Author Spotlight: Dani Rene

The AMAZING Dani Rene did an interview for me.

Thank you so much for agreeing to do this for me!!

Bio:

Dani is an international bestselling author and proud member of the Romance Writer’s Organization of South Africa.
A fan of dark romance that grabs you by the throat and doesn’t let go. It’s from this passion that her writing has evolved from sweet and romantic, to dark and delicious. It’s in this world she’s found her calling, growing from strength to strength and hitting her stride.
On a daily basis, she has a few hundred characters, storylines, and ideas floating around in her head. From the feisty heroines she delivers to the dark, dominant alphas that grace the pages of her books, she promises light in a world filled with danger and darkness.
She has a healthy addiction to reading, TV series, music, tattoos, chocolate, and ice cream.

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Random Questions:

• What is your favorite restaurant? I’m a huge fan of pizza or sushi and there’s a restaurant at the V&A waterfront in Cape Town that makes the most amazing sushi, as well as pizzas with thin bases and extra cheese (my two main requirements for an awesome pizza).
• Where is your favorite or dream vacation spot? Anywhere with a beach, I’ve always wanted to go to Cacun, so hopefully one day I’ll be able to visit. I love being able to hear the ocean, waves crashing while I read books on my long TBR list.
• If you could have dinner with anyone (dead or alive), who would it be? Edgar Allen Poe
• What is your biggest fear? Not having my family and friends around as my support. I’ve also got a fear of not being able to write.
• How often do you curse? Pretty much every second word. LOL! Especially at work, I liaise with clients on a daily basis and it does get rather frustrating, so yeah, it’s stress relieving.
• Are you a very organized person? My desk is a mess, but if I’m traveling, or need to head to a meeting, I’m normally very organized and make lists of what I need to do, even though most times I forget things on my list.
• What is your favorite TV show? Is this a trick question? LOL! I binge watch loads of shows, but I’d say The Vampire Diaries, The Originals, and Supernatural would be my top three.
  
  
• What is something you are obsessed with? Books, music, and TV Series. Three of my favorite things.
• What’s your favorite way to waste time? Scrolling through Pinterest or Tumblr. It’s an easy way of losing a few hours of the day. I normally think, oh I’ll just pop on there for a couple minutes, then note two hours later I’m still on one of those sites.
• What three words best describe you? Honest. Shy.
  

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This or That:

• Fireman or Policeman? Policeman
• Vodka or Rum? Vodka
• Baseball or Football? Football
• Heels or Flats? Flats
• Beer or Wine? Both
• Tattoos or no tattoos? Definitely Tattoos
• Pepsi or Coke? Coke
• Christmas or Halloween? Halloween
• Cookie or Cake? Cake
• Beach or Mountains? Beach
• Pasta or pizza? Pizza
• Day or night? Night
• Fire or ice? Fire

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Book Related Questions: **SPOILERS AHEAD**

• I have only read 2 of your books so far, but I loved both books that I read. I’m going to talk about the two books that I have read and then I am going to talk a bit about some of your other books or series.

 

• Kingston was the first book of yours that I read and what a book it was. Kingston was a jerk, an asshole, but I couldn’t help but love him. It took me a while to love him though. Why write him as such a dick? I love showing a character progress from a jerk to someone you can’t help but love. Even though he was an asshole, I wanted to show the reader that everyone deals with pain differently. He was angry that his wife died. He was hurting, and I hoped the reader would see that Kristyn healed what had broken inside him.
• Where you ever worried about how readers would react to the scene with Kingston, Pearson, and Kristyn? Yes and no. I wanted to push readers outside their comfort zone. That scene had mixed reviews, but ultimately, it’s how the characters wanted me to write it. I love making readers ‘feel’ something, good or bad. Yes, it was an asshole move on Levi’s part, but that was just who he was. Kristyn loved him enough to allow that, however, seeing them later in the book, she was with him and that was it. I like to show relationships that are outside the norm and they definitely were.
• What was it like working with J. Hollyfield, K. Webster, and Ker Dukey on the Four Fathers series? Such fun! The ladies are awesome to work with and they made the process so seamless. Also, I’m a huge fangirl of these ladies so being able to work alongside them on this project was a highlight of my career as an author.
• What can we expect in the 4 Four Sons series? The Four Sons are so different to the first series. It’s an emotional road that we travel with them overcoming Eric’s death. There are some incredibly hot scenes, but there are some that will definitely tug at your heart.

 

• The second book of yours I read was Ruthless which is the 4^th book in the Sins of Seven series but I felt like I could read it as a stand-alone and not be lost. Why do a series on the seven deadly sins? I wanted the series to be standalones because it allows readers to sample my writing without having cliffhangers. Each book is so very different, and each couple brings something new to the reader. The idea came to me when I was scrolling Pinterest and I thought, what if a couple experienced/lived with that particular sin or acted out on it. They were meant to be short novellas, but when I started Kneel, they just didn’t want to let me write something short. The stories slowly flowed, and I wanted to combine the BDSM scene to the Sins, giving the reader a different look into various scenarios and how each sin could change someone’s life.
• Callan and Madison’s story was not an easy story at times. What was the hardest scene to write in this book? The scenes with Hudson were the most difficult. He was a vile character that made me cringe while he was in my head. The final scene where he leaves Madison on the bed was probably the most difficult in that story because I loved how strong and fierce she was and having to write her weak and broken really tore at me.
• This book contains scenes that could be triggers. Did you ever re-think any of your scenes? Yes, there are triggers, and no, I allow the characters to tell me the story and I write it. There are warnings at the beginning of all the Sins books for this reason. I never change a scene because of a trigger because I would be silencing my characters voice. I just hope people adhere to the warnings.
• What can readers expect in the first three books of the Sins of Seven series, Kneel, Whisper, and Indulge? They’re all so very different. I think Kneel is a darker read because of Nate’s need to humiliate. I didn’t go too in depth with it because I was still getting my feet wet in the dark romance genre, I could’ve delved deeper. Whisper has scenes that are intense, darker, more challenging to read, but the relationship between Eli and Gia are one of my favorites. Indulge focuses on Carrick, one of the owners of Seven Sins Club, he’s got a lot of secrets, and they slowly unravel when he meets Peyton. Indulge isn’t as dark as the other books, but it focuses on an emotional journey between the two main characters.

 

• I just downloaded Sunshine and the Stalker and I can’t wait to read it. How did you and K. Webster divide up the writing? This little novella was actually written as a live write in my reader group. One weekend, K and I spent two days writing Cerys and James. People seemed to love them and begged us to publish the story.
  
• Why a novella and not an entire novel? Since the story was told (mostly) within the short chapters, we didn’t delve too much into the background but rather giving readers a tease of their lives now. Who knows, we may even be teasing you about a future collaboration. 😉

 

• I’m going to list some of your other books or series. I want you to tell me about the book or series in 5 words:

Broken by Desire: A sexy, raw, emotional rollercoaster.

The Forbidden series: Dark, intensely passionate love stories

Love Beyond Words: A sweet, hopeful love story.

Pierced Ink: Short, dirty, second chance romance.

Fragile Innocence: Three hearts healing each other.

The Backstage series: Rock stars finding love backstage.

Ace of Harts: Challenging love triangle with cheating.

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Random Ending Questions:

• Is it hard to write duel POV? No, I love writing dual POV, I love getting into the head of both characters to see what makes them tick.
• Who are your one-click authors? K Webster, M Never, Giana Darling, Jane Anthony, Cora Kenborn, Yolanda Olson, CD Reiss, JA Huss, Jennifer Bene.
  
  
• Do you write full-time or part-time? At the moment part-time.
• What is the most difficult part of writing a sex scene? Making sure that everything fits where it should! LOL! I find sex scenes very technical while writing them because I have to make sure the positions would work.
• Do you feel authors should put trigger warnings in their books? Honestly, no. I normally have one at the beginning of a book, before the prologue so that if something offends someone, they can move on. But, I’ve found that some readers ignore warnings and then complain about something in the story so it’s difficult to gauge.
• What is the average time it takes to write a book? A novella (up to 30k) takes me about a week. The full-length novels (up to 70k) normally take me about a month. That’s only the first draft.
  

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Final Questions:

• What can readers expect in the future? ALL THE WORDS! LOL! There are three books left to finish in the Sins of Seven Series. I have two standalones coming as well, which will be early 2019. I have a new series planned for next year which is linked to one of the Sins books, but I can’t tell you just yet, and in between I have a story I’m writing for Blaire’s World which is run by Anita Gray. I also have another novella I can’t talk about for another World for early 2019. Too many stories, too little time!

 

• Anything you would like to say to your readers? I can’t thank you enough for allowing me to do this. You are the reason I write! I love words, I love creating characters that you love and hate, and I also love knowing that you’ll always take a chance on my books, even though it might be outside your comfort zone. I’m beyond humbled each day I see a review, or I get a message from any one of you telling me you enjoyed my books. There is no better feeling than knowing I’ve made someone feel something just by my words. THANK YOU!

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Books by Dani Rene:

Sin of Seven Series:

Forbidden Series:

Backstage Series:

Stand-alones: