Bonnie Dee is a versatile author of romance, erotica, and horror. Her recent novel New Life is an unique take on second chances and finding love. Let's learn more about Bonnie and her writing...Q: How long have you been writing and when did you decide to indie publish? What was the biggest hurdle in going it alone?
A: I was writing fanfiction when I first decided to aim toward publication in 2005. After realizing I wrote too outside the box for traditional publishers, I learned about e-publishing. At the time, very few people had heard of e-books and it was hard to explain to family what that even meant. Yes, they’re real books. They just don’t happen to be in print.
In 2010, a number of authors I knew were trying the new
self-publishing option at Amazon. That meant cutting out the middleman of an
e-publisher and running the entire show myself. A scary thought but since all
my e-publishers were strictly romance, I decided to jump on the bandwagon with
my zombie book, After the End. (Samhain later developed a horror line).
Once I realized how easy it was to self-pub, I decided to do more. Sometimes I re-issue my previously published works. Sometimes I write something brand new like New Life. And sometimes I still go through an e-publisher because they have more distribution and higher profile advertising than I can do on my own.
Once I realized how easy it was to self-pub, I decided to do more. Sometimes I re-issue my previously published works. Sometimes I write something brand new like New Life. And sometimes I still go through an e-publisher because they have more distribution and higher profile advertising than I can do on my own.
Q: You’ve written romance, erotic, and even horror. What drew you to such diverse genres? Do you plan to branch out to other genres as your career progresses?
A: I would probably be farther along in my career (ie. have a bigger following of readers) if I’d picked one niche and stuck to it. Also, if I did series work, which people seem to love. But I’m interested in too many things to narrow my choices to just historical, contemporary, paranormal or heterosexual romances. However, I don’t think I’m going to diversity even more. I’ll probably finish my stuck zombie book because I don’t like leaving things undone, then abandon that genre since I don’t think I’m that good at plotting action. I’ll keep writing gay historicals with my pal, Summer Devon. And I’ll keep writing about heroes with unusual issues or disabilities because that interests me.
Q: You’ve written over a dozen novels. In January, you published New Life. Can you explain the idea behind the book? Where did the inspiration come from?
A: New Life is about a brain damaged dude who works as a janitor in an office building. One night he comes across a young lawyer, who’s muffed her first day in court, crying on the stairs. He offers encouraging words and, despite the vast social difference between them, something sparks. Their friendship unexpectedly blooms into a passionate affair while both characters struggle to figure out their place in the world and whether they can forge a relationship that lasts.
I’m often inspired by movies I’ve seen and New Life is definitely a fantasy I spun after watching the movie, The Lookout, starring Joseph Gordon Levitt. I think he’s one of the hottest young actors out there and his character in this movie really moved me. I wanted the character to be in a romance instead of a crime caper so I wrote one.
Q: Can you tell us about Jason and a little about his back story?
A: The idea of being able to start with a fresh slate is intriguing, but of course, even a person with memory issues isn’t really a blank slate. They drag along baggage. Jason got drunk at a college kegger and crashed his car. The accident which caused his brain injury was completely his fault, and he carries a lot of guilt over the pain and financial drain he caused his parents. As he begins to recall more bits of his past, he realizes he was pretty much a douchebag prior to the accident. Now, despite some of the bad side effects from his accident, he has a chance to reinvent himself and become a better man than before—if he can just keep from falling into old patterns and fucking himself over again.
Q: How about Anna? What do you hope readers gain from her journey?
A: Jason was such a strong character in my mind that I had to work hard to make Anna more than some accommodating Mary Sue. His issues are so big it can make hers seem small, but she does have her problems. Per family expectations, she became a lawyer, but now wonders if she chose it or just allowed herself to be pushed along a career path. In addition to that aspect, she has a lot to consider as she becomes involved with Jason. He doesn’t fit in her social scene and he has some serious issues. In that regard, she has more at stake than he does by becoming involved.
Q: How do you come up with the names for your characters?
A: I hate choosing names. Sometimes for minor characters I literally open the phone book and pick a first and last name from different pages. For main characters, I grab anything out of thin air, thinking I’m using it temporarily and can do a find and replace later. But then I usually start thinking of the character by that name and don’t end up changing it. Seriously, if you asked me the protagonists’ names from most of my books, I couldn’t tell you. I know the essence of who they are but not necessarily the identifying tag of a name.
Q: Chicken or the egg question. Do you create a character and build around him/her? Or do you imagine a concept and create characters which fit the idea?
A: Those two things are so close I have a hard time answering that. I guess maybe I have the scenario first and then flesh out the character more and more as I go along. For instance, I’m currently writing about a killer who finds redemption through love. No fake “bad boy” stuff here. The guy works for a crime boss and offs people as needed, but his hard, cold façade begins to crack as he’s forced to deal with a firecracker of a woman his boss sends him to collect from. So I guess the concept was there first, but then the layering begins as a stereotype is turned into a multidimensional character.
Q: How do you avoid writing a Mary Sue or Marty Stu when most writers can’t help falling desperately in love with their creations?
A: See above. Making certain that the character fucks up and that they have some personality quirks will go a long way toward unMarySueing them. I will love a character more if he’s a screw up than if he always does or says the right thing. Ex. Jason’s big stumble in the latter half of New Life.
Q: Do you use anything to inspire you while you’re writing? Music, visual aids, etc? Also have you found ideas come to you more freely in particular places or at certain times of the day?
A: Music with words is a distraction. I like my atmosphere pretty quiet. Early morning, lying in bed, halfway between wake and sleep is an excellent time for ideas to shake loose or plot points to become clear. Taking a shower, walking the dog, cleaning the house, any one of these activities helps when stuck.
Q: When an idea hits you, do you start writing immediately or plot it out first?
A: I write a stream of consciousness ramble to get the initial idea down, including several possible routes the story could take. But I generally don’t allow new ideas, no matter how tempting, to take me away from whatever I’m currently working on. That’s a sure way to never finish any projects. New is always shiny and exciting while whatever you’re plugging away at has become work. There’s a folder where I keep story ideas to mine later.
Q: When you read less than fawning reviews, how do you know when to use the critique to improve your future writing and when do you chalk up the criticism as different strokes for different folks?
A: It’s very important to be able to distance yourself from the work and observe it critically, to take well thought out criticism and utilize it next time. On the other hand, you can’t pinball around, letting everyone’s opinion influence you. At some point you have to pick and choose what advice to follow and when to shrug off someone else’s opinion.
Q: I’ve read criticism from particular bloggers (Fangs for the Fantasy being one) about the lack of people of color and different sexual orientations in fiction. Do you take this lack of diversity into consideration when creating plots and characters?
A: It’s definitely something I think about. I’ve had different ethnicities represented as main characters in some of my books, but I’m always afraid to get the flavor wrong and make an even bigger botch than if I’d never tried. Still I’ve had some Asian heroines (Captive Bride, Shifter, PI, The Thief and the Desert Flower), a Latina heroine in The Final Act, and a mixed bag of ethnic heroes (Thief and Flower, Rock Hard, Undeniable Magnetism, unfinished zombie novel), as well as supporting players. And I write both gay and straight romances so I feel pretty okay on that score.
Q: Do word counts mean anything to you? Do you find your books top out at around the same lengths?
A: I don’t worry about length unless I’m writing for a call for submissions. Sometimes the stories come out novella length and sometimes stretch to full length novels. But I think I’ve yet to top 80K. I couldn’t imagine writing some huge 120K epic fantasy novel. Nuh-uh.
Q: How big a deal is writer’s block for you and what do you do to shake it off?
A: More of a problem than it used to be. I’ve slowed way down in how much I’m able to produce. But I’ve stopped guilt-tripping about it and try to just plug away at least a little bit each day. Sometimes the cure for writer’s block is to do something else, particularly something physical. Engage a different portion of the brain and when you come back, the connections you need will be there. Sometimes you need to take a complete break from that project and write a short piece to remember why you love writing. Four Kisses was last winter’s exercise in rediscovering my love. I adore that little story. Not much plotting, just a character study. My favorite thing.
Q: What books did you enjoy most in 2012?
A: I really liked Something Like Normal by Trish Doller, about a returning soldier trying to reconnect with family and finding new love. I tend to enjoy the New Adult genre and the whole concept of finding one’s place in the world. Not that that isn’t a journey that continues throughout life.
I liked Indian Maidens Bust Loose by Vidya Samson because of culture clash story (traditional Indian women meeting their Canadian cousins for the first time).
War Brides by Helen Bryan was an interesting study of several women who forge a friendship during WWII and how the mystery of something that happened back then is resolved in present day.
Q: What trends do you hope die in 2013? Are there any you hope take off?
A: If I never hear the words “50 shades” again, I’ll be happy. And I’m still waiting for steampunk to really blow up as we all once expected it would. Also, of course, I’d be happy if gay romances continued to gain ground. Summer and I have had some success with our gay historicals but we’d like an even bigger audience to discover our books. (Hint: Start with The Gentleman and the Rogue, my personal fav).
Q: What are you plans for 2013 as an indie writer?
A: I have a few books coming out at Samhain, but in self-publishing, I’ll just be glad if I can finish this Killer story and the unfinished zombie story.
