Make-Believe Mondays With Donica Covey

Today on Make-Believe Mondays, my guest is Donica Covey.

Donica, first, tell us a little bit about the manuscript you’re working on now.

Donica: I have two projects in the works right now. The first one is Hunting Mickey, the next book in my romantic suspense series Gateway Guardians. This series centers on a team of DEA agents based in St. Louis and chronicles their battle in the war on drugs, specifically targeting the evil drug lord Ramiro Gonzalo Sancho Rivera.

The second project is Ember’s Flame, book three in my Elemental Desires series. This series spotlights each of the four Duile sisters. Amazing, talented ladies who just happen to be witches. Out of sheer boredom, they come up with a challenge: A contest to win the love of a mortal man. Being they are witches of the elements, their mortal must deal with their specific element. The first two sisters Maryna and Storm (water and air element respectively) have already been released. Now I just have to complete Ember and Tara’s tales.

Debra: St. Louis is an interesting city to visit and has a rich history. I'm surprised there aren't more books set there. And your witches sound intriguing.

Ray Bradbury said, “We are cups, constantly being filled. The trick is, knowing how to tip ourselves over and let the beautiful stuff out.” How do you keep your creative cup filled?

Donica: I have to sometimes force myself to ignore logical boundaries and let my imagination take flight or else the characters get constipated and no amount of muse-lax breaks up the flow.

Debra: Yes, sometimes imagination needs to carry a Nerf baseball bat to whack logic on the side of the head a little so we can write. ;-)

Is there a point when your characters begin to come alive and you can see and hear them?

Donica: From the moment of conception. For me the characters are alive. They sit beside me, talk to me, annoy me, and cajole me. It’s when they stop talking and disappear that I have a huge problem.

Debra: Oh...yes. It's never good when they go quiet.

Some very famous authors have played with language, creating words for people or places that no one has ever heard of. Have you ever played with words in that way and if so how?

Donica: I love to play with words. In my fantasy novel Dragon’s Angel I took words from Old English and used them to name different tribes of the inhabitants from the world of Grogan. For example…I chose to name one of my tribes the Brimborions. I just love the word Brimborion—kind of catchy, yes? The word Brimborion means a thing without value or use. But my tribe is far from the definition. They are hardworking, loyal and honest.

Debra: Oh, I like that word too. It's so much fun to play with words.

For some writers, dreams play a role in creating fiction. Has this been true for you?

Donica: Definitely.

Debra: Have you ever dreamed a scene or an image that later wound up in one of your books?

Donica: Almost every book has one or more such scenes.

Debra: As a child, did any particular book or author pull you into their imaginary world?

Donica: Of course! L. Frank Baum. J.R.R Tolkien, CS Lewis, Lewis Carroll, Edgar Allen Poe. All are my favorites.

Debra: If there were no categories for books, no reader expectations to meet, and you could create the wildest work of imagination that you could think of what kind of story would that be?

Donica: I do have one work that is in sort of a limbo because of the graphic content. It’s suspenseful, horrifying, nerve-wrenching and heartrending. But because of the graphic content due to the evil nature of one of the characters it’s been rejected. So…this book would be the one to shoot the moon with.

Debra: Sounds like it's way outside the usual parameters.

Is there anything else you would like to add about the role of imagination, and dreams in creating fiction? Any other message for our readers?

Donica: Just my thanks for spending their time with me today and I hope they’ll pop into my website, www.donicacovey.com or my blog, donicacovey.blogspot.com and say hello. Or they can friend me on Face Book, Donica-Covey on Facebook I also have a YouTube channel for my book trailers: Donica Covey on UTube

Debra: Donica, thank you for joining us here on this Make-believe Monday to share a little bit of the magic of writing with our readers.

Donica: Thank you for having me!

Debra: You're quite welcome. It's been a pleasure.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Debra's News/Debra is Watching:

The book launch last Thursday was wonderful! One of the greatest days of my life and one I will always remember.

Today is the day I promised to announce the winner of my book launch celebration contest - the prize, a candle in the shape of a wing, which you can see on the previous blog post.

I've been waiting for my husband to come home to draw from the names. So we now have a winner!

The winner goes by the screen name: lastnerve. Congratulations and may your dreams take flight as mine has!

Please email me at debra@debraparmley.com with your address so I can send it out this week before I head to Orlando for the Romantic Times Booklovers Convention.

I will be in Orlando from April 15th to the 27th. If you are attending, come up and say hello! I love meeting new friends.

www.debraparmley.com
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
And here is a message from my AT2 sister, Theresa Myers.

Hi,

Can you please let your blog readers know?

I promised that I wasn’t fooling around! Today I’d like to announce the two winners for my month long blog tour contest. If you commented on one of the blogs I was at, like Vampire Wire, Patricia’s Vampire Notes, the Harlequin Paranormal Romance Blog, or Make Believe Mondays, you were entered to win.

The two winners are: Kim Giardna who’ll be getting both a $20 gift certificate to Wicked Wines Online (where she can indulge in either red Vampire Vodka or other Vampire Winery offerings) and a copy of Salvation of the Damned.

MelJPrincess, you’ve won those snazzy customizable chrome fangs and a copy of Salvation of the Damned.

Congratulations to you both!

Theresa Meyers
President, Blue Moon Communications
bluemooncomm@aol.com