Mommy Adventures With Ravina Kurian: Author Interview

Saturday, 24 August 2013

Author Interview – Dakota Madison

Tell us a bit about your family.

I have a wonderful husband and we have been married 13 years. We also live with two beautiful bloodhounds.

What makes you happiest?

I’m always happiest when I’m home with husband and our bloodhounds but I also love to travel. Spending time on a beach with a good book is definitely one of my biggest pleasures in life as is watching movies.

What writing are you most proud of?

I am very proud of writing 12 novels in 12 months. I began this quest in November 2012 and I’ve almost completed my journey!

What books did you love growing up?

My two favorite books were Alice in Wonderland and The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Both beloved books have wonderful female characters and teach wonderful life lessons.

What book should everybody read at least once?What is hardest – getting published, writing or marketing?

For me, writing is the easy part. I find selling my work a lot more difficult. It’s also extremely difficult to balance marketing and promotion with writing more books. There are only so many hours in the day.

Do you find it hard to share your work?

It can be extremely difficult to share one’s work with the world, especially when it is criticized. It’s interesting to me that so many people think nothing of tearing a book apart in “book reviews.” I wonder if they would say those same things to my face if they met me in person? I doubt it.

What other jobs have you had in your life?

I work as a university professor for my “day job.”

Tell us about your new book? What’s it about and why did you write it?

After Alex Died is a romance/love story that is also about bullying, suicide and healing from grief. I wanted to write a romance novel that was unique, so I thought about who would be the most unlikely people to ever fall in love. I had been reading a lot of articles about suicide as the result of being bullied (especially amongst gay and lesbian teens) and I wondered if it would be possible for a person to fall in love with someone, who bullied her brother so much that he killed himself. I wondered what happens to bullies after bullied person kills him or herself. How is the bully’s life impacted? Those questions led to After Alex Died.