Interview with Dannie Hill, author of Death’s Door

Indie Book Promo would like to welcome Dannie Hill to the blog! He is here today to answer some questions and to share some information with us about his latest book, Death’s Door.  If this book sounds like something you would be interested in reading, please use the buy links at the bottom of the post to pick up a copy or two.

 

IBP – How would you describe your latest book in 20 words or less without using the blurb?

 

Dannie – Funniest thriller you’ll ever read, with romance and suspense. A main character you’ll love or just call friend.

 

IBP – Where would you live if you could live anywhere in the world?

 

Dannie – I live in Thailand with my wife and it’s an exotic place I dreamed while growing up. We have a small farm growing the things I used to read about and wondered what it would be like to walk out my door and see. Thailand’s a foreign, strange place but I find it’s so familiar. If I had to choose I don’t think I could pick one place but our little bit of paradise is close enough to satisfy me.

 

IBP – Who are your cheerleaders?

 

Dannie – My best cheerleaders(supporters) are my peers and I’ve been pleasantly surprised by this fact. Of course my family and old friends are important in my writing life, but my new friends, readers and writers, have taught me so much about showing appreciation and support. I’ve learned some of my most valuable life lessons by watching, listening and returning their kindness. I’m a better man for knowing them.

 

IBP – Do you read reviews written about your book?

 

Dannie – I think most novelists live for honest reviews. If you’re a good writer then you leap at the chance to see what others think of your work. It’s also a great learning process and moves me forward to be a better writer. In truth, I’ve only received one 2 star review and even in that I learned. Readers are the life’s blood of a writer. For me, it is so important to hear from the people I work so hard to please. When writing I write for me but more so for the individual reader. I think of them sitting alone or in a crowded station filling their world with my words. Powerful stuff for a writer.

 

IBP – What’s your favorite part of writing a book?

 

Dannie – The first draft! When my muse gives me an idea it’s usually something silly for me to work with. I decide on one or two characters, a smidgen of a plot and a very vague ending. I wanted to write a thriller so I got the ball rolling and then stepped back and let the characters and story unfold as I tried to keep up. To me it is a little like reading a good book for the first time. I don’t know what’s going to happen next, but I do know it will be good.

 

With Death’s Door I became stuck about halfway through, so I put it away for a few weeks while I thought about the plot and storyline. In the end I wrote the final scenes of the manuscript and the middle just opened like a beautiful flower. It really is magical.

 

For Death’s Door the original idea was so silly I’m embarrassed sometimes to tell others. But I hope this will let other writers see that silly or whimsical it a good place to start an idea, no matter the genre. I had been thinking of how funny it would be to put a character in a scene where he had gas so bad and loud it was putting him in danger of being captured. And that’s how Death’s Door was born. Okay, you can stop laughing now… By the way this is only a few scenes in the book. Readers call it the laugh-out-loud part of the book—I like that.

 

IBP – How did you come up with your premise for your books?

 

Dannie – I’ve told you about the premise for my latest book, so I would like to tell you about my bestselling book, In Search of a Soul. I love to sail and always dreamed of crossing oceans alone. I haven’t done that yet, but I have made a few, thousand mile passages well out to sea.

 

I had submitted another manuscript to a number of agents and the few who wrote back told me it was too simple, too easy to read. I got angry and decided to show these people what my vocabulary was capable of. It also threw me into a dark depression.

 

Out of this state of mind I wrote a beautiful flowing, poetic book(reviewers words—not mine) about a real and touchable hero sailing the Pacific alone. He was a rather pathetic being with little hope for the future until he rescues a little girl far out at sea. She forces him to remember his past in order to keep her safe from a man that held her in servitude. I’m happy to say that women love this book. I’m excited to hear how the characters touched their hearts. A surprising character in the story is the boat, Tirak.

 

 IBP – What book is currently on your nightstand?

Dannie – Living in Thailand my Kindle is never far away. Right now I am reading one of my favorite lady authors. Eden Baylee. We’ve connected over the social media and I just love her and her writing. I’m not much of an erotica reader but Eden puts the story and plot before the erotic. Spring into Summer is a book with four unique and hot stories. Eden is a talent I learn much from.

 

IBP – How important do you find the communication between you and your readers? Do you reply to their messages or read their reviews?

 

Dannie – I am a better writer from hearing from readers—either by review, email or comments at my blog. I write to everyone because I know how important readers are. I love them!

 

IBP – If you could write with anyone who would that be and why?

 

Dannie – I would really like to write and talk to Steven King. I thought for years he was just a writer who scared the crap out of readers. I don’t care for that—my dreams are bad enough without help, ha! But I recently read his book On Writing and found him to be an amazing writer that can teach and guide his peers in an interesting and enlightened way. It’s a book every novelist should read.

 

IBP – What is in the works for you next?

 

Dannie – I have several manuscripts in work. One I’m enjoying is about a man genetically changed to a woman to protect him from people trying to kill him. It’s funny and a blast to write as he learns to be a woman.

 

A finished manuscript(1^st draft) that is titled On The Menu is coming soon. The hardest subject I’ve written about so far. It’s about a sexual predator that preys on young girls and women, but through circumstances he is injured and being cared for by a young mother and her two daughters—Can he change? Does he want to change? It is also a look at sexual slavery in the States.

 

IBP – Anything else you would like to add?

 

Dannie – I want to thank you for allowing me to come to your great site. Writers of all type and genres need support. Writing is a lonely profession and places like Indie Book Promotions are like a cool fresh breeze on a hot summer day!

 

Comments are the manna that nourishes the lonely life of a writer, so please tell me what you think. I love readers!