Blog Tour INTERVIEW with Dee Davis, Author of Desperate Deeds

Please help me welcome author Dee Davis to the interview mic!  Then read my review and enter the giveaway for Desperate Deeds

Martha:
1Q.  I am very thrilled to get to ask you some questions! I have been a fan since 2001 when I read Just Breathe which is still on my shelves. (See the feature post for proof of my collection.)  I see that you have some time travels that I need to get and some women’s fiction. What inspired you to write the different genres you write? Do you have plans to write in any other genres? 

Dee Davis: Well first off, thanks for loving Just Breathe – it’s one of my favorites, too!   I actually fell in love with Time Travels when reading a book by Leslie LaFoy and then later reading Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander.   But all three of my time travels (Everything In Its Time, The Promise, and Wild Highland Rose) are at heart, romantic suspense, just with the added twist of a hero or heroine out of time.   The women’s fiction books are in essence romantic comedies, and were books I wrote in an effort to stretch my writing abilities.  A new challenge as it were.  A Match Made on Madison is an homage to Austen’s Emma and also to my love of Manhattan.   Set-Up in SoHo is a sequel to Match.  At the moment, I’m enjoying concentrating on the A-Tac series.   There will be three more A-Tac books coming in 2011 and 2012.

Martha: That sounds good to me - except if we have to wait that long to discover the identity of the traitor!

2Q.  Is there a big transition in your writing style from one genre to another?

Dee Davis:  Definitely a change with the romantic comedies, particularly because they’re written in first person rather than third.  But I do think there are commonalities in all my books.  My voice is still present in each style, just expressed a bit differently.   There’s less room for comedy in romantic suspense, but I do think (as in Just Breathe) it can become a part of the story.  Shakespeare was famous for using comedic bits to break up the suspense/tragedy in some of his plays.  I’m certainly no Shakespeare, but the principle holds true.

Martha: Yes. I think that is one thing that caught me with those stand alone books: the humor as a plus with the intrigue and romance.

3Q. I love series and I like to ask this question:  When you do a series do you have each book plotted out before you start the first one or do the subsequent books flow from the first book?

Dee Davis:  I like to think of plotting as a road map.  I know where I’m starting and where I want to end and maybe a few stops along the way.  But the rest of the journey is in the discovery.  So I have some idea of each book.  But not a complete synopsis.  That’s done just as I begin each book.  And there’s always room for a detour or two.   In my Last Chance series, the third book was meant to go to a different hero, but as I wrote Nigel Ferris, I began to realize that his needed to be the third story (Exposure).  So changes do happen!  So the answer I guess is a bit of both.  Some planning and some flowing J.

Martha: That was another exciting trilogy.
4Q.  What most inspires your plots?

Dee Davis:  Ideas come from anywhere.  In the beginning it can be a character—like Tyler in Desperate Deeds.  She came to me almost fully formed and demanded her fifteen minutes of fame.  Sometimes it’s an incident from my life.  When we lived in Vienna we traveled a lot by train.  I had a six month old when we first arrived and I live in fear of the gap between the bottom of the train steps and the platform, certain that I was going to fall and hurt my child.  From that came the premise of Just Breathe.  What if a woman fell from a train onto a dead man?  Occasionally, as with The Promise, it’s all about location.  I spent my summers growing up just outside Creede, Colorado.  My dad was a fly fisherman.  And over those years I grew to love the mining town and its history and wanted to feature it (fictitiously) in a book.  The Promise was born.   With the A-Tac series the central premise came from my love for academia (I adored college and always thought it would be cool to be a professor) and my love for international intrigue.  The CIA wasn’t as interested in me as I was in them, unfortunately, so I live my dreams through A-Tac.  But, the good part is, that it’s a lot less dangerous that way.

Martha:  Yes - having the adventures through books is much less dangerous!
5Q.  Can you summarize Desperate Deeds in one sentence?

Dee Davis: Two people finding love in the midst of trying to stop a nuclear detonation.

Martha:  Good job summarizing!
6Q.  In Desperate Deeds is there anything that your heroine would never be caught dead doing or saying?

Dee Davis: The word “No.”   Tyler isn’t the kind to give in.   She’s up for almost any challenge.  And she’s determined to see it through.  She’s afraid of commitment.  Or more realistically that no one would be willing to commit to her as she is.  But she’s so determined to follow through that even when she doubts Owen, she hangs in there trying to find the truth.

Martha: I say "Yay for tenacious Tyler"!
7Q.  Is there an ancillary character you had the most fun with during the A-Tac series?

Dee Davis: I’ve always adored Harrison Blake.  He first made his appearance in the Last Chance Books (Endgame, Enigma and Exposure), so I was delighted when he wound up assigned to help Owen with A-Tac in Desperate Deeds.  And if I had to predict, I don’t think this is the last we’ll see of him either.   I also adore Hannah Marshall.   Her changing eyewear and hair color make her quirky and provide contrast to her more serious A-Tac persona as a Sunderland College professor of political science and resident intel expert.

Martha: I too hope to see a story for Hannah and Harrison!
8Q.  Have you had to do any unique research or what was one of the most surprising things you learned in researching for any of your books?

Dee Davis:  I do a lot of research and to be honest most of it is quite interesting.  For Dangerous Desires, I had to learn a lot about Colombia and the Andes area where the book is set.  So there was a lot of history and topography as well as learning about plants and vegetation that inhabit that part of the world.  Perhaps the most interesting area of study came for Chain Reaction when I had to study frog poisons.  Particularly a lethal variety that certain frogs in the South American jungles carry.   (The use of this poison as a biochemical toxin came strictly from my imagination).  Over the years I’ve learned all kinds of things.  From the ATF robots used to defuse a bomb (Enigma) to the correct technique for climbing a sheer cliff in Cyprus (Dark Deceptions).  I have vertigo, so that one was strictly on paper.

Martha: It sounds like you have fun with the research.
9Q.  I was pleased to learn that you mention Mary Stewart books in your first 15 books.  She was the first romance novelist I read after seeing The Moonspinners as a teen. Is there an author who inspired you or helped you along on your writing career?

Dee Davis: Mary Stewart is my most favorite author.  I still believe her descriptive narrative is some of the best ever written.   And her heroines were always intelligent which is something I find very important in the books I read.  The Moon-Spinners is one of my all-time favorite books (along with My Brother Michael!)  I also was influenced by Michael Crichton, Robert Ludlum, Alistair McLean and Madeline L’Engle.  All of those authors, and many, many others helped shape what I believe makes a good book.  And so indirectly they helped me as I developed my craft.  Before starting my first book, I actually read something like 400 romance books over one summer as I attempted to get a handle on the market and on what I particularly liked and disliked in a romance.  And still today, I find bits of other people’s books that inspire me to try harder to make my books the best they can possibly be.  But overall, I’d have to say that it’s my editors who help me grow the most.  Their insight is invaluable. 

Martha: lI am glad that you've had lots of good inspiration and lots of good support.
10Q.  What type of promotion do you do and do you enjoy promoting?

Dee Davis:  Promoting---now there’s the ten million dollar question.   I do promote.  Primarily these days through blogs like yours. (Thank you!).   And social networking like Twitter and Facebook.  Although I also enjoy using those to rediscover old friends and/or just for fun.   I also maintain a website.  I speak at conferences.  And love anything that gives me the chance to interact with readers.  Writing is a solitary endeavor, so it’s always great to be reminded that books don’t just fall into a void.  Talking with readers about characters and books is always a treat.

Martha: I am very pleased to host you (and other authors) and to spread the word about good books!
11Q.  If you could have readers finish a sentence what would it be?

Dee Davis: If I were a romance heroine, my idea of the perfect location for my story would be….....?

Martha: Ohh- good question!
12Q.  Just for fun: Since you like cooking, do you have a favorite meal or recipe that you’d like to tell us about?

Dee Davis: At the moment I’m in love with a recipe for Macaroni and Cheese.  I’m a latecomer to the dish and this one is truly comfort food at its best.  The original recipe called for Gruyere cheese but I adapted it for my family’s tastes.  So:    Melt four tablespoons of butter in a saucepan.  Mix in ¼ cup plus two tablespoons flour.  Stir over med low heat for four minutes until flour begins to brown and smells nutty.   Add three cups of milk (whole –for richer sauce).  Stir constantly for another four minutes. Add salt and white pepper to taste.  Then add one package of shredded Italian mix cheese (I use Kraft) and about a cup of cheddar cheese cut into cubes.   Stir until completely melted.    Meanwhile – cook one lb. of pasta – your choice of shape but you want something the sauce can cling to, (like penne or shells).   Drain.    Add pasta to sauce (or the other way 'round depending on your pan) and toss together.   Pour into a 13 x 9 inch pan.    Then take ¾ cup bread crumbs (I use Japanese Panko) and ¼ cup grated fresh parmesan and mix with three tablespoons melted butter.   Sprinkle this on top of the casserole.  Cover with foil and bake at 350 for 30 minutes.  Uncover and cook for 15 minutes more.   Serve with a salad and crusty bread and Yum!

Martha:  Thank you, Dee, for sharing with us today; thank you for the yummy recipe and thank you for your yummy books! :)