Hello and welcome to Storm Goddess Book Reviews! Today, I'm interviewing Dana Michelle Burnett. I hope you'll leave a comment and let us know you were here!
Hi Danielle, welcome. I'm so glad to have you here today. Thank you for stopping by and answering my questions.
First off, tell me a little about yourself, and your books! I write paranormal romance and live in a small Indiana town. It’s no coincidence that my current series is about a girl moving into an old house in a small Indiana town. She discovers that her new home is haunted by the spirit of a ghost that claims to be her husband from a past life. Haunted is the second book in the series and goes into more detail about how this twisted relationship has tormented the main character.
How long have you been writing? I honestly can’t remember not writing or at least making up stories. Even all the way back in the sixth grade, I was part of a group called Young Authors.
Plotter or pantster? Total panster! I don’t even write in order. Quite often I write the last chapter first!
When you aren't writing, what are some of your favorite hobbies/ passtimes? It’s not often that I’m not writing or at least wishing I was (#RatherBeWriting), but I am also the proud dance mom of an eight year old daughter, so that keeps me pretty busy.
Who are some of your favorite authors? Favorite genre? I love Ann Rice! Horror has always been a favorite genre and then literary novels still call me back to my literary magazine roots.
If you were given the chance to co-author a book with someone, who would you chose? It would be hard, but it would be Margaret Mitchell. I love how she turns faulted people into heroes!
What's the strangest thing you've done, or strangest question you have had to ask for research purposes? Bringing back the dead for Book Three in this series has been interesting.
What talent do you wish you had, but don't? (For me, I wish I could draw better!) I so wish I could sing, but I can’t carry a tune in a bucket.
What's a typical writing day for you like? I tend to write a lot in the mornings before anyone else gets up and then again at night when everyone is asleep.
How many different genres do you write in? I got my start in non-fiction, then literary magazines, then back to non-fiction, then back to literary novels, then romance, and now I’m home in paranormal romance.
If only one, do you ever think about writing a different book than what you are known for? I wish my contemporary romance did better, but what can you do?
What do you do to celebrate a book release day? I take my daughter and mother out to eat and then I turn into a numbers junkie for the next few weeks.
We all know there's trends in writing. A certain type of book, or genre explodes in popularity. Some fade into the dark. What's a type of book you'd love to see make a comeback? The literary novel. I miss really great, simple writing.
What are three things your fans don't know about you that may surprise them? I am a widow, I love animals, and I’m a complete Robin of Sherwood geek.
What are you working on at the moment in terms of writing? Book Three of the Spiritus Series.
What's something you'd like to accomplish that you have not yet done? I want to travel more, possibly to Europe.
Dana Michelle Burnett spent most of her life writing short stories and sharing them with family
and friends. Over the years, her work was published in numerous commercial and literary magazines including Just Labs, Mindprints: A Literary Journal, Foliate Oak, and many more. Her short story John Lennon and the Chicken Holocaust was included in The Best of Foliate Oak in 2006.
In 2010, Burnett’s first novel, Ghost Country, was released. Based on her own Cherokee heritage, the novel marked her return to the literary world after a four year hiatus. She followed that with the release of her romance novel, Two Out of Three in the summer of 2011.
Spiritus is the first novel in her new paranormal romance series by the same name. The second book, Haunted, is now available.
Haunted - Spiritus Series Book Two
Alastor came at me then, forcing me back against the wall. He was so solid that I could feel his
weight against me. I could feel his frozen breath on my face….He ran his hand up my arm, over
my shoulder, and rested at the base of my throat. His blue eyes glittered dangerously.
With the publication of Spiritus, Dana Michelle Burnett created ghostly romance in a small town.
Now, in her new novel, she brings us again - even more magically - into the midst of the haunted
love story she introduced in Spiritus, of the solitary and beautiful Becca McAllister and Alastor,
the darkly captivating ghost whom she loves and killed over a century ago.
Becca has already decided that it’s Alastor that she loves, but now, as their uncommon
relationship limits Becca’s future, Alastor must decide if he’s willing to make the ultimate
sacrifice for Becca’s happiness….
Excerpt
I clutched his hand as we moved along toward Magnolia Bridge. Still yards away, I could
hear the drums as well as feel them vibrating somewhere deep inside the middle of my body. As
the bridge came into view, the beat of the drums took over the air and shook the ground beneath
my feet.
The crowd kept moving closer and closer to the old wood and metal bridge. As I stepped
up on the first creaking wooden plank, I saw eerie drawings of symbols and words in glowing
white chalk scratched on its surface.
The air was thick with humidity and noise, too loud to even breathe. It all began to spin,
the drums, the wooden planks covered in glowing drawings, and the sickening sweet smell of so
many bodies pushed together.
I felt myself staggering, everything going hazy and then coming back to quickly, like a
record played at the wrong speed. Before I could recover, I was spinning and the drums became
loud booms that shook the ground and far off there was a baby crying.
It wasn't safe here. I had to get away. They were going to find us. They were going to get
"Jonah," I pleaded, "I've got to get out of here."
He didn’t hear me. I was clutching at his arm, but he was lost in the sea of bodies. At last,
I clasped his hand and jerked him around to face me.
"Now!" I demanded. "I want to go now!"
Jonah was reluctant to leave, but the expression on my face must've convinced him
because he guided me through the crowd without complaint.
As we stepped off the bridge, a beautiful woman with deep olive skin stepped into our
path. She seemed to glow in her long white dress and white head wrap. There was something
pulsating on her shoulders. It took a moment for my eyes to focus enough to see that it was a
large snake that slithered about her neck.
"I see that which you want most," she declared, pulling the snake’s head up to hers so
that it's forked tongue could flicker across her lips.
I stepped around her, cringing away from the serpent.
The woman laughed, showing a wide mouth of bright white teeth, "He can come back,
you know."
The air left my lungs and I stopped short. I couldn't have heard her right. I dropped
Jonah's hand and turned around slowly.
"What did you say?" I asked.
She stepped over to me, swaying her hips so that her dress swung like a bell.
"I can bring him back," She whispered as she came within inches of my face. "I know
that is the thing that you want most."
There was a surge of air swirling around me and over my head. The woman's eyes
focused on it with a knowing smile.
"He will be angry," She said and took a card out of the waistband of her dress. "Come
and see me when you can."
I clutched the card in my hand as Jonah led me away. I looked back and watched the
woman disappear in the darkening crowd.
Jonah pulled me along, oblivious to the exchange. Once we were safe in a taxi and
heading back to the hotel, Jonah put his arm around me and kissed me on my cheek.
"You'll feel better after a long soak in the tub and a little rest." He whispered hot and wet
in my ear.
I don't remember saying anything. I just remember the feeling of the card’s sharp edges
in my palm. Nothing else in the world mattered except that card.
Late that night, I slipped from the bed were Jonah still lay sleeping. I dressed and went
down to the Carousel Bar. Again, the card that I was turning over and over in my fingers held
my attention.
MADAME MARIE DESMARAIS’S SHOP OF VOODOO
Royal Street
New Orleans, LA
Could it really be possible? Could Alastor actually come back?
I glanced around at the other patrons of the bar reflected in the many lights and mirrors
throughout the room. Were they aware of such possibilities? If so, how could they just sit there
and drink the night away?
I sipped at my hurricane cocktail and enjoyed the tingling burn as it went down my
throat. I tapped the edge of the card on the table one, two, three times.
The bartender sat another cocktail in front of me. I was already lightheaded, but I took it
anyway.
What was I supposed to do now? Could I bring Alastor back and lose Jonah forever?
Would I ever be happy with Jonah if I knew there was even the smallest chance that Alastor
could come back?
It was just too impossible to sort out. It was easier to just keep drinking and pretend like I
didn't already know the answer.
Two more drinks later and I barely recognized Jonah when he took a seat at the bar
beside me.
"Why aren’t you upstairs?" He asked, taking the drink from me and pushing it away.
I rubbed my hands over my face, "I couldn't sleep."
"Is anything wrong?"
I looked down at the card on the bar and then covered it with my hands.
"Not really," I said. "Just restless, I guess."
Jonah leaned over and kissed my cheek. He brushed his lips over my ear, "Why don't you
come back upstairs?"
I slid off the barstool, struggling to stand on unsteady feet. Jonah's arm went around my
waist to steady me.
As I reached back to get the stiff white card from the bar, I saw Alastor’s face reflected in
the mirrors surrounding the bar. He glared at me with angry blue eyes as I took the card and slid
it into my pocket. I silently dared him to try to stop me.
I glanced back at Alastor's image as I stepped into the elevator with Jonah. He glared at
me with hostile eyes until the elevator doors closed and it was just me and my new husband
alone in the elevator.
I leaned back and let out a sigh.
Alastor’s secret voice reverberated in my brain, "Becca, throw the card away, no good
will come of it."
I can't do that.
"What you’re thinking is impossible," He argued. “I wish it could be different, but it
cannot.”
You don't know that.
"Yes, I do and you're not being fair to Jonah."
I glanced over at Jonah. He leaned against the wall, watching the floor numbers change
as we went up. He felt me watching him and turned and gave me one of his brilliant smiles.
"I love you." He said simply and looked back up at the numbers.
How could he be so trusting? That familiar stab of guilt hit me in the gut.
"I love you too." I answered.
But I love him more…
Alastor swirled near me, whispering inside my head. "I'm telling you that what you want
is impossible."
I can't give up while there is even the slightest chance for you.
"Becca, you have to see that this is a lost cause."
I can't believe that.
"You have to believe it or else you will drive yourself mad."
Good interview and good excerpt! and lol at can't carry a tune....I can't either...lol
ReplyDelete