like to read the rest of the story, so I wrote it.
Tell us about how you write:
I kind of use a blend of an “outline” and “make it up as I go along” style. I already have the story pretty much “written” in my head and the process of writing it is just a matter of smoothing out the rough edges and filling in the details. I do write down some of those details (such as what characters look like, pieces of their history that are important, new kinds plants or animals that I make up, etc.) in a separate file as I write the book so that I can refer back to them if I need to. In Taken By The Huntsman this file was polished up and added to the end of the book as sort of a “Guide To Mistral Dawn’s Fairie.” My characters also pop in from time to time (read ALL THE TIME) to tell me if they’re happy with my work or if it needs to change (NOW! Right Now! 😉 ).
Do you listen (or talk to) to your characters?
Oh, for goodness’s sake, yes! 🙂 If I didn’t they’d give me no peace at all! They often come and wake me up to tell me what they think about what I’ve written lately or to tell me to hurry up and finish what I’m working on so I can get to their story next.
What advice would you give other writers?
I’m very new to writing, so I don’t know that I’m the best qualified person to give others advice. Someone told me to read a lot and write what you feel. Maybe that will help others as well. 🙂
How did you decide how to publish your books?
Well, as I said, the inspiration for my book came from a debate with a friend about the nature of consent, so there is a lot of ruminating by the characters about what constitutes consent. Taken By The Huntsman also introduces other questions about right and wrong. This isn’t done in manner to browbeat readers or proselytize to them, but in a way to make them think about and question their own views. Most of these questions are left open for the reader to answer for themselves, but my goal was to make people reflect on what they take as a “given” and under what circumstances various actions might be justified. Plus there’s quite a few steamy scenes. 😉
My major goal with this book was to entertain people and tantalize them with the “romantic moments,” but I also hoped readers might find a few ideas that would cause them to think about their own views. If Taken By The Huntsman causes someone to go “Hmmm?” even once while reading it, that would make me ecstatic.
What do you think about the future of book publishing?
Honestly, I hope that it keeps going in the direction it’s already headed in. I think it’s wonderful that so many people now have the opportunity to get their ideas “out there” for others to see. Of course not everyone is “successful” from a business standpoint; but, to me, that’s besides the point. The important thing is that people can be heard if they feel the need to be heard. That’s a very valuable thing, in my opinion, and I hope it will help promote trust and understanding between people who live in different parts of the world and help us all build a more peaceful and tolerant society.
What genres do you write:: Fantasy Romance, Erotica
What formats are your books in: eBook
Website(s)
Author Home Page Link
Link To Author Page On Amazon
Link To Author Page On Smashwords
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Your Social Media Links
http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8549061.Mistral_Dawn?from_search=true
http://www.facebook.com/MistralKDawn
http://twitter.com/MistralKDawn
http://www.pinterest.com/mistralkdawn/stuff-of-interest/
