Interview with author Poppy Dennison

Welcome to RomFan Reviews Poppy, it is a pleasure to have you with us today.

Thanks so much! Can’t wait to see what questions you have in store for me! *g*

Tell us a little about your new release Body Magic.

Body Magic is book two of the Triad series. It continues the story of Simon Osborne, apprentice mage, and his new mate, alpha werewolf Gray Townsend. Gray and Simon are in deep trouble for breaking tradition and mating. Different magical species aren’t allowed to mix, but they did it anyway. As if that weren’t enough, they’re still trying to figure out who is behind the kidnapping of their pack’s cubs.

Gray’s best friend Cade gets in on the action this time. He’s struggling with huge feelings of guilt—the cubs were kidnapped on his watch—and he resents the security specialist Gray brought into amp up the pack’s security system. Cade is convinced that Rocky has a secret, and he wants to know what it is!

What can we see coming from you in the future?

Next up for me is Soul Magic, the final book in the Triad trilogy. I also have two novellas in the works and am chomping at the bit to get started on a new Urban Fantasy series that I hope to premier next year. 

What is your favorite thing about being a romance writer?

As cheesy as it may sound, being a writer has been my dream for so long that just doing it—writing, editing, stressing over deadlines, and biting my nails waiting to hear on my latest submission—it’s all my favorite. When you’re living your dream, it’s hard not to love every minute of it.

What genres and authors would we find you reading when taking a break from your own writing? 

I’m a huge fan of paranormal romance, and I try to keep up with quite a few series. J.R. Ward’s Black Dagger Brotherhood, Charlaine Harris’s Southern Vampires, and I’m madly in love with Mary Calmes’s Change of Heart series. Outside of paranormal, I’m a huge fan of Jeremy Pack’s new release “To Touch the Stars”. But honestly, most days you’ll find my nose in some sort of research book. It amazes me how much research I have to do for a world that I created!

Is there anything special you do to get in the mood to write?

For me, it’s all about the routine. I find my muse works best when I’m consistent, so I get up in the morning, make coffee, check emails, and then get busy writing. If I get out of that routine, my muse becomes sluggish (of course I usually blame it on lack of coffee.)

Are you a plotter or a pantser?

Yes? LOL. No really, I’m a bit of both. I do tend to have a plot in mind as well as an outline, but I let my characters take the lead. I’ve had the best surprises that way. There’s a scene in Body Magic when Gray’s son Garon asks Simon about *gasp* sex. That scene wasn’t plotted and ended up being my favorite in the book!

How much time did it take from writing your first book to having it published? 

I’m a VERY lucky gal. I started writing Mind Magic in April, submitted it in August, and it was published the following April. So a year, from start to print. Very lucky. I still pinch myself that it all happened!

How would your friends describe you?

Mostly people say I’m sweet with a side of sassy. I think it’s a pretty accurate description.

What’s something fans would find fascinating about you?

My first dream in life was to be an archaeologist, so I took Latin, Greek and Ancient History in college. Then I went on my first dig in Greece and realized that the archaeologist’s life wasn’t for me!

What books or authors have most influenced your life?

I’m really inspired by books with fantastic world building. I look at something like the Harry Potter series with so many rich details and such fantastic imagery and I strive to write more like that. These days, I look to a lot of the paranormal writers for goal setting, but the authors who most inspire me are the ones who are in the trenches with me every day, folks like Xara Xanakas, Jeremy Pack, M.J. O’Shea, Taylor Donovan, and Silvia Violet. When you have friends who are living the same reality as you are, it makes your journey so much more rewarding.

When not writing, how do you relax?

I travel quite a bit and spend as much time with family as possible. In the summer, I lay by the pool and read and in the fall, I find a great hike where I can see the beautiful Smoky Mountains where I live. 

Who is your favorite author and why? What books have most influenced your life?

The Trixie Belden books were the books that inspired me most as a tween. I found a heroine who was just like me—freckle faced, very curious, and a country girl. I ate those books up and begged for more. I wanted to write a series with a “Trixie” of my own, that lovable character who is sometimes misguided but would do anything for you. I hope my fans can see a little bit of Trixie in Simon from Mind Magic. 

Mind Magic Blurb:

A pack is only as strong as its weakest member. Rocky Harris knows how the system works. He’s been on the bottom rung his whole life. But when his alpha consigns him to the High Moon Pack to help them improve security, he finds his beliefs not just challenged but outright assaulted.

Cade Montgomery’s confidence took a hit when the pack’s cubs were kidnapped on his watch. He’s prepared to do anything to protect his family, even if it means working with Rocky. Maybe Cade doesn’t trust Rocky, but with the turmoil surrounding pack Alpha Gray’s unpopular decision to break tradition and mate with a mage named Simon, Cade knows more threats are coming.

Then someone declares war on shifters and puts the entire pack in danger. Cade and Rocky will need each other’s strengths to survive the impending battle—and the power of their growing attraction.

Buy Links
Dreamspinner Press

Bio:
 

A sassy southern lady, Poppy Dennison developed an obsession with things that go bump in the night in her early years after a barn door flew off its hinges and nearly squashed her. Convinced it was a ghost trying to get her attention, she started looking for other strange and mysterious happenings around her. Not satisfied with what she found, Poppy has traveled to Greece, Malaysia and England to find inspiration for the burly bears and silver foxes that melt her butter. Her love of paranormal continues to flourish nearly thirty years later, and she writes steamy love stories about the very things that used to keep her up all night. If her childhood ghost is lucky, maybe one day she’ll give him his own happily ever after.

Visit her on her web site: http://www.poppydennison.com/
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