Aspiring Author Interview with Donea Lee

I don't want to take anything away from Donea's spotlight, but last night a town 30 minutes west from me was leveled by a tornado.  There were many injuries and fatalities and the hospital there was hit badly.  Thankfully it moved south of my town, so we just got the storm.  But in the wake of all the devastation was left this:

I know there are a few double rainbow jokes in your head right now (trust me, we got it all out on facebook last night) but to me today, it symbolizes hope for those who lost everything last night.  My thoughts are with them as they start to pick up the pieces and rebuild their lives.

Now onto cheerier things:

Donea and her daughter

Donea Lee's interview!  Donea is an aspiring writer who loves Buffy The Vampire Slayer just like me.  Need I say more on how awesome she is?  She has a segment on her blog on Fridays called Find the Story Friday, that she's been doing for a long time.  She posts pictures and asks the readers to create a story about the picture.  It's fun to see what people come up with!  I've known Donea for a while now, and in a year I've watched her readership grow and it's so awesome to see a friend do so well in the blogosphere.







Tell us the scoop on how you got into writing novels.

I really AM that girl who’s written/told stories for as long as I can remember.  Several of them got me into trouble when I was a kid.  Who knows, maybe I’ll write about that someday.  When I was a teen I wrote silly novellas, usually about the shy girl (me) who got the cute popular boy (my latest crush) in the end.  In college and my twenties, I wrote lots of novel starts, but usually got stuck somewhere in the middle.  It was later in life, when I discovered Harry Potter and I started creeping up on the age J.K. Rowling was when her first book came out, that I decided I needed to get serious about my writing.  Yeah, well…I’m still working on the “serious” part.  But, I get a little closer every day!

What genre do you write?

I dabble in a little bit of everything.  I’ve written poetry, women’s fiction, a murder mystery or two, and I’ve got (what is, I believe) a great idea for an MG novel, but my focus lately has been a YA magical realism trilogy.

What authors inspire you?

I love the epic-ness of Tolkien, even if I did skip over most of the songs…(in my defense, so did Peter Jackson…just sayin’).  I LOVE the magic of Harry Potter.  Rowling created a world I wish with all my heart was real and characters I would love to know.  I love Shannon Hale’s lyrical phrasing, so beautiful, especially in her Goose Girl series.  And then I’ve got to give props to the creative geniuses/authors behind some of my favorite television shows:  Joss Whedon and Bryan Fuller – for their witty dialogue!  I wish I were that clever.

How often do you write?

My procrastinating ways still get the best of me from time to time, so I can’t say I write daily.  But, I do write several days a week. 

Are you a plotter or a pantser?

A sporadic pantser with aspirations to be a fantastically focused plotter!

Where do you write best, and do you listen to music while you write?

I don’t really have a favorite place to write.  When I need to get the words down, I get them down- be it in the car, at work, at home.  And I don’t necessarily need music to write.  I don’t mind having it on.  Often, it gets lost in the background of my thoughts.  But, I can say that certain songs have spurred story ideas.

What is on your TBR pile?

SO many great books!  It makes my head swim sometimes.  But, I’ve got The Liar Society, The Scorch Trials, Beautiful Darkness, Cassastar and Matched on hand at the moment.

If Stephanie Meyer and JK Rowling got in a cat fight, who would win?

JK – no question.  However, if we’re talking about their fans…well, let’s just say I’d feel much safer at a HP convention than in the middle of a Team: Edward vs. Team: Jacob rally…

What is your “day” job?

Is “glorified peon” an acceptable answer to this?  Actually, I’m an administrative assistant/office manager, wishing I could answer “full-time writer” to this question.

What can you not leave home without? (cell phones are off limits)

My daughter tells me I should answer, “my daughter” to this question, so I’ll go with that.  

Mac or PC?

I’m not cool enough for a Mac yet… and I kind of want to throw things at my home PC right now.  I’ve got plans to buy my very first laptop anytime now.  Yep, I’ve never had a laptop.  Which explains the “not cool” comment pretty well, right?

Favorite dessert?

Baked goods.  All of them.

Favorite desert?

Ack!  I hate the heat.  But, if I have to pick one, I’ll say the desert area around Bouse, AZ, in the spring when the cacti are in bloom.

Where is your dream vacation?

I LOVE to travel!  I don’t get to do it as often as I’d like, which – let’s face it – would be 350 days a year (taking out holidays and my birthday, when I’d want to be home and close to family, of course.)  Well, maybe not that many days, but A LOT.  And to make this long explanation longer – my ultimate dream vacation would be a nice long European Tour visiting the old castles in Ireland, Scotland and Germany, I’d have to visit every place in Austria The Sound of Music was filmed, visiting the café’s and museums in London and Paris, a spa retreat in Tuscany, ballroom dancing classes in Barcelona, ending with mythology/ancient ruins and pizza/gelato tours in Italy and Greece.  I’m sure I missed something, but that’d be a good start!

Finally, link us to your website, blog, fb, twitter and anything else you might like to shamelessly plug for yourself 

I most often lurk around my blog, which you can find here: The Queen of Procrastination @  http://www.itwillhappenoneday.blogspot.com

Thank you so much, Abby!  This is my first official aspiring-author interview and I couldn’t be happier that it will be featured on your blog.  I enjoyed answering these awesome questions.  This is such a wonderful feature on your blog.  It’s so great to get to know a little bit more about all the amazing writers/bloggers in this great writing community of ours.  I don’t forget that you were one of my first followers, and I really appreciate all your thoughtful blog posts, your wonderful comments on my posts and your friendship.  Thanks, again!  

*One little thing – a lot of people out there know me as Donea Lee.  Lee is actually my middle name.  Donea Lee Weaver is what they might see on a book someday, if I’m lucky!