Author Interview: Dorothy Bell
What is the title of your book?
Dance Hall Road
Please tell us a little bit about your
book.
Buck Hoyt runs a whorehouse in the back end of nowhere.
Scruffy and cantankerous, he hauls in the whores in the spring and sends them
packing in the fall. In winter, Buck, a dedicated recluse, reads, writes and
grows his hair.
But this winter, Petra Yurvasi, and her newborn son
impose on his solitude. Now shaved and shorn, Buck’s only purpose is to please
and protect his woman and her child. Can he keep them safe from the evil
brothers that want her silenced forever? If they face the evil together, they
have a chance.
How
did you come up with your book idea?
On
a day trip to Hell’s Canyon, near Baker City, Oregon, way out in the back of
nowhere, I saw a sign that read Dance Hall Road. The road dead-ended, there
were no structures in sight. I knew there were numerous old mines up in the
bluffs, and at one time the wagon trains came down very close to the old road.
That sign set my imagination off in an exciting direction.
Is there a
message in your novel that you want readers to grasp?
I think there’s
a message in every book. Dance Hall Road perhaps exemplifies the message you can run but you can’t hide.
What
are your publishing credits?
In 2013 Freya’s Bower Publishing released the
first of my Laura Creek Romances titled The
Reprobate, a historical western romance set in the Blue Mountains of
northeastern Oregon. In October of 2013 the second novel in the Laura Creek
Romances, The Cost of Revenge was
released. Dance Hall Road, a western
romance, followed in December of 2014.
What is your preferred genre to write?
I relate to the 1880’s, Victorian era. So much of
our industrial evolution, as well as women’s evolution, took place during that time.
Of course I have to write about Oregon. It’s where I grew up. I love its
history.
How did you become a writer?
I don’t think you become a writer, either you are
one or you’re not. A writer has to write, make up stories, imagine, invent, play
all the parts, empathize.
Are you a planner, complete with
detailed outlines, or do you fly by the seat of your pants when writing?
A little of both. I plot out my characters, what
they look like, how they relate to everyone, their environment. Even their
childhood, what shaped their character, their fears, their faults. Also, I
decide in what month they were born, and do a rough sketch of their horoscopes.
What
advice would you give a new writer?
Don’t analyze.
Write.
What
other projects do you have in the works at the moment?
I
have three novels on the queue with my editor at Freya’s bower. The first, and
soon to be released is a contemporary love story titled Reinventing Mica Avery, the second is another Dance Hall Road novel
titled Do-se-do, and the third is an
Oregon historical novel titled The
Widow’s Ferry.
If
you could journey into any of your books, interacting with the characters,
which would it be and why?
I
would love to live in Laura Creek, visit the mercantile, gossip and be part of
the ladies circle. But I would also swoon if Buck Hoyt put his arm around my
waist. He’s very sexy.
What are you reading?
I just finished reading The Closer The Bone, by Leslie S. Talley. She is an excellent storyteller. She has a style that is fresh and funny. Love her books. If you like
BBC murder mysteries you should try her books.
What
public appearances do you have planned in the future?
I
don’t have any appearances planned, but I would love to do another motivational
workshop. My workshops are aimed at helping those writers who can’t finish
their books. I love hearing writers defend all the roadblocks they throw up to
keep themselves from moving on. My desire is to get them to work in the
positive and move through the imperfections, discover their true message and
voice.
Chocolate
or vanilla?
I’m
crazy for both, but milk chocolate, not dark. Hot fudge on my vanilla ice
cream, white chocolate covered cherries, white chocolate almond bark, milk
chocolate covered caramels.
Who
is your dream man and why?
On behalf of Simply Sexy Reads, thank you!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Dorothy
A. Bell, author of western and contemporary romances with Freya’s Bower
Publishing, grew up in southern Iowa, moved to Oregon’s Willamette Valley at
the age of eleven. She married a boy that she first met in the sixth grade, and
they’ve been married for fifty years.
While
her two children were in school, she started to write Regency Romances to
entertain herself. As a facilitator of a writer’s critique group for several
years, she learned a lot from fellow writers. She took writing courses at a
community college. But Dorothy says, she’s learned the most by submitting her
work to publishers, editors and agents, and getting feedback.
Laid
low for nearly twenty-five years with arthritis, forced to use a
battery-powered cart, Dorothy took up aquatic exercise and became an
instructor. She retired after eighteen years of instructing, and now goes to
the pool to do her own thing. After two surgeries to replace her knees, she
went to work on herself and lost eighty-five pounds. With renewed energy, she
put more into her writing, submitted her work, rewrote and kept submitting,
which she continues to do.
Dorothy
and her husband live in Central Oregon with their two West Highland White
terriers Corky and Buddy, a long-haired dachshund named Hector (Heck for short)
and Rocky, a big, angora tuxedo cat. She enjoys gardening and landscaping.
DOROTHY BELL'S BOOKS:
An Oregon historical, Laura Creek Romance The
Reprobate; a Laura Creek Romance, The Cost of Revenge; and Dance Hall Road.
Awesome!! Great picture too!
ReplyDeleteThanks! Yes, she is very awesome! :-)
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