I’m so happy to welcome D.D. Chant to our blog today!
Thanks so much for agreeing to be with us today! What 5 things should readers know about you?
1. I’m not very romantic in real life.
2. Action films are my favourite.
3. I watch Thor or Sherlock when I’m not well to cheer myself up.
4. Chocolate brownies and fluffy pillows are the media that gets me through editing.
5. I dance around the room every time I get a good review.
Thor would cheer anyone up! 🙂
Tell us all about your main characters—who are they? What makes them tick? What one thing would they need to have with them if stranded on a desert isle?
Deeta is the heroine of the Broken City series, she’s never left the building she was born in and so she’s very naive. She longs for adventure, but at the same time she’s scared of the world that exists just outside the walls of the compound that protects her. The one thing she would need on a desert island would be Tom, he is the one person in the world who understands her and makes her feel strong.
Tom is the hero of the Broken City series, he’s a strong, silent man with a past. Everyone is a bit afraid of him, but he’s very gentle toward Deeta and always has been since she was a little girl. Tom carries a heavy burden, a secret that he knows will make others hate him. He’s tired of the death and destruction that goes on outside the compound and he loves Deeta’s pure and generous kindness. If he was stranded on a desert island Tom would be very practical: he’d be packing a well-stocked boat!!!
Hmmm…that might be cheating…
If your book were being cast as a movie, who would you want to play the main characters?
Ooo! This one is sooo hard!
Tom – Jensen Ackles
Ryder- Captain Awesome (from Chuck!)
But I’ve never been able to decide about Deeta and Jan!!
I love Captain Awesome! Jensen isn’t too bad either….
How long have you been writing, and what (or who) inspired you to start?
I wrote my first novel when I was 14, it was my aunt’s idea but I don’t think she expected me to get as completely hooked as I did!
LOL 🙂
What do you like best about being a writer?
I love the way my characters take over the story and push it in new directions. I start with a very basic plot outline for all of my stories and then let the characters decide how we get there. It’s like reading your favourite kind of book, but you get to decide how it all ends.
That’s great!
What is the most challenging part of being a writer?
For an indie like me it’s finding ways to let people know about my books. There are so many stories out there and it’s very hard to make your own work stand out. So if you read an indie’s book and you loved it, please help spread the word!
It’s a plan!
What are you working on right now? What can readers look for from you in the next year?
I have three books out this year! They are the sequels to all three of my series:
Broken Truce (Broken City, 2#)
The Vow (The Lady Quill Chronicles, 2#)
Severance (Chronicles of Discord, 2#)
Wow–good luck!
What authors and/or books have inspired you?
I love Georgette Heyer, she writes with a lot of subtle humour. I love all the oldies, Dickens, Gaskell and Austen and I have a soft spot for Lucy Walker.
Classics–excellent choices!
What are you currently reading? What are your thoughts about it so far?
I’ve started the Auto series by David Wailing and I’m enjoying it, it’s quite creepy.
I’ll have to check it out…
Please share a favorite scene from your book with our readers.
Hmmm… let me think…
When I turn back to Tom it is to find that he has recovered from his amusement, but a lingering smile still hovers on his lips. His head is resting against the softness of the cushions and his eyes are closed. He seems close to sleep, and I notice again the fatigue in his face. The paleness of his skin stands out sharply against his dark stubble and the bluish shadows beneath his eyes.
I wish I could make it better somehow, that I could take away the responsibilities that wear him down like this. I want to ease his burden, bring him relief, but I have no idea how to do that or if it would even be right.
“You’re staring.” Tom shifts a little as if he’s trying to find a more comfortable position. “Do you fancy me or something?”
I snort.
“I was just thinking that if you fall asleep there I’m not strong enough to carry you up to the bedroom.”
He smiles a little, still not opening his eyes, and reaches a hand up to me. I lean forwards to take it, thinking he wants me to help him up, but when I place my hand in his, he jerks me down beside him, pulling me close and wrapping both arms around me.
“Mmm… that’s better,” he murmurs, settling my head on his shoulder and resting his cheek against my hair. “You’re nice and soft Deeta: comfortable.”
“Are you telling me I’m fat?”
Tom’s shoulders shake in amusement and he lifts a hand, covering my mouth.
“Shhh, let’s just sit like this for a bit.”
His voice is so tired that I decide that now is not the time to ask him what happened while he was ‘out’. A few seconds later I feel his hold on me relax and his breathing change as he falls asleep.
These are the moments I treasure, the times that bring me most happiness. I know that it’s memories like these that I will never forget. They are simple, common place even, but more precious to me than the grandest of romantic gestures.
I can’t begin to explain the feelings I experience when Tom turns to me for comfort, for peace, the way he is only able to relax completely when he has me in his arms. It makes me feel so good to know that to him I am important and precious. That my existence makes his life richer just as his existence enriches mine.
I move a little so that I can study his face, the dark hair falling over his brow and the strong features that I know and love so well. I smile slightly; I don’t mean to brag, but there is no denying that I did pretty well for myself!
Beneath my hand I can feel the strong, steady beat of his heart, a heart that I know is filled with Tom’s own special brand of tenderness. As the warmth he radiates seeps into me, my eyes flutter close.
Tom is back safe and sound, for now that is the only thing of any importance.
Please share your personal playlist that you listen to while writing:
All of Adele’s songs!!!
Christina Perri – “Jar of Hearts”
Lana Del Rey – “Video Games”
U2 – “I Will Follow”
Black Eyed Peas – “Let’s Get it Stared”
Kaiser Chiefs – “Ruby”
No Min Woo – “Trap”
Nirvana – “Smells Like Teen Spirit”
Muse – “Supermassive Black Hole”
My Chemical Romance – “I don’t love you”
Pendulum – “Watercolour”
Example – “Changed The Way You Kiss Me?”
?Pitbull ft. T-Pain – “Hey Baby”
Tinie Tempah & Eric Turner –” Writen In The Stars”
Owl City – “Fireflies”
Hi everyone!
My name is Dee Dee, I’m twenty six and I live in a beautiful part of Devon, England with my family. I have a younger sister, Amy who is a brilliant guitar player, some chickens, duck, geese, pheasants, a cat (that adopted us when we moved in!!!) and some Koi.
Broken City is actually my second novel. My first, as my Aunt so delicately put it, was crazy. In my defence I was only sixteen when I wrote it. On the plus side I learnt a lot (or so I hope) and two years later ‘Broken City’ was finished. Due to the support I have received from readers I have just finished the next book in the Broken City series, Broken Truce!
I have another book, ‘The Promise’, which is set in Saxon England is the beginning of a series. I’ve just begun to edit the next book and I’m really looking forward to releasing it.
My third series is called The Chronicles of Discord. The first book, ‘Fracture’, is set in the distant future and tells the story of Astra, a young woman with a very big secret.
I have just finished the second book in the series and it’s currently awaiting editing.
I really hope you enjoy reading my books as much as I enjoy writing them.
I love reading and have a kindle: I read almost anything with adventure and romance in it! I also like to cook and wear impractical high heels!!! And as you might have noticed I have a horrible addiction to exclamation marks!!!
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TITLE – Broken City
SERIES – Broken City
AUTHOR – D.D. Chant
GENRE – Post Apocalyptic/Dystopia/Romance
PUBLICATION DATE – 2011
LENGTH (Pages/# Words) – 97,187
PUBLISHER – Self Published
COVER ARTIST – Laura Tunstall
Deeta Richards has never seen the outside world. Before she was born a banking crisis brought civilization to an end and now no one leaves the safety of the compounds unless they need to, but Deeta still dreams of seeing more than the building she was born in.
Tom is in the guard, this group are the only people that the tribal elders allow to leave the compound and Tom knows only too well that Deeta could never survive the harshness that exists outside. Then tragedy strikes and Deeta and her Sister Jan find themselves captured by a hostile tribe. Why does Tom know so much about these people? And why do they know so much about him? As this mystery draws to a climax, they discover that their friend Tom is not quite what he seems…..
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TITLE – Broken Truce
SERIES – Broken City
AUTHOR – D.D. Chant
GENRE – Post Apocalyptic/Dystopia/Romance
PUBLICATION DATE – 2014
LENGTH (Pages/# Words) – 94,403
PUBLISHER – Self Published
COVER ARTIST – Kate Lacey
Life isn’t turning out the way Deeta thought it would. With the Lewises defeated and peace between the tribes, she’d believed that the dark times were in the past.
However, troubles between the tribe continue and the Andak council has selected Tom as ambassador and chief spokesmen to the other tribes.
Deeta knows that there is still much resentment against the Andak, that Tom is in danger every time he leaves the safety of Andak city.
Struggling with her own her own complicated feelings against the tribe that she is now a part of, Deeta tries to ignore the changing attitudes growing within her.
Then Tom is betrayed and with the whole City thrown in to great danger, Deeta finds that reality can’t be ignored forever…
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Thank you so very much for being part of this tour – Tonya