Blurb:
To ambitious belly dancer Melanie
Drake, celebrity drummer Taz Roman is a self-absorbed playboy she prefers to
avoid… until he makes her a tantalizing offer.
He needs someone to pose as his
live-in girlfriend to get his meddling sister off his back. In exchange, he’ll
coach her through the upcoming Belly Dance Divas’ audition.
But when Melanie’s fake feelings
turn real and their secret backfires, she discovers Taz isn’t the man she
thought he was. As the deception threatens to destroy her dreams and his
career, she must find the courage to fight for what she truly wants.
Today and tomorrow only, Shimmy for Me is on sale for 99c or FREE on Kindle Unlimited!
DeAnna,
thanks so much for stopping by. So how did you get started writing?
I’d say it grew from
my love of reading. When I was a kid, I would check out as many books as the
library would allow—I think it was a dozen—and I would read them all and be
back the next week ready to check out more. When I wasn’t reading, I was usually
daydreaming and those daydreams became like stories in my head.
When it came time
to choose a career, I wanted to write fiction but that didn’t seem practical,
so I want into journalism. I loved that career. I spent about 15 years in that
field and I loved telling stories that affected people. Eventually, though, I
wanted to tell my own stories again. My first novel sold to a New York
publisher in 2008, and I’ve been focused on fiction ever since.
What
was the inspiration for your book?
The inspiration for
DANCE WITH ME, as well as all of the California Belly Dance Romance series
books, came from my lifelong love of the art and history of belly dance, and
especially the years I’ve spent in belly dance classes here in Southern
California. The women I’ve met through belly dance are some of the boldest,
most adventurous, and most confident women I’ve ever met, and the men they date
and marry? They’re pretty amazing, too. I love taking readers into this
little-known world and sharing with them all the wonderful things about it.
What’s
the one genre you haven’t written in yet that you’d like to?
Science fiction or
fantasy. I have a few story ideas that I’m dying to pursue, but I just haven’t
been able to give them time to fully develop yet.
Are
there any genres you won’t read or write in? Why?
No. I like a
compelling story no matter what genre it might be. I enjoy reading a little bit
of everything.
What
are you up to right now? Do you have any releases planned, or are you still
writing?
I’m putting the
finishing touches on a short story that picks up a few weeks after the end of
DANCE WITH ME, and continues the story of the two main characters. It’s titled
ANOTHER DANCE, and it should be available very soon.
Alright,
now for some totally random, fun questions. Favorite color?
Crimson. I love the
word, and I love the color.
Favorite
movie?
Tough one! I have
several, but today it’s “Room with a View.” I love all the old Merchant-Ivory
period pieces, but “Room with a View” is the best of them, in my opinion.
Book
that inspired you to become an author?
“The Witching Hour,”
by Anne Rice. When I started this book, I couldn’t do anything else. I blew off
dates with guys and my friends because I could not tear myself away. I remember
thinking it would be the most amazing thing in the world if I could write a
story that would captivate someone as fully as that book captivated me. And I
still think that.
You
have one superpower. What is it?
The ability to fly.
I would love that. It would also make gridlocked freeways here in Southern
California a lot easier to tolerate.
You
can have dinner with any 3 people, dead, alive, fictitious, etc. Who are they?
Anne Rice would
definitely be one. I think it’s already established that I’m a big fan. Jane
Austen would be another. I’d love to know what she thinks of the enduring
popularity of her books. Lately I’ve been re-reading Edgar Allan Poe, so I
think it would be fascinating to add him to the table, too.
Last
question: Which of your characters are you most like and how/why?
This one is tough,
because the truth is, there’s at least a little bit of me in every character I
write. I usually don’t recognize it until much later, but when I look back
there are always things I see that relate directly back to something in my own
personality or history. Which one do I wish I was most like? That would be
Janaya, who has appeared as a minor character in SHIMMY FOR ME and DANCE WITH
ME, but she’s going to be getting her own story very soon. She’s so carefree
and confident, and I would love to be more like that.
To enter to win 1 of 5 ebook copies of Shimmy for Me, click here.
Author
Bio:
DeAnna Cameron writes about
feisty heroines transformed by true love and belly dance—one of the oldest and
most exciting dance forms in the world. Her novels have been translated into
Japanese, Polish, and Serbian, and her work has been praised for its “deft
prose, energetic characters and . . . colorful images” by RT Book Reviews.
Before turning to fiction, DeAnna worked as a journalist, writing and editing
for several Southern California newspapers and magazines. When she isn’t
writing, she shepherds a local writing community called O.C Writers and edits
LitCentraOC.com, an online resource and showcase for local authors. She lives
with her family in Orange County, Calif.
For more info, find her online
here:
Thank you for featuring DANCE WITH ME!
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