Dannika Dark-Guest Post and  IMPULSE Blog Tour

WHAT’S IT LIKE BEING AN AUTHOR?

Painfully hilarious. I work a regular 9-5 job and I can tell you a little bit about my average day:

I wake up around five a.m. each morning and sit down to edit. I’ve always got a book in the pipeline that is in the editing process, and I’m more productive in the early morning. Around seven, I go to work. Most of my readers are aware that my ideas always seem to come to me while driving. This is not recommended. I often ask myself, why can’t I be one of those “shower” people, who get all the great ideas while taking a bubble bath or a long walk at sunset? When I’m in a relaxed state of mind?

Because the gods are laughing at me. I’m usually flying down the road at 40 mph with a notebook on my lap and a pen in hand. I have one in the car and carry one in my purse. I get a zinger and go into panic mode trying to jot it all down, and of course, I never can hit a red light. At work, those ideas end up on sticky notes that are stuffed in my purse. This process is a rinse and repeat during the drive home. My actual writing and editing time after work can be anywhere from 4-7 hours. I don’t sleep much, so this works to my advantage.

In my world, there is no writing table and chair by a window with a picturesque view of mountains and bunnies hopping along a meadow blanketed by yellow daisies. I think the trials of real life can be a great inspiration for writing, because I weave real life problems into the story. Politics, gender barriers and double standards, racial lines, relationship struggles, and so forth; all wind up playing a part in a world of fantasy. This connects me to my characters more than having a good vs. evil plotline.

As for the voices in my head? I have them. During my writing and editing process, there are often specific characters that I seriously want to smack over the head so they’ll shut it. Simon Hunt from the Mageri Series is one of them. He is effortless to write because his voice follows me around like one of those little gnats. This is a good thing, because when a character leaps out of the pages and into my daily thoughts, the writing will benefit.

They are often all trying to tell me their story, and it’s up to me to stop and listen.

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Dannika Dark-Author’s Bio

Down in Texas, there’s a woman who drinks copious amounts of vitamin water placed precariously close to her laptop. Yeah, I know. I’ve got a drinking problem. Hi, I’m Danni.

When I’m not writing (which is all the time), I’m listening to obscure music, watching movies, reading, discovering new ways to humiliate myself bowling, and burning up my laptop battery on the internet. I live with a cat who thinks she is a dog, or a goat (she eats plastic, so I’m not sure which)

Some people count sheep when they have insomnia. Since I was little, I used to make up stories in my head in a futile attempt to bore myself to sleep. The problem was, I’d get so wrapped up in my “head stories” that I would continue them through the following nights, changing it up each time to make it more exciting. Eventually, I started writing my ideas down more and more, creating short stories which evolved into poetry.

Lots and lots of poetry. It’s almost embarrassing that I have an entire box loaded with spiral notebooks filled with furious, heartfelt, and blushing words. Apparently, I had a lot to say.

Another one of my hobbies is digital art. I designed all my book covers.

I am finally doing what I have always wanted to: giving my characters a pulse through publishing. I write adult urban fantasy romance, but I don’t like labels. I let the story tell itself, and color outside the lines. I am not a YA author, but I think it’s pretty great that there are so many books available to teens in Urban Fantasy and Paranormal. These are the future readers!

The work that goes behind self publishing is hard work, I won’t lie. On top of my regular day job: I write, edit, format, create cover art, and market.

But it’s what I love to do, and someday, I’m going to be doing this full time.

Thank you!!!
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Author Links:

Website/Blog:  http://www.dannikadark.blogspot.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/DannikaDark
FB Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Dannika-Dark-official/148451945238628?ref=ts&fref=ts
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5181752.Dannika_Dark
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Dannika-Dark/e/B005LXWZWM/ref=sr_tc_2_0?qid=1351019685&sr=8-2-ent
Barnes & Noble:http://www.barnesandnoble.com/c/dannika-dark

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