Guess who’s got two
thumbs and loves doing author interviews? This girl! Author Deanna Sletten
graces us with her presence, despite being very busy getting promotions
together for her book, Sara’s Promise, to be released today! Here is the back cover info for the book, if you are interested!
Do you believe in soul mates?
William Grafton had the perfect
life with his lovely wife, Sara, and two teenaged children. But one day his
perfect forever was shattered when Sara died suddenly, leaving him alone to
raise his children and wonder how he would ever get through life without his
soul mate. Five years later, he finds himself looking into a familiar pair of
blue-green eyes that remind him of Sara. The woman is the exact opposite of his
late wife, yet he finds he is drawn to her. But after a few strange
occurrences, he begins to wonder–are these just coincidences or has his Sara
come back to him as she once promised in the form of this new woman?
Annie Paxton doesn't believe in
soul mates or fate. She had watched her father die of a broken heart after her
mother passed away and has since cast away any fairy tale ideas of love. Then
she meets the man who has been haunting her dreams and she begins to see love
in a whole new light. But her dream man is still tied to his deceased wife, and
Annie doesn't know if he will ever be able to break away from his past. As
strange occurrences unfold, Annie wonders if William could ever truly love her
for herself and not for the traits that remind him of Sara.
Were William and Annie brought together by fate, coincidence or by Sara
keeping her promise?
***
Deanna Lynn Sletten
writes women's fiction novels. Her stories dig deeply into the lives of the
characters, giving the reader an in-depth look into their hearts and souls. She
has also written one middle-grade novel that takes you on the adventure of a
lifetime.
Deanna started her
writing career in the early 1990s writing articles for parenting publications
and local newspapers. Over time she transitioned to writing for blogs and
websites and was a contributing writer for the women's website, She Knows. In
November 2011, she changed course and put all her energy into novel writing and
hasn't looked back since.
Deanna writes amazing
dialogue, so I thought it would be cool to find out how she does this. Dialogue
is something I have noticed a lot of new authors falling short on. Deanna has
received a lot of praise for her prose, so let’s see if we can’t learn
something from her.
Deanna, thanks so
much for joining us! As we have all learned, planning a book is very important.
How do you plan your dialogue?
I don't really plan my dialogue – it just happens as the
story unfolds. Before I write a novel, I sit down and write a detailed profile
for each character so I know everything there is to know about that person.
From this profile, I can determine how each character speaks. While I'm
writing, I see and hear each character as if they were in a movie, so I write
each character's dialogue just as I imagine they would say it if they were
acting on screen.
What do you think is the most important aspect
to consider when writing dialogue?
Keep it real. Not every person is going to speak proper
English and have perfect diction. Real people speak in broken sentences, make
gestures, nod their heads and interrupt each other. If you want the reader to
believe your characters are real people, you need to let the characters speak
the same way that everyday people speak. Of course, this changes depending upon
the type of story you are writing (historical, fantasy, science fiction, etc.)
because a person in 1890 isn't going to speak the same as a person in 2012. An
educated character's dialogue will sound different from a high school kid's
dialogue and a person from the south will speak with different words and
phrases than a person who lives in Canada. But no matter if your
character is a little green alien or a teenaged girl, the dialogue has to sound
real to the reader.
How do you keep the voices of your
characters separate in your own mind?
The mind can be a scary place. As I mentioned before,
as I'm writing a novel, it plays out in my head like a movie so it's very easy
for me to separate each character's dialogue as I write it. Many times I even
speak it out loud as I write it to hear how it sounds. When I wrote my latest
novel, Sara's Promise, I loved writing the dialogue for Sandy who is a very
vocal young woman. She is often rude, combative and sarcastic, so she was fun
to write dialogue for. On the other hand, her brother Sam is low-key, polite
and shy, so his dialogue is very different from hers. I think knowing each
character's traits backwards and forwards is the most important key to knowing
how to write dialogue for each one.
How important do you
think dialogue is in a story?
I think dialogue is extremely important. It helps move the
story forward, it reflects the emotions and traits of each character and it
keeps the reader awake! I like stories that are loaded with dialogue and have
less narration. Haven't you ever found yourself skipping over the paragraph
that describes the night sky or what the characters are wearing and moved on to
the next bit of dialogue? Like in a movie, the dialogue is what propels the
story forward and should be considered important to every fiction writer.
What would you say is the most important thing for an author to consider when
planning dialogue?
Make sure that each character can be identified by his/her
dialogue. Even subtle differences can be detected by the reader. Have you ever
read a page of dialogue and become confused as to which character said what? If
I have to keep re-reading a page to figure out who is speaking, then I will
probably not want to finish reading that book. Each character has his own look,
his own past and his own story, so he should also have his own way of speaking.
Make sure you know your characters completely before writing even one bit of
dialogue.
And if you are
wondering whether Deanne knows what she is talking about, why not try one of
her books?
Deanna, what do you
do for fun?
When not writing, I enjoy walking the wooded trails around
my northern Minnesota
home with my beautiful Australian Shepherd or relaxing in the boat on the lake
in the summer.
Want to connect with
Deanna and learn more about her? She has a blog,
you can friend her on Facebook , or follow her on Twitter @DeannaLSletten
I hope you try one of
her books. I personally am looking forward to Sara’s Promise! After you read
one of her books, be sure to give her a review on the site you bought it from.
If you are on Goodreads you can add her
to your friends list .
And be sure to leave
her a review there as well. (If you aren’t on Goodreads, you should be!)
Want to follow Deanna's virtual book tour, and see what reviewers are saying about Sara's Promise?
Follow the Tour Schedule here:
In celebration of Deanna's new book release she
is having a giveaway! Leave a comment
on this site to have your name entered in the drawing for one of four prizes: Two $25 Amazon Gift Cards and 2 paperback
copies of Sara's Promise. Be sure to include
your email address so we can contact you. You can enter at each site of the
blog tour for more chances to win! Giveaway starts December 10th and
ends December 17th at midnight. Winners will be contacted December
18th after noon.
Until Next Time,
Keep Writing
