1. What inspires you to write?
I
get a lot of my inspiration from mythology and the paranormal. I live for both!
Sometimes I get concepts from a location, dream, song or a quote. I love it
when an idea surprises me.
2. You have a new book coming out in June, Aphrodite's War, what can you
tell us about it?
It evolved from two
ideas, First that the love affair between the Greek gods Aphrodite and Ares
must get a little old after a few hundred years...and that all is fair in love
and war, to quote a cliché. It became a battle for supremacy. Second—that two
completely different people could ‘practice’ date without getting emotionally
involved. Yeah, right. I mixed the two concepts and went from there.
3. You are a published author under Staccato Publishing, how is
that working out for you?
I LOVE
Staccato, Heather Savage and my fellow authors under that label, as well as the
staff there. It’s all I could have asked for. We are family, and I feel like I
can say anything and write exactly the way I want to, without fear of being
censored. I can be myself and that is ferociously important to me.
4. What advice would you give to someone is wanting to become an author?
Keep learning and keep trying. You can only
grow. I’d recommend a critique partner or group—people you trust to give you
honest encouragement and advice. I had a critique group for Thoeba. It didn’t
last, but without their nurturing and blunt honesty I might not be published
today. I learned so much.
5. If you weren't writing what would you be doing?
I might still be working in the meat industry as a meat cutter. I still
love the work itself, but I don’t miss the cold or the politics. Mind you, now
that I have cats, I feel a little differently about my relationship with
animals. Maybe I’d be a landscaper instead.
6. Who is Donna Milward?
Donna
Milward is an odd duck, and proud of it. She is a headbanger who still listens
to Iron Maiden, Sepultura and Megadeth. She has always dressed exactly how she
chooses, and refuses to conform to social norms. She was the original ‘goth’. A
years went by, she stopped being so angry when she realized she had love to
give. She’s now married with three adorable cats who fill her life with
astonishing beauty and acceptance. The beloved troll is pretty awesome too.
7. Who is your favorite author and why?
Ray Bradbury. I read Fahrenheit 451 in grade twelve and it changed my
life. I hadn’t become an authentic writer yet, but I think I did because of it.
His brilliance and precognition spoke to me. I remember seeing a series based
on his stories where the intro included the room he writes in packed with
eclectic ornamentation....toys, skulls, sundials, antiques... He said, “I’ll
never starve here.” He taught me to look around and find inspiration in my
surroundings.
8. Do you have any book boyfriends?
Do comic books count? From the
moment I saw ‘Morbius, The Living Vampire’ seething back at me from the cover
of issue #2 on the magazine stand I was hooked on his red eyes and silky black
hair. The fangs, the leather, the TORTURED soul...Sigh. He was a brilliant
doctor trying to treat himself for a rare blood disease and it turned him into
a vampire, more or less. In his own comic, he swore off innocent blood and only
fed off pimps, drug dealers and super-villains.
9. If you could be any of your characters, who would you be and why?
Tough one! I guess I’d have to say Thoeba
herself. She’s beautiful and powerful. She’s lived for millennia yet everything
is so new to her. Plus I like how she turned out.
10. Are you working on anything you can tell us about?
My third novel is called ‘Chasing Monsters’.
The title is based on a Nietzche quote: “He who fights with monsters might take
care lest he thereby become a monster.” It involves a paranormal investigator,
a serial killer, and a demon with a soul.
Thanks Bunches Donna for allowing me
to interview you!!
Thanks for having me,
Lady Amber! I appreciate you taking the time to interview me.
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