Interview with Justine Dell, Author of Recaptured Dreams with G*veaways

Everyone, please welcome the wicked awesome Justine Dell! We have a great interview for you today.

Hiya, Justine! We're all dying to know your latest news so spill.

My second book, All American Girl, was accepted by Ominific and will be published in January 2013!

That's awesome! Congrats! When did you first consider yourself a writer?

You know, it’s funny because I still don’t. I didn’t set out to become a writer. I wrote because it was something I just liked to do. I didn’t do it with the goal of being published…that just happens to be a wonderful perk. Even if I didn’t get one more story published, I would still write because it’s what I love. It’s a hobby. It’s an obsession. J

Well, you are definitely a writer in my book! (Sorry, bad pun, I know.) Anyhow, what inspired you to write Recaptured Dreams?

This particular book came about in a strange way. Harlequin had a contest like three years ago for one of their series lines. I thought I would give entering a try. A co-worker and I were brainstorming and we came up with the idea on the fly one day. Candice (that is her name) actually came up with the character  Xavier and his profession, so that credit goes all to her. I simply wrote the story around this idea of  man she created. A straight, hot, male fashion designer? Heck yeah! 

Now that sounds like fun! Do you have a specific writing style?

Panster. All. The. Way. I’d stop writing if I had to plot. Seriously. Since writing is my passion (and my escape from normal life…lol), plotting would make it un-fun.

Un-fun is never cool. And I'm a panster too. Pansters Unite!

Ah-hem. Sorry. Got a little carried away there. If you had to choose, which writer would you consider a mentor?

That would be one, Mrs. Sarah Fine. I found her on Nathan Bransford’s forums about three years ago and she’s been my best long-distance friend and writing buddy since. She’s also brilliant and taught me SO much. Without her, I’m CERTAIN I wouldn’t be where I am today. Every writer needs a writer buddy.

Of, definitely. Writer buddies are the best. No one else can understand a writer like a writer buddy. So what are your current projects?

I’m in the processing of finishing up a contemporary romance called Until Next Time. A story about Piper, a Funeral Director, who’s afraid of loving because she’s afraid of death. And a man, Macy Quinn Oliver, who will make her see that love and death are both beautiful.

Oh, that sounds inspiring! How long does it take you to write a book?

That depends on the book. My first book (which will never see print..lol) took three months.  Recaptured Dreams was written in thirty days. And my most recent project has taken six. So really it depends how much spare time I have. The more spare time, the faster the book gets done! Of course, none of these time frames include the dreaded act of editing. Eeek!

I'm the same way. Sometimes I can write a story in a month, sometimes I need a lot longer. And editing always takes me so much longer than writing. What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?

I need total silence. And no interruptions. Otherwise, I can’t think. Or concentrate. Or focus. I need everything I have to be focused on the pages in front of me. The family has yet to learn this rule. J

I can't listen to music when I write so I know where you're coming from. Now for some less serious questions. What would you do if you didn't have to work?

Write. Then write some more. Oh, and live like a hermit. The only exception to total isolation would be my need for the internet. I could live without  pretty much everything else. (After my daughter goes off to college, of course!)

Of course! What did you want to be when you were ten years old?

A vet. That’s strange, right? But then I realized that I loved animals too much to see them hurt. So I wanted to be an ichthyologist and work on the ocean learning about sharks or seals or something! And, uh, that didn’t work out either. J

LOL I wanted to be a vet for about a minute. I have really bad allergies. Could never last as a vet!

If Hollywood made a movie about your life, who would you like to see play the lead role as you?

Tina Fey. Hands down. That woman would get the craziness of my life and the humor. She’d be brilliant as me.

Oh, great choice!

If someone wrote a biography about you, what do you think the title should be?

Ordinary to Extraordinary. *giggle* Assuming one day I have the right to be called extraordinary. *grins*

Justine, you crack me up! That's an awesome title!

Recaptured Dreams Blurb:

Ten years, the Atlantic Ocean, and several rungs in society have kept Xavier Cain from having Sophia Montel. Now twenty-seven, he’s spent his entire adult life building a fashion empire that could finally prove his worth to her family. When fate reunites him with Sophia at London’s premiere fashion show, one problem lodges in Xavier’s path: Sophia doesn’t remember him.

The only obstacle that has kept Sophia from Xavier is a horrific car crash that erased her memory at seventeen. She’s spent the last ten years fighting to reclaim a sliver of her past that her mother refuses to help her remember. When Sophia meets Xavier at the London show, however, all her fantasies come to life in one night of passion. Discovering he is the missing link, she is determined to find all the pieces to their love story and her memory.

Xavier wants forever. Sophia wants her memory. If they take this chance, they’ll have to start over. How far are they willing to go get what they want? And when the past catches up to them, can they handle the truths it has hidden?

Author Bio:

Justine lives in the Midwest, happily catering to her family, which consists of a horse-obsessed teenage daughter and four crazy dogs. She’s never moved from her hometown, but hopes to grow old in a much warmer climate.

During the day she works a normal job with college students who try their best to keep her young. They’ve done a good job thus far.  At night, said teenage daughter and her horse require mounds of love and attention. The weekends belong solely to her and her writing. That’s when she morphs into a sticky bug, unable to leave the confines of her computer chair.

She started writing three years ago after seeing a movie that set off a chain reaction she couldn’t have stopped if she’d wanted. It’s not a hobby for her; it’s an obsession. One she loves and one she loves to share.

Contact Justine by email: dell.justine@gmail.com

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And don't forget to check out Omnific Publishing. Romance ... without the rules.


Justine's favorite line from the book: Xavier had thought he was in paradise before. He’d been wrong. Sophia was more than paradise. She was the very reason he breathed.

Awesome, awesome line. Can definitely see why it's Justine's favorite!

Giveaway time!

One of you can win a copy of Justine's ebook. Justine will pick a winner at the end of the day using a random number generator. Be sure to enter - just leave a comment (if you could include your email, that would be great!)!

Also Justine will be giving away TWO Recaptured Dreams bookmarks!

And another also, Justine's publisher is giving away two paperback copies of the book through a Goodreads Giveaway: http://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/enter_choose_address/31551-recaptured-dreams

And finally, Justine is hosting a huge giveaway on her blog during the entire month of September. Details here: http://justine-dell.blogspot.com/