Lisa Haselton's Reviews and Interviews: Interview with romance novelist Diane Demetre

Novelist Diane Demetre joins me today to chat with me a bit about her new romantic suspense, Retribution.

During her virtual book tour, Diane will be awarding a $25 Amazon or Barnes and Noble (winner’s choice) gift card to a lucky randomly drawn winner. To be entered for a chance to win, use the form below. To increase your chances of winning, feel free to visit her other tour stops and enter there, too.

Bio:

Being a passionate woman who’s always done things a little differently, Diane’s diverse career began as a school teacher before she moved into a full-time career as a professional choreographer, director and dancer, strutting her stuff on many stages throughout Australia. She was responsible for the original multi-million dollar extravaganzas at Conrad Jupiter’s Casino, Gold Coast—Starz & Galaxies.

Following her onstage career, Diane’s thirst for knowledge led her into the field of self-development. Using her highly developed communication skills and love of people, she spent many years as a stress & life skills therapist and life coach, teaching individuals, couples and groups the methodologies of personal success and fulfilment.

With her business acumen, Diane launched into the corporate arena, working in a variety of positions as a consultant in marketing, special events, tourism, business strategies, quality management and human resource management. Combining her entertainment and business backgrounds, she returned to the stage as a keynote speaker and corporate facilitator, educating business leaders in the ‘new mindset’ for business and relationship building in the 21st century.

Assuming the pseudonym of the Goddess of Love, she appeared as a guest presenter on Gold FM radio, Gold Coast, a national radio program broadcast to 1.4million listeners. Her weekly program proved popular with Diane providing empowering advice on life, love, sex and relationships, sprinkled with a good dose of humour. Her passion for life and compulsive sharing nature made her a great inspiration to her listeners. As the Goddess of Love she also appeared as a regular guest on the national television program Beauty & the Beast, where her practical insights were televised to viewers across Australia.

When she launched into a writing career, Diane’s debut erotic romance series, the Dance of Love was voted Luminosity Publishing Readers’ Choice Best Books and Best Covers for 2015 and 2016.

Her romantic suspense, Retribution won the Romance Writers of Australia Emerald Pro Award 2017 for Best Unpublished Manuscript. Diane loves to write genre-busting stories with a twist. Her works are packed with emotional punch and feature empowered heroines who live life to the fullest, much like the author herself.

Please share a little bit about your current release.
Retribution is my first foray into writing romantic suspense, a genre where the suspense element and the romantic relationship are equally important to the plot. I wanted to give a rich emotional depth to the story by constructing complex character arcs in a story that merges the deeper elements of life, love and hope. Retribution does not follow the usual formula for this genre… It is romantic suspense with a twist.

What inspired you to write this book?

This story is my way of paying tribute to the people who have endured more than most. Those who have lived hellish childhoods, those who have fought for our freedom, those who have experienced unimaginable trauma and those who may never recover from their suffering. With the overarching theme of forgiveness and redemption, Retribution pays homage to the human condition in all its glory and misery.

Excerpt from Retribution:
Here’s an excerpt from the scene when Jessie’s flat has been broken into and she’s called BJ for help...

“But I did find this.” He held up a sealed pink envelope that he’d skewered on the tip of one of Jessie’s kitchen forks. The wary expression on his face kindled a spark of fear in her.

She eyed it with suspicion. “What is it?”

“I’m not sure, but it was propped up on the pillows on your bed and it’s addressed to you. I haven’t touched it.” His flinty gaze riveted her to the spot. An icy shiver skidded down her spine, leaving a path of cold, clammy apprehension.

“You open it.” She rubbed her arms a little too fiercely.

“Do you have any gloves? If this has got fingerprints on it, I don’t want to contaminate evidence.”

“Yes. Under the sink in my bathroom. There’re disposable gloves in a box.” She cocked her head in the direction, indicating he should go and find them. Her legs felt like jelly, and she feared that if she tried to go and get the gloves herself, she’d fall flat on her face.

BJ headed to the bathroom. Within a minute or two, he returned with a pair of gloves that he offered to her. “You’ll have to put them on. They’re too small for me.”

Jessie rubbed her hands, stalling for time. She reached for the gloves and braced herself as if expecting them to send an electric shock up her arms. Doing her best to remain calm, she pushed her hands into the gloves, finishing each with a snap.

He stared at her with an expression of grim determination. “You have to open it, Jessie. If you don’t want to read it, leave it on the table and walk away. I’ll read it if you like.”

Her hands trembled as she plucked the envelope from the fork. The back of it peeled up effortlessly, and she imagined the person who had left it, licking it with their vile tongue and sealing it with just enough of their wetness, but not so much as to stick it tight. She swallowed down her revulsion before she gagged on it. Reluctantly, she opened the envelope and eased out an innocent piece of squarely folded pink paper. Flattening it out, she wrenched her gaze away, before she accidentally read its contents.

What exciting story are you working on next?
Island of Secrets is a romantic mystery and due for release 14 October 2018. Set in the romantic location of Hawaii and packed with emotional punch, it is a contemporary love story which transcends time and speaks to the profounder meaning of love, loss and belonging. The narrative is presented in three parts, across three timelines—1973, 2017 and 2027. It is written in third person and told from the heroine’s POV in each part.

When did you first consider yourself a writer?

When my first book was published in 2015.

Dancing Queen was the first in my erotic romance series, The Dance of Love, and published by Luminosity Publishing. The three books in that series won Luminosity Publishing’s Readers’ Choice Awards for Best Books and Best Covers in 2015 and 2016.

Do you write full-time? If so, what's your work day like? If not, what do you do other than write and how do you find time to write?
In between running a national business, going to the gym 5 times a week and loving my hubby, my furry family and friends, I carve out time to write. My writing day usually starts around 1pm and goes through to about 5pm when I break for dinner. I go back to writing through to 9/10pm at night. I do this 7 days a week. Rarely do I have a day off.

What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?
I am a highly organized and intuitive writer. Although I do lots of planning, researching and preparation, in my Dance of Love series, I used tarot cards and runes in my stories. The cards and spreads I included in those stories were the actual ones I pulled or threw in my office. It added a wonderfully serendipitous edge to the stories. What they revealed to me and my characters and then my readers propelled the story on a truly organic storyline with unexpected twists.

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

A star on the musical theatre stage

Anything additional you want to share with the readers?

When you align with your purpose and act with passion, you can be anything.

Links:

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