Author on the Couch: Denny S. Bryce


This week I’m conducting a session with…

Denny S. Bryce

 

*GIVEAWAY*

Denny is giving away a $15 Amazon Gift Card to one person who comments on this post. Be sure to enter via Rafflecopter!

 

Me: Tell me about an experience that had a profound impact on your life.

Denny: This is going to sound a bit silly, but it was watching a TV show, specifically Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I wouldn’t be writing today if it wasn’t for that show. Now, most folks would point to the books they’d read and fell in love with – I love reading, but writing wasn’t my passion until I watched a BtVS marathon on FOX in November of 2003. That’s when it started and I was hooked. So, it will be no surprise when I say I started writing fanfiction, and wrote fanfic exclusively until 2010.

 

Me: What personality trait of yours helps you most as an author?

Denny: My independence. Most of the time, I operate in my own, private bubble. And that works for me. I am outgoing when the time arises (I do love, people), but otherwise, I enjoy being solitary. And part of that has to do with my independence. Something I haven’t always had.

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I wouldn’t be writing today if it wasn’t for Buffy the Vampire Slayer. @dennysbryce #AmWriting #AuthorontheCouch Click To Tweet

Me: What personality trait of yours hinders you most as an author?

Denny: I’m a perfectionist. That word alone should strike fear in an author’s heart. Writing is about putting aside the perfect page in the quest of the most absorbing, daring, emotionally satisfying story for the reader. A perfectionist can get lost in the weeds.

Writing is about putting aside the perfect page in the quest of the most absorbing, daring, emotionally satisfying story. @dennysbryce #AmWriting Click To Tweet

Me: What was your high point as a writer—a time when you were happiest, on cloud nine, flying high? What happened?

Denny: Well, there are three times so far and I can’t put one on top of the other. My first Golden Heart® final was awesome, and winning the 2014 Golden Heart® in Romantic Suspense for CHASING DAMN, was surreal. Two years later, I was a finalist in the Historical Romance category, and I credit that final with bringing me together with my agent, Nalini Akolekar at Spencerhill Associates. We’d been dancing around each other for a couple of years, I like to say, but at the 2016 San Diego RWA National Conference, we sealed the deal.

Writing is an up and down affair. @dennysbryce #AmWriting #AuthorontheCouch Click To Tweet

Me: What was your low point as a writer—a time when questioned your path, a time when you felt really crappy about your writing? What happened? How did you get over it?

Denny: Every other day. Seriously. Writing is an up and down affair. Some days, I’ve got it covered – writing and me are in sync. Then the next day (if I’m lucky, versus the next hour), I’m staring at a computer screen screaming, why?!!!?

Some days writing and me are in sync. Then the next day, I’m staring at a computer screen screaming, why?!!!? @dennysbryce #AmWriting #AuthorontheCouch Click To Tweet

Me: What’s the secret to your success?

Denny: My definition of success, as it’s been all my life, I believe, is that I look at the process. Each stage of anything I’ve attempted (and succeeded in), I live in the moment of that process. Yes, I understand the importance of planning and working toward the long-game. But if I get ahead of myself too quickly – and bluff – I’m doing myself a disservice and it will fall back and bite me…

 

Me: Tell me a bit about your Romantic Suspense novel Chasing Damn.

Denny: 

Nikki Chase, an emotionally scarred computer analyst for the FBI, and her one-night stand, Ray Taylor, a determined private security consultant, are forced to work together to investigate a cyber thief seeking more than data—he wants revenge.

An edgy, sexy romantic suspense that examines what happens when white-collar crime, cyber blackmail and murder test a woman’s faith in loyalty and love.

I am pre-published, but the excerpt above is from my 2014 Golden Heart® book, which won the GH category in Romantic Suspense.

 

 

Me: Share with us a favorite paragraph or two from Chasing Damn. Why do you love this paragraph? What makes it special to you?

Denny: It’s the first romantic suspense I ever wrote and was the second time I’d ever entered the Golden Heart®. So, I never expected to final, let alone win.  The entire experience was a blast, and best of all I met the DREAMWEAVERS! The 2014 Golden Heart class of crazily, wonderfully, talented women authors!

 

 

“Can I help you?” The deep male voice sounded familiar. “Would you like to order a drink?”

Nikki lifted her gaze to see his face, but a wicked streak of sunlight messed with the agony behind her corneas. She shielded her eyes with her hand.

“Excuse me, ma’am, are you okay?”

Oh, yeah.  The waiter from the foyer. Mr. Hot Diversion. Was he a bartender, too?

“Sorry,” she said, using her hand as a visor. “I feel like someone’s jabbing knives into my eyeballs.”

“Headache?”

She nodded very slowly.

“A cup of coffee? Or maybe two cups of coffee?”

“Sorry, I can’t look up.” Still shading her eyes, she looked down at the front of his tailored white shirt and the hard lines of muscle that clung to the fabric. “I have a killer headache.” 

“Still, recommend coffee. Wait a sec.”

He turned, providing a narrow view of his backside.

Nice ass. She separated her fingers. She might have to give him another nickname. Mr. Hot Diversion didn’t fully appreciate his attributes.

A minute later, his finger tapped the bar. Her hand remained glued to her eyebrows.

“Here you go,” he said.

A cup of coffee scooted into her line of sight.

“You still in there?” he asked.

“I’m here.”

The crowd had followed the announcer’s instructions. There were only a few stragglers left in the atrium and the deejay had killed the loud music. Thank God. She wrapped her hand around the mug. It tasted thick and bitter and lovely.

“Is there something else I can do for you.”

She swallowed. If he only knew. She wiggled in her seat. “No, I’m good.”

“Sorry,” he said, “Did I embarrass you? I didn’t mean to.”

“I’m not embarrassed.” Did he notice the lust stamped on her forehead or what? She lifted her chin, but the sun still haloed his head. Her gaze slid to his belt buckle. Now, she was staring at his crotch.  “I can’t look at you.” That hadn’t come out right. “I mean at your face.”

That wasn’t the sentence in her head either. “You’re standing in direct sunlight.” Christ. “I should keep my damn mouth shut.”

“I understand. Headaches can be a bitch.”

“I know. I’m an expert.” Oh, my God. “At headaches, not at being a bitch.” She swallowed her nerves. “Forgive me, I’m rambling.”

“It’s okay. Everyone needs a good rambler now and then.” The smile in his voice was cathartic. She rested the cup on the bar. “What’s your name?”

 


You can find Denny here…

Website: www.dennysbryce.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/dennysbryce

Instagram: www.instagram.com/dennysbryce

Happy Ever After USA Today contributor: http://happyeverafter.usatoday.com/?s=denny+s.+bryce

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Abbie Roads writes dark emotional novels featuring damaged characters, but always gives her hero and heroine a happy ending… after torturing them for three hundred pages.

RACE THE DARKNESS

HUNT THE DAWN

SAVING MERCY

About the author: abbieroads