#lwlinterview – #holidayromance Author Amber Daulton Talks Publishing and Writing

Hey, romance addicts. Amber Daulton is back with another great book and interview. She joins us to share her writing process and a new Valentine’s adventure romance, My Valentine’s Adventure.

Amber Daulton is the author of the romantic-suspense series Arresting Onyx and several
standalone novellas. Her books are published through The Wild Rose Press, Books to Go Now,
and Daulton Publishing, and are available in e-book, print on demand, audio, and foreign language
formats. She lives in North Carolina with her husband and demanding cats.

Welcome, Amber.

How did publishing your first book change your writing process?
Boy, is that a loaded question! I’d modeled my style after what I was reading, only to learn with my first publisher that passive voice and head hopping are now frowned upon. I would love to go back in time and tell myself to do more research into grammar and writing style, and not to read so many romance books written in the 1990s and earlier. The writing and publishing guidelines have changed over the years, and what was accepted back then is no longer accepted now, as least for beginners without a huge following.

How many unpublished and half-finished books do you have?
Too many to count. They’re gathering digital dust on my computer, waiting to see the light of day, but I have fourteen novels, novellas, and short stories published so far.

How do you select the names of your characters?
The hardest thing for me is deciding on character names. Now, that might not sound like a big deal, but the names have to fit with the characters I see in my mind perfectly. I feel stumped and lose my creativity if I assign a name to someone that just doesn’t feel right. I usually choose the names based on their personality, physical characteristics, family dynamics/heritage, the time period of the novel, or just what I find sexy! I sometimes spend hours, if not days, just scouring through baby name books and websites for the best names.

Do you Google yourself?
I’ve done it before, yes. There are a few other women named “Amber Daulton” but my links and pictures are the first ones to pop up in the search.

How long on average does it take you to write a book?
I usually write everyday from 8-ish in the morning to about 4 pm with little breaks in between (unless I’m having writer’s block). Depending on the research I need to do and the amount of edits each book will need, on average, I finish a novella (say 15 to 35k WC) in about two months. For a full-length novel (80k plus), I usually take four months to finish it.
I don’t set a word count quota for myself, but I do set personal deadlines in which I try to have chapters done by a certain date, so I can have the entire story completed by another date. Sometimes I make it; sometimes I don’t.

Thank you, Amber, for joining us. All right, romance addicts, Check out Amber’s new book, My Valentine Adventure.

Dumped on Valentine’s Day. Tricked into a blind date. Will she give love another shot? Widowed father Parker Townsend is stuck in a rut. After his two little hellions place a “Mom Wanted” ad in the local paper, he’s roped into a blind date. If that’s not bad enough, why did it have to be on Valentine’s Day–the most commercialized holiday of the year?

Claire Lauer answers the want ad to appease her daughter, not to connect with a handsome man drowning in emotional baggage. Hadn’t she learned anything from her ex-husband? But then an animal rights protest takes a turn, and she lands in her date’s bed.

With the past closing in, how will Parker and Claire seize their second chance at forever?

— My Valentine Adventure is a sensual, second chance, contemporary romance novella.

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