1--What is the title of your latest release?
FORGIVING HER FIRST LOVE
2--What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?
He broke her heart eight years ago. Now he’s her boss and she has nowhere to go.
3--How did you decide where your book was going to take place?
I created Raven’s Cove from a real-world place called Denny Island on British Columbia’s central coast. My cousin worked there for over twenty years and my aunt had been to visit him in 2016. I saw her photos and thought, “What a great place to set a book!”
My husband and I visited in 2018 and the layout of my village is very much like the real place with some artistic license.
4--Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life?
Absolutely! Sophie has a dark, sarcastic sense of humor, but she’s honest and, beneath the tough exterior, very kind and sensitive.
5--What are three words that describe your protagonist?
Since I answered this for Sophie above, I’ll say that Logan, the hero, is sinfully sexy, a teensy bit entitled, but a genuinely decent person beneath the sarcasm.
6--What’s something you learned while writing this book?
So many hits by Canadian bands! There’s a fun scene where a live band plays at the one and only bar. Every time the characters say “I didn’t know this was a Canadian band” they have to take a shot.
I had a great time writing it and they all got pretty drunk, lol.
This song by Leonard Cohen became one of my favorites ever: Closing Time (It’s not the one by Third Eye Blind, but once I heard it, I was obsessed.) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-0lV5qs1Qw
7--Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done?
I definitely edit as I go. I like lots of thinking time so this gives me a chance to go back and tidy up while I’m pondering what next.
8--What’s your favorite foodie indulgence?
Old Dutch Dill Pickle chips with a glass of rose. Don’t judge me.
9--Describe your writing space/office!
I used to write in our finished attic which is fine, but it has a slanted ceiling and a tiny window. After both our kids were launched from the nest, I converted our son’s room into my office.
I chose his room because we were able to put in a door to the balcony off our bedroom. That means I get lots of natural light and I can walk outside on a summer morning or take my wine out there for happy hour. Last year, we had tree frogs in the plants. (They were adorable.)
As for my actual office, it’s pretty much my dream office with a standing desk, two huge white boards, two big calendars, lots of wall space, a shelf for my author copies and a gorgeous window onto our back yard and the peekaboo view of the lake. I see deer and quail pretty much daily, plus the occasional bunny or bear.
10--Who is an author you admire?
So many! All of my fellow Tule authors, obviously, but I know how hard it is to write a book so I admire anyone who manages it, especially if they’re working around family or a day job or other commitments.
11--Is there a book that changed your life?
Two non-fiction books I really liked lately were Thinking in Bets by Annie Duke and Four Thousand Weeks by Oliver Burkeman. Four thousand weeks is the average life span (so what are you going to do with what you likely have left?)
Thinking in Bets is about realizing that we often judge a decision by its outcome and if that outcome was not the desired outcome, we presume the decision was bad. But the decision itself might have been sound because that was all the information you had at the time.
Publishing can be tricky and we’re often making decisions about which book to write two years before it comes out, so there’s no way to know if it will resonate with readers so I found it reassuring to know that my decision-making skills are fine and the outcome is just the roll of the dice.
12--Tell us about when you got “the call.” (when you found out your book was going to be published)/Or, for indie authors, when you decided to self-publish.
It took me 25 years of submitting to get The Call from Harlequin so I was pretty bowled over. I had actually been working closely with an editor there so when she asked if she could call me, I was pretty sure she was going to offer me a contract, but it was still very surreal.
That was 2012 and indie publishing was really taking off so I began doing that at the same time. It was a little bit of madness on my part because I also got an opportunity with Tule Publishing and still had a day job.
I wound up quitting my job and curtailing my indie career in favor of Harlequin and Tule.
Forgiving Her First Love is my fourteenth book for Tule and my 85th book overall.
13--What’s your favorite genre to read?
Romance!! I’ll read nearly any kind of romance from fantasy and monster to historical to erotic. I don’t love horror so I steer away from super dark romance.
14--What’s your favorite movie?
I recently rewatched Bend it Like Beckham. It’s definitely in my top ten.
15--What is your favorite season?
Spring! Although, we’re having a mild start to summer, and I’ll definitely take it.
16--How do you like to celebrate your birthday?
We might use it as an excuse to go out for dinner, but I don’t really celebrate any occasions. If I want flowers, I buy myself flowers.
17--What’s a recent tv show/movie/book/podcast you highly recommend?
I enjoy the podcasts Smartless, Working it Out, and Blocks. I just rewatched The Diplomate with Keri Russell and cannot wait for Season 2!
18--What’s your favorite type of cuisine?
I’ll eat pretty much anything. I don’t love super spicy and I steer toward veggies rather than meat or potatoes, but if someone else is cooking, I’m thrilled.
19--What do you do when you have free time?
My husband and I like to travel. This year we visited Zion National Park and Bryce Canyon. They were both spectacular.
20--What can readers expect from you next?
I hope you’ve already picked up Marrying the Nanny, which is Book One in Raven’s Cove. I pitched this series as Three Men and a Baby on an Island. All three books can be read as stand-alone, but if you like to read in order, start with that one.
The first one is the eldest brother, Reid, who falls for the nanny, Emma.
Forgiving Her First Love is the middle brother, Logan, who reunites with Sophie, who had a crush on him her whole life, until he broke her heart. Now she hates him, but she’s coming around.
Finally, look for Wanting a Family Man in November, for Trystan’s story when he falls for (minor spoiler) baby Storm’s Aunt Cloe.
Raven's Cove #2
They have a past they’d both rather forget…
When Logan Fraser arrives to save the marina she manages, Sophie Peterson is skeptical that she can count on him. She spent her childhood crushing on Logan, and they even had a brief affair when he came back to Raven’s Cove the summer she graduated high school, but he left again, breaking her heart.
Logan escaped Raven’s Cove to design luxury yachts. He was done with the relentless rain and a childhood of feeling responsible for other people’s unhappiness. His mother stuck out her difficult marriage for Logan’s sake, even when his father had yet another affair. By the time Sophie looked to Logan for happiness, he knew it was every man for himself.
Now Logan’s profligate father has died, leaving him an orphaned sister and a financial mess that demands a Herculean effort with with his estranged brothers to resolve. He needs Sophie’s help, but her priorities are her son, grandfather and sanity. Still, she needs the job, but she’ll never trust Logan again.
Romance Contemporary [Tule Publishing, On Sale: July 16, 2024, Paperback / e-Book, ISBN: 9781962707978 / ]
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.
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