Interview with Destiny Wallace

Books-n-Kisses is pleased to welcome Destiny Wallace to the blog today.

Destiny, can you please share with us a little about yourself?

I grew up in North Carolina.  As an only child, I spent a lot of time in my imagination.  I learned to read when I was four and never stopped.  I wrote my first story when I was in the first grade.  It was about my classmate, his lost textbook, and how I helped him find it.  That story was put in the writing folder that followed me through school.  I got it back when I graduated from high school and every now and then, I pull that story out, read it, and I resolve that seven-year-old me should definitely grow up to be a writer.

I spent four years in the Air Force where I met my husband.  We have two children.  We’ve lived in Florida for the past eight years. In addition to my job, I do volunteer work, I help at my kids’ school, and I love to cook.

Have you always wanted to be an author?

I have wanted to write since I was in Elementary school.  I wrote stories and drew comic strips all through high school.  I even helped my friend write a comic book starring me as one of the heroes.

What is your most interesting writing quirk?

I have at least ten stories started at any given time.  I start them, get as far as I can, then leave them until I get another dose of inspiration.  Then, I return to the story.  Sometimes it take weeks for me to finish a story, sometimes it takes years.

Can you please tell us about your latest book(s)?

My latest releases:

Believe: A Halloween Anthology: This is a collection of stories about four women and the ways they found love with the help of some supernatural beings and abilities.

House Sitting:  The story centers on recent college graduate, Leah moves back home, but gets a job house sitting for the summer.  She jumps at the chance to live alone for the first time ever and work on jump-starting her adult life.  Then she meets Jaysen, the boy next door, and struggles not to fall for him.

Joy’s Christmas:  Joy thinks her Christmas is ruined after she storms out on her family and finds herself in a rundown motel for the holiday.  Then, she meets Eli and her holiday gets much, much better.

How did you come with the idea for this story?

Believe: A Halloween Anthology:  Halloween is one of my favorite holidays.  For the first story, I was inspired by the idea of a haunted Halloween costume.  The sequels include a haunted diary, a very bothered medium, and a woman in need of something or someone to pull her out of the guilt and grief caused by the death of her older sister.  Each heroine is connected to the one from the previous story, as are their male counterparts.

House Sitting: I dreamt about Jaysen and Leah.  It was one scene: the two of them were making out in a lavish kitchen.  There was a large pool visible through the window behind them.  A sweet, little old lady walked in.  They jumped apart, guilt written all over their faces.  The old lady smiled at them, said a few reassuring words, and walked out of the kitchen.

The dream was so vivid, when I woke up the next morning, I knew I had to figure out who they were and write about them.

Joy’s Christmas:  This story is very loosely based on actual events!  When my family was on Christmas vacation in New Jersey, we were thrown into the same situation as Joy…not with the same results, of course.

Can you share with us your current work(s) in progress?

I am currently working on Joy’s New Year.  It is a sequel to Joy’s Christmas and a prequel to Joy’s Valentine.

Who is the one author that you would love to meet someday and why?

I would love to meet Mary Janice Davidson.  I was on vacation in England in 2006 and picked up Undead and Unwed at a book store.  They were having a buy 2, get 1 free sale, so I bought the next two in the series.  I told my husband I would have them to read on the flights home in 3 days.  I was done with all 3 books before we even left for the airport!  Then, when we got back to the States, I went to the nearest bookstore to buy the next book!

Her Undead series inspired me to realize my dream of being a published author.

What is the best piece of advice you would give to someone that wants to get into writing?

Just do it.  I spent too much time doubting myself and questioning whether or not anyone would be interested in my work.  It took a lot of encouragement for me to submit my work to publishers, but after I did, I wish I’d done it earlier.

Can you share with us something off your bucket list.

I want to travel the world, but I have always wanted to visit Australia specifically.

What is in your To Read Pile that you are dying to start or upcoming release you can’t wait for?

My To-Be-Read-Pile is enormous.  However, I am excited for the next book in  Charlaine Harris’ Southern Vampire series (aka Sookie Stackhouse aka True Blood).  I am also intent on reading all the Jane Austen Heroes books by Amanda Grange.  I only have Colonel Brandon’s Diary and Henry Tilney’s Diary left to read…until she writes another.

Is there anything else you would like to add?

I would just like to say that I am grateful to everyone who buys my books!  I love writing and knowing that people enjoy my work is priceless.  Thanks especially to everyone who takes the time contact me.

Facebook:  https://m.facebook.com/destiny.wallace.940?refid=70

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/11140344-destiny

Twitter:  @destinycallzu