Around the Fire In-depth interview with Dani Collins.

Happy March to all! The days are getting longer and I can't wait to spring forward this weekend. I just did a tour of the garden and all the little bulb guys are sticking their heads out of the soil. We enjoyed some lovely weather this past Sunday. Out came our chairs and the propane fire pit. Friends popped over and we shared some tasty snacks while soaking up the sunshine. I baked a peach dumpcake and it came out so delicious! At the end of this post I'll tell you how I did it. But before you all head to your kitchens please help me welcome today's guest, Dani Collins.

​Hi Dani! I've opened up 2Hoots my camper and as always she's well stocked. What’s your go-to beverage?
In the mornings, I have an herbal tea called Sweetfern from Wild Tea Canada  (picked in the Algonquin wilderness!) Then I have two cups of coffee. Through the day, I drink water. If it’s happy hour, it’s usually red wine from Tin Horn Creek. They’re a local winery and I’m a crush club member so I have a pantry full of their merlots and cab francs. 

All of those sound wonderful, but I just bought an electric kettle. I'll bet if I open the magic cupboard in there will be some Sweetfern. Let me whip up a couple of cuppas while you introduce yourself. Who are you other than your bio?
Gosh, that’s a question I am actively trying to define for myself! I spent twenty-five years *trying* to be an author. When I finally began to publish in 2012, I thought, “This is my chance. I’d better not blow it.” 
I really applied myself to writing, quitting my day job (office clerk) and becoming a full-time writer in 2014. I’m a bit of a workaholic. I know it’s not healthy and I’m looking to make adjustments, but writing is genuinely the pastime that I enjoy most. 
Having said that, I like to garden in the spring. I’m terrible at it, but I like it. I’ve tried golf and my dad is determined to get me curling, which does sound fun. And, when time allows, my husband and I like to travel, but we’re empty-nesters so we often use our windows of free time to visit our kids and his elderly mom. 

I think it not being a workaholic when you enjoy it. Besides, you have a wide variety of other activities. So what interests you besides those? I bet there's more.
I kind of answered this above, but I forgot to mention the gym. I go twice a week for cardio and weights and do yoga at home on the other days. While I’m at the gym, I read on the elliptical. Often it’s romance, but I do read a lot of nonfiction. My latest is Four Thousand Weeks by Oliver Burkeman, which posits that the average lifespan is only four thousand weeks so what are we doing with those weeks? (Me: sitting at a computer!)

LoL. Met too. Even when I'm not sitting at it, the laptop calls to me.  Who is your network or support system? This would be any groups/authors/friends/family who contribute to your writing career.
This is another area I’m working on. My poor husband has to listen to most of my anguish around a book not working because he’s in the house, but he’s very good about brainstorming if I walk downstairs and say, “How did my hero’s father die?” 
I’m *very* lucky that my daughter writes. She focuses on fan fiction so she’s aware of trends there that influence mainstream fiction. She’s also very smart around plotting and structure and I can talk to her about challenges in the biz like algorithm changes or whatever. It’s a mini author-coach/therapy session everytime she calls on her commute home. 
I live very rural so I lost touch with my in-person writing friends long before the pandemic. I keep up online with them, but it’s not the same. I find the big conferences overwhelming so I’m going to try my first retreat this year. It’s only twelve people, all but one a stranger to me. I think this is the perfect balance of getting out of my comfort zone while still keeping it feeling very cozy and fun. 

My hubby is my sounding board too. He never does but I bet he wants to roll his eyes sometimes. And good for you stepping out. I'll bet you have a fabulous time. I'm always jazzed when I speak to other creators. Who or what books or authors are your inspiration?
I grew up on six for a dollar Harlequin Presents from the thrift store so *all* of those authors cemented the dream for me to write for Harlequin. (I’ve written sixty of them!) 
During those busy years of being a working mom with little kids, I took an attitude of, “If I have time to read, I have time to write,” so I got in the habit of choosing to write. That’s why I’m such a workaholic now. That habit is deeply ingrained and I *know* I need to spend more time unwinding and reading.

My jaw dropped at sixty. I'm such an under achevier. Anyhoo, you said rural. Tell us about your neighborhood? Are there any places you frequent? What makes them special? 
I feel so lucky to live where I live. It’s a small town in Southern British Columbia five minutes from the U.S. border. It’s lake country so it’s a seasonal town of fifteen hundred year-round residents that swells to five thousand in the summer. We can see the lake, but we’re not on it. 
It has a tiny school of about a hundred students. That was very special while our kids were growing up. We made a lot of close ties with other parents then. 
There’s a golf course and a grocery and a cute coffee shop. We bemoan the fact our pub burned down several years ago, but the nearby town of Grand Forks has more options so we really have the best of both worlds—nature and conveniences. 

It sounds wonderfull chat about writing. Does writing energize or exhaust you?
Both! If I don’t write, I start to get grumpy within a few days. I usually write a little bit even when we’re on vacation, but there are days when I’ve written all day, have very few new words to show for it, and I’m exhausted from the sustained concentration. 

What are common traps for aspiring writers?
Oh gosh, there are so many. I think some of the biggest ones that I fell into was thinking there was one ‘right’ way. A tried and true way. A silver bullet that makes it easy. Writing is not easy! Publishing is even harder!
Something that I learned along the way, that I think is paramount for new writers to understand is that your writing is yours. It’s not something anyone gives you or takes away. You get to write whenever and whatever you want. Enjoy it! 
But if you want to publish, recognize that it is a business. There will be compromises and rejections, but they don’t mean that you’re a bad writer. Having said that, writing is rewriting so maybe your first draft needs work. 

Do you want each book to stand on its own, or are you trying to build a body of work with connections between each book?
I enjoy writing connected books so I have several duets, trilogies and linked books, but I also write stand-alones. It really depends on the story and the publisher.

How did publishing your first book change your writing process?
Mostly, I learned to get faster at making decisions. Also, as time went on, I learned what my process *is* and how to fix certain things before I submitted. 
For example, it’s very common for me to not fully understand my hero’s internal conflict until I’ve written half the book. Then I hit a wall and go back to the beginning to really dig into his backstory. 
I’ve learned that spending a day fixing a scene is as important as new words. I’m not an author who likes to push out a whole draft then start revisions. I like to revise as I go.

Do you read your book reviews? How do you deal with bad or good ones?
I do read them. I often quote the good ones in my newsletter to help readers decide whether a book is their cup of tea.
I don’t resent bad reviews. Sometimes the reviewer has a point. That can be frustrating since there’s no going back to change the book once it’s printed and in stores. 
I also understand that not every book is for every reader. I’ve often heard the advice that one-star reviews mean you’re reaching an audience outside your fanbase so I try to look at them that way. 

That's a great way to think of it. What was the best money you ever spent as a writer?
Long before I published, I was in the book store and they were about to send back a book called, Getting the Words Right: How to Rewrite, Edit and Revise, by Theodore A. Reese Cheney. I bought it, read it cover to cover, and credit it with teaching me how to write.

Let's did into the real Dani. Mwa hahah. What's your worst household chore?
Cleaning bathrooms. I am so done with cleaning bathrooms. 

Did you ever win something? What?
I once won tickets to a live music festival. It was listening to the radio at work, sent an email with my ‘wildest story from a music festival’ and won! It was for that weekend, so my husband and I hopped in the car and had a great time. 
FYI, the ‘wildest story’ was from a time when we attended a weekend concert headlining Bryan Adams and Steve Miller among others. I was standing in line for the port-a-potties and one of the potties was rocking and rolling. A couple spilled out, laughing, and their friend said, “It’s okay, folks. They’re newlyweds!” 
(Funny, but Ew, right?)
Definitely, ew. I have a story about my sister a phone and a port-a-potty, I tell you after. While I warm up our tea, will you share more about you newest book and where we can find it. 

Marrying the Nanny – Raven’s Cove – Book One 
by 
Dani Collins
Release day Mar 5, 2024
From the author.
My book is a contemporary small town romance with  slow burn to some steamy love
scenes.


When infant Storm is orphaned, nanny Emma Wright, on a work visa and still reeling from a painful divorce, yearns to adopt her but must relinquish Storm to her three adult half-brothers. They remind her of a pack of wolves–protective, but not prepared to care for a baby. Alpha male Reid is especially aloof and intimidating.
Like his younger brothers, Reid Fraser left the Westcoast village of Raven’s Cove at eighteen and never looked back. Now a successful corporate consultant who rescues failing businesses—which is what this fly-in fishing resort has become, Reid must rally his brothers to save Storm’s inheritance, but he and his estranged brothers barely get along. They can’t deal with an infant, too. They need the nanny.
As Emma coaches Reid through midnight feedings and teething, they try to ignore the sexual pull between them. Then they learn Storm may have family who could take her from them. Reid proposes a marriage of convenience, but will it be enough to keep this fractured family together?

Here’s what early reviewers had to say about Marrying the Nanny: 
“This is my first read by Dani Collins. It definitely will not be my last! I loved every character.” ~ 5 stars, DeeAnn on Goodreads
And
“The setting is amazing and makes you want to be in Raven’s Cove, the characters are all so lovable and relatable you can’t help but root for them and crave to read all of their stories.” ~ 5 stars, Sara on Goodreads


www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0C95P69GS
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/marrying-the-nanny-dani-collins/1143697276
https://books.apple.com/us/book/marrying-the-nanny/id6450614753
https://www.kobo.com/ca/en/ebook/marrying-the-nanny
play.google.com/store/books/details/Dani_Collins_Marrying_the_Nanny?id=RY7kEAAAQBAJ&hl=en_US&gl=US

Start reading on my website here: https://danicollins.com/books/marrying-the-nanny/#excerpt

More about the author.

Award-winning and USA Today Bestselling author Dani Collins thrives on giving readers emotional, compelling, heart-soaring romance with laughter and heat thrown in, just like real life. While she is best known for writing contemporary romance for Harlequin Presents and Tule Publishing, she also writes historical and erotic romance. When she’s not writing—just kidding, she’s always writing. Dani lives in Southern BC, Canada with her high school sweetheart husband.
I try to limit my time on social media, but you can get updates on my books here:

https://www.facebook.com/DaniCollinsAuthor
http://instagram.com/danicollinsauthor
https://www.tiktok.com/@danicollinsauthor
​twitter.com/DaniCollinsBook

If you never made a dump cake you'll be suprised at how easy-peasy.
Grease your pan and light the over to 350.
One can of pie filling.
Dump it in.
One box of cake mix. )Only limited by what you want. I used white and peach but I could just have easily used chocolate and cherry.) 
Dump it in.
Press down onto pie filling.
Cut about a 1/2 cup of butter into small pieces and sprinkle over the top.
That's it. Really. Not kidding. 
Bake about 30 minutes depending on your oven.