My name is DONNA JUNE COOPER and my debut novel, More Than Magic, has just been published this month by Samhain Publishing. I write contemporary paranormal romance with a very subdued and special magic and a definite emphasis on the romance. More Than Magic is the first book in the Books of the Kindling which focus on Woodruff Mountain, the ancient power beneath it, and the family that has hidden its secrets for centuries.
As the granddaughter of a Virginia coal miner and great-great-granddaughter of one of the Muskogee people, I was raised in the shadows of the Appalachian Mountains, in the heavenly hills and valleys of East Tennessee – a gorgeous setting that plays a major role in my writing and my passion for the environment. But I was lured away from my green mountains by an admittedly gorgeous Italian guy, who married me and carried me off to Texas—very flat and very hot Texas. In spite of the heat, I love being walked by my Jack Russell Terrier (if you know Jacks, you understand). I also love belly dancing (excellent exercise and lots of shiny costumes), going to Renaissance Faires (more costumes!), reading way too much (romance, of course), spending time on too many social networking sites, and writing, writing, writing because I must!
Like any child of the Appalachians, I can't stay away from my mountains for long and visit as often as I can. In my books, I take my readers with me for some romance with a touch of magic.
Donna's Writing Day
My writing day starts when Cali says it does. Cali is my Jack Russell who seems to know that I work best in the early morning hours—like 5 a.m. early. So, she considers it her duty, as my co-author, to wake me up at 4:30 a.m. I know! But it actually isn’t a bad approach. It is REALLY quiet at 5 a.m. I can get a lot of mundane things out of the way over my first mug—huge mug—of tea. And then Cali knows she gets her daily walk when the sun comes up.
My daily walks with Cali are also part of my writing toolkit. I tend to come up with ideas, flesh out plots, and work out plot kinks while I’m walking. So I walk with a digital recorder and I probably look like I’m talking to myself a lot of the time, because I am.
Then it’s into my comfy writing clothes (no, not pajamas) and settle in front of my computer with yet another mug of tea. I love my desk. I was lucky enough to work at home during my corporate career and I invested in a huge oak corner unit for my office. Cali’s bed is in here too, of course. And I have one of those weird ergonomic split keyboards and an ergonomic chair (second-hand) that I cannot live without. Something else I can’t live without is music—mainly Pandora and iTunes. When I’m doing marketing things or applying copy edits or writing blog posts, I set Pandora on “Ambient Radio”. And when I’m actually writing, I start up the particular book’s soundtrack on iTunes and get lost in the mountains (and in the streets of Florence and anywhere else my stories take me).
But, as you know, the most important thing in a writer’s life is all the people (and dogs!) who stand behind you and support you in your writing life. Family, friends, beta readers, fellow writers, great editors like Noah Chinn at Samhain, other authors like Holly Lisle—who created a couple of great writing courses that set me on this path, groups like MFRW and others—who offer support and fantastic advice, and, of course, the readers—the most important people of all!
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Win with Donna
Enter for a chance to win one of three copies of MORE THAN MAGIC, Books of the Kindling, Book 1.
A malignant secret could turn her mountain sanctuary into their tomb.
DEA agent Nick McKenzie is sure magic exists—a dangerous drug called Smoky Mountain Magic that’s wreaking havoc in Atlanta. He’s also sure that locating and eliminating the source will kill him.
When he arrives undercover on Woodruff Mountain, the beautiful owner’s awkward attempts to scare him off tell him something’s afoot, and it’s not her secret patch of ginseng.
As her dream of seeking medicinal plants in the Amazon fades away, Grace Woodruff struggles to come to terms with a magical gift she didn’t want, and searches desperately for the meaning behind her late grandfather’s final, cryptic message.
The last thing she needs underfoot is a handsome, enigmatic writer recovering from a recent illness. Until an accidental touch unleashes a stunning mystical force and Grace senses the wrath of a malicious blight at the heart of the mountain. Now Grace must choose between her need to hide her gift from the world…and her desire to save Nick’s life.
Warning: This book contains a fiery redhead whose magic cannot be contained and a handsome DEA agent whose final case might give him a second chance at life.
