Guest Blogger: Donna Grant

Donna Grant and I have shared many board tables at Romance Writers of America's board meetings. Most of the times we do pay attention and vote when we needed. But we are known to have a good chuckle about random things. Over the years, I have warmed to Donna's charming personality, friendship and spirit to volunteer. Now we look forward to our three in-face meetings a year to catch up and chit chat.

Welcome Donna!

First, let me introduce to you this dynamite author. Donna Grant is the award winning author of more than eighteen novels spanning multiple genres of romance – Scottish Medieval, historical, dark fantasy, time travel, paranormal and erotic. She was born and raised in Texas. Growing up on the Texas/Louisiana border, Donna's Cajun side of the family taught her the “spicy” side of life while her Texas roots gave her two-steppin' and bareback riding.

Donna sold her first book in November 2005 while displaced from Hurricane Rita, a storm that destroyed portions of the Texas Gulf Coast. Since then, Donna has sold novels and novellas to both electronic and print publishers. Her books include several complete series such as The Druid’s Glen, The Shields, The Royal Chronicles and the Sisters of Magic.

Despite the deadlines and her voracious reading, Donna still manages to keep up with her two young children, three cats and one long haired Chihuahua. She's blessed with a proud, supportive husband who's learned to cook far more than frozen chicken nuggets.

Donna's Childhood:

Q. What fond childhood memory stays close to your heart?

DG. That would be going into my father's wood shop and smelling the sawdust. Woodworking was his hobby, and everytime I smell sawdust I think of those hot, lazy days watching him work.
Q. What was your favorite subject in school?

DG. Oh easy, history. I soaked up every ounce of history I could get, especially British history.

Q. Did you attend your high school prom? Did you keep the dress or hide it?

DG. lol. I did attend prom. And had a horrible time. I had a steady boyfriend, and like most all couples I knew, we fought that night. He didn't like to dance, so I think I got him out on the floor once. It didn't help that he was a year older than me. As for the dress, with me being so short, my parents always spent a fortune getting dresses altered, so my mother had an idea of getting a dress made. That was my favorite dress. It was the first evening gown I ever owned that actually "fit"! It was so exciting.

Q. As a child, what were some careers that you wanted to do?

DG. I wanted to be a ballerina. Its all I thought about, dreamed about and did. Nothing else ever entered my brain. Well, except for maybe being an archeologist, but Indiana Jones made it look so much better than real life. :)
Donna's Other Talent:

Q. What/Who started your love for ballet dancing?

DG. My mom. She saw a dance recital once and swore if she ever had a daughter she would put me in dance. I started at age 5 and never stopped.

Q. What was your goal as a dancer?

DG. I had a couple. One, I wanted to study at the New York City Ballet. Two, I wanted to study at the Royal Academy of Dance in London. In Britain they do things much different. At the dance school were I took, the owner brought in a British teacher. Every year after we would take from her we had to pass a test. Its more difficult than the SATs. If you pass, you go to the next level. If you're really lucky, you get invited to perform at the Royal Academy. I got asked, but my parents weren't keen on their teenage daughter going off to England. :( But, boy, did I want to go. It took me awhile to forgive them for that.

Q. What was the most exciting experience you had?

DG. I got to perform in Cinderella and Rudoulf the Red Nosed Reindeer with some principles from New York City Ballet that came down to Texas. It was exhilerating!

Q. Do you still dance?

DG. I did up until a year ago. That's when I stopped teaching dance.

Donna's Family Life:

Q. Where is your darling hubby from?

DG. lol. He's from the next town over from where I grew up, and its were we now live in Texas.

Q. Where did you meet? How did he propose?

DG. We met at a summer semester in college. He'd just gotten out of the Marines and was finishing up his last year of college.

He proposed to me on Valentine's Day. We had a big day planned which included going to the beach, which is where he proposed.

Q. What's the perfect date with hubby?

DG. Hmm...all of them really. However, there is one night that will always stay with me. We were in Jamaica for our ten year anniversary, and our resort had a wonderful Italian restaurant. We got all dressed up and had the most fabulously decadent night!

Q. Where did you go for the last family trip?

DG. We just got back from San Antonio, Texas and SeaWorld. It was marvelous. I didn't think we'd ever get the kids out of there. My daughter decided that she's going to train Orca's now.

Donna, The Writer:

Q. When did you know you wanted to become a writer, more specifically a romance writer?

DG. I've only read romance. If it doesn't have a happy ending with some romance involved, I don't want to read it. I've always had stories in my head, but never thought much about it until one day I told hubby about this "plot" I had. He told me to write a book. I laughed at him, but the next day locked away in my accounting office, I opened a file and started the book. I finished it a couple of months before I had my first child. After that, there was no looking back for me. I knew being a writer is what I wanted.

Q. Who are some of the authors that inspired you in your genre?

DG. Johanna Lindsey, Stephanie Laurens, Christina Dodd, Catherine Coulter and Julie Garwood to name just a few. I've read romance since I was 12, so I was fully emersed when I started writing.

Q. What are a few milestones in your writing career?

DG. Finishing that first book was a huge milestone. Next came getting up the gumption to submit it to editors and agents. There's nothing like that first rejection to make you realize the dream of a writer isn't for the faint of heart.

After that it was getting my first acceptance from a publisher. New Concepts Publishing, an e-publisher, gave me my first shot and helped me build a reader base. Eleven books later, I made my first sale to a New York publisher, Kensington Books.

I've gotten two more publishers since then, and sold another book to Kensington.

Q. Share some info about current and upcoming books?

DG. I've got several books coming out between now and May of 2009. I was so excited to find a home for the first in my historical paranormal witch trilogy. Shadow Magic will release with Cobblestone Press in the next few months. The cover is outstanding!

September sees my first Kensington Aphrodisia release. Ties that Bind is in The Pleasure of His Bed anthology with two other amazing writers.

Then, in October, I have another first. My first "themed" book. Primal Heat is a Halloween werewolf story set in Cardiff, Wales and will release from Total-E-Bound as part of their Bite Me! themed novellas. It'll release first in ebook, then later in print.

In November I have Tempted releasing from Total-E-Bound. (Tempted is connected to Ties that Bind.)

March 2009 Bound (also connected to Ties that Bind and Tempted) will release from Total-E-Bound.

May brings my second release from Kensington Aphrodisia, Mutual Desire. It's a collection of three historical erotic romances. The first is the conclusion of my fantasy series (Ties that Bind, Tempted, Bound) Enthralled. The collection also features a Medieval Scotland laird in need of a wife, and a Victorian era princess wanting an adventure in the Amazon.

Another exciting project I have coming in the next few months from Cobblestone Press is The Destiny Stone anthology. Two of my best writing friends and I wrote novellas about a magical stone that travels from Medieval Scotland (my novella) to Victorian England to present day California. The novellas will be released seperately before being combined into print. My novella is Destiny of Love and begins the anthology.

For news, contests, and excerpts visit http://www.donnagrant.com/

Thanks, Michelle, for inviting me to your blog!