Welcome to The Wormhole!
It is my great pleasure to feature:
Under The Moon: Goddess Rising Book 1 and author Natalie J. Damschroder!
Title: Under the Moon : Goddesses Rising Book 1Author: Natalie J. Damschroder
Genre: Urban Fantasy Romance
Length: Novel
Ebook Release Date: November 1 2011
Print Book Release Date: December 6, 2011
ePub ISBN: 978-1-937044-54-1
Print ISBN: 978-1-937044-55-8
GODDESSES RISING - Book One - by Natalie J. Damschroder
Book blurb:
Their power gives them strength…and makes them targets.
Quinn Caldwell is the epitome of a modern goddess. Her power source is the moon, her abilities restricted only by physical resources and lunar phase. She runs a consulting business and her father’s bar, serves on the board of the ancient Society for Goddess Education and Defense, and yearns for Nick Jarrett, professional goddess protector and the soul mate she can never have.
But someone has developed the rare and difficult ability to drain a goddess of her powers, and Quinn is a target. With the world thinking Nick has gone rogue (whatever that means) and that Quinn is influenced by “family ties” she didn’t know she had, keeping themselves safe while working to find the enemy proves harder each day.
But not as hard as denying their hearts…
I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to interview Natalie, I hope you enjoy it!
? How many jobs did you have before you became a writer?
*counts* I had 8 BEFORE I became a writer, and started writing during that 8th job. Then I had 4 more non-writing jobs, and I still have one of those (chiropractic assistant) as well as freelance editing. It always amuses me how eclectic writers’ job histories are. Mine includes: pizza demonstrator at a grocery store; Blockbuster Video clerk; Olan Mills sales (for one day—I sucked!); shoe store clerk (the old fashioned kind where you get measured and fitted); and proofreader/traffic manager/assistant production manager for an ad agency.
? How long does it take you to write a book?
I wish I knew! LOL I think my average is about four months for a first draft, though I’ve done it in less than a month during National Novel Writing Month, and taken over a year when I had other things going on, like revisions and editing for contracted books. Now that I’m regularly publishing, it’s a leap-frog kind of progression and very difficult to track accurately.
? How do you decide what you want to write about?
Very much like I decide what I want to read. It’s all about mood, whether I want to do a paranormal YA or romantic adventure, or even a novella or short story about some small theme. Lately, I decide what I want to write about based on what my editor demands per my contract. :)
? What books have most influenced your life?
Here’s a different answer than I normally give to questions like this. I’m going to say the books that I refused to read. They include Intruder in the Dust by William Faulkner, which I stopped reading in junior English when I counted a five-page sentence with no punctuation. After that success (the teacher gave us SO much work that flunking that test didn’t lose me my A in the class), I quit reading Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness because I didn’t like it. By the time I hit college, I hated the idea that the only worthy books were old ones written by men, and I took it to extremes when I was taking a Civil War class pass/fail and didn’t bother reading The Killer Angels because it had been *assigned* to me. I read it after the class was over and loved it, so that taught me a lesson, too. :)
But those books are why my blog is called “Indulge Yourself,” and why I believe wholeheartedly in entertainment that makes you happy.
? What is your favorite comfort food?
Real popcorn, popped in a popper (on the stove is best, but air-popped is fine), with real butter and salt. My brother and I were raised by a single mom, and we spent many Thursday nights sitting around the popcorn bowl watching the Huxtables and passing around a hand towel for our greasy hands. Many other nights, I lay in bed listening to the sound of kernels hitting the pan as she made some for herself. Now I do that to my kids. LOL I guess it’s symbolic of family, and togetherness, and security, and a reminder of the good times.
? What do you think makes a good story?
I think a synergy of character, tension, and challenge are what make a story good, and that combination isn’t limited to any particular genre or subgenre. It’s also different for different people. I don’t like characters who whine or do bad things, but there are a lot of successful TV shows with those elements, as an example. Tension comes from mystery, usually not knowing what’s going to happen or how, and challenge is the goal, whether it’s a seaside concierge doctor MacGuyvering a patient treatment or a woman striving to eradicate evil vampires from her world.
Fun random questions:
- dogs or cats? I used to think both, but I’ve learned it’s definitely more cats. :)
- Coffee or tea? Tea, but also café mocha (far too many mornings) but never straight coffee
- Dark or milk chocolate? Dark, preferably with toffee or nuts or nougat or something in it
- Rocks or flowers? Oh, tough one. Flowers unless it’s my yard, then rocks.
- Night or day? I admit, I have a hard time going to bed at night, and an equally difficult one getting up in the morning.
- Favorite color? White
- Crayons or markers? Crayons, because they’re more versatile
- Pens or pencils? Pens, but only if they glide very smoothly. Keyboard trumps both.
Thank you so much for having me today! This has been a very fun interview!
Natalie J. Damschroder came to writing the hard way—by avoiding it. Though she wrote her first book at age six (My Very Own Reading Book) and received accolades for her academic writing (Ruth Davies Award for Excellence in Writing for a paper on deforestation her senior year in college), she hated doing it. Colonial food and the habits of the European Starling just weren’t her thing.
She found her niche—romantic fiction—shortly after college graduation. After an internship with the National Geographic Society, customer service for a phone company just wasn’t that exciting. So she began learning how to write the books she’d loved to read all her life. Now she struggles to balance her frenetic writing life with her family, the most supportive husband in the world and two beautiful, intelligent, stubborn, independent daughters (the oldest of whom has become a writer). She somehow also fits in a day job and various volunteer positions in and out of the writing industry.
