Killing Dreams by Donnette Smith

 Wild Women Authors is pleased to welcome author Donnette Smith who is celebrating the release of Killing Dreams, book one in The Spirit Walker Series, a paranormal romantic suspense published by the Wild Rose Press. With Donnette is Jenna Langley who will go first.

Good morning, Jenna. Thanks for taking the time to speak with us. Let’s begin with where you’re from. Farmersville Texas

Tell us a bit about Killing Dreams. It is the story of what happens to me when I came back home to Texas for a business deal at the age of twenty-seven, after being gone for ten years, and discover my psychic abilities have cultivated. I start having visions and out-of-body experiences where I see brutal murders being committed, and it isn’t long before I discover the detective working those homicide cases is none other than my old high school flame, Cole Rainwater. Things ended very badly between us years earlier when his father made headlines for being a notorious serial killer. After that, my parents forced us apart and swept me away to Georgia.  So, you can imagine my surprise to find he was investigating the very murders I was witnessing.     

What did you think the first time you saw Cole Rainwater? I was fifteen the first time I saw Cole standing in line behind me at the rodeo concession stand. He purposely bumped into me. He must have thought he was really something the way he and his buddy snickered when I glanced back at them. I thought he was rude and immature.

Typical teenage male. What was your second thought? God, he was hot. All that dark hair and those piercing gray eyes. I imagined what it would be like to be swept up in the embrace of those strong arms and kissed by those irresistible lips. Of course, I wasn’t about to let him know just how sexy I thought he was. Instead, I called him a jerk. He responded by asking for my number. I ignored him. But he followed me and my best friend around for the rest of the evening, taunting me and asking why I refused to go out with him.     

Again, typical male response, particularly a teenager. Was it love at first sight? Hey, I was seventeen at the time. What does a kid know about love anyhow? As it turned out, a lot. I fell head-over-heels in love with that boy. When my parents tore me away from him two years later, I swore my heart had been stampeded by a herd of bulls, just like the ones we used to watch bursting out of the chutes at the rodeo.  

What do you like most about Cole? The sound of his husky voice when he’d call me just as I was slipping off to sleep at night.  

How would you describe him? Tender, with the heart of a lion. He always put me on a pedestal. I think at the time he believed I could do no wrong. Until I did, and it all fell apart.

How would he describe you? Completely stubborn. Always seeing the good in people, even when there isn’t any good at all.

What made you choose business consulting as a career? After owning a business of my own, and selling it some years later, I couldn’t see myself going back to working for the man. Heck, I was the man, so to speak. So, I took the bull by the horns and decided I could be useful by showing others how to start their own businesses.

What is your biggest fear? Being buried alive. But that’s literally another story. Yes. It actually happens to me in book two of The Spirit Walkers series.

How do you relax? I love to read, but then Cole came along and showed me how much fun it is to ride horses.

Who is your favorite fictional character? I love Anastasia Steele in Fifty Shades of Grey. Why? Because she has such patience for the man she loves. She never gives up on him because her love for him is so deep. Before my parents tore me away from Cole, I felt this same way about him.  

What is the best piece of advice you ever received? Not to let the sins of others become my sins, even if the person or people committing those sins are people we love and trust. I learned this the hard way blaming myself for ten years after my parents ripped me away from the only guy I ever loved.

Thanks for talking with us, Jenna. Now we’d like to chat with Donnette.

What movies or books have had an impact on your career as a writer? I’m a true romantic, always looking for an adventure. The story of Noah and Allie in The Notebook really got me. It was the story of young love that never died and was strong enough to stand the test of time. Even when Allie was at her weakest, suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, Noah read their story to her every day, in hopes of rekindling the love they had for one another. I also loved The Twilight Series. Bella loved Edward so much she was willing to become a vampire so that she could be with him forever. For me it’s stories that showcase such unconditional love between two people that there is no boundary they won’t cross for the one they love.  

What event in your private life were you able to bring to this story and how do you feel it impacted the novel? I met my husband when I was fifteen years old. The same age Cole and Jenna were when they first met. Although Jenna and Cole have their hurdles, in the end, the unconditional love they have for one another will always shine through. I know what it’s like to love someone so much that you are willing to make the biggest sacrifices and are willing to love that person through the most trying times of their lives. I view Cole and Jenna as Allen and I were at that age. Young, and still growing and learning, but doing it together.   

Tell us a bit about your publisher: how did you hear about them and what influenced your decision to submit to them? I had The Wild Rose Press in mind when I wrote Killing Dreams. I’d heard about them after my second novel, Cunja had been published through a different press. And I always knew when I sat down to write another book, TWRP would be the one I’d submit to. A lot of authors had nothing but positive words for them.  

What book[s] currently rest on your TBR pile? I’m not going to lie. I’ve been doing so much writing that reading has become a thing of the past. However, I’m picking reading back up again. I’m in the middle of reading Tangled in Texas by Kari Lynn Dell. So far so good.  

Lastly, what's up next and when can we expect to see it on the shelves? I’ve completed the second book in The Spirit Walkers Series, Buried Alive. And if you thought Jenna and Cole’s nightmares have come to an end, let me assure you they have not. I am hopeful it will be available from TWRP within six to eight months.

Please tell our visitors where they can learn more about you and the stories you create.

Visitors can always reach me by email @ romance@donnettesmith.com

And I love to add friends to my Facebook, where I give constant updates, as well as announcing cool contests and other book information. I can be found on Facebook @ Romance Writer Donnette Smith | Facebook

And I can also be reached via my website: www.donnettesmith.com

 

To purchase Killing Dreams, go to:

Amazon.com: Killing Dreams (Spirit Walkers Book 1) eBook : Smith, Donnette : Kindle Store

Barnes and Noble: Killing Dreams by Donnette Smith, Paperback | Barnes & Noble® (barnesandnoble.com)