I'm a girl who loves love : Darian Wilk

Soul mates from the past leave their love unfinished when a tragic accident ends their lives on their wedding day.  Yet they are destined to meet again to fulfill that love in new incarnations, leading vastly different lives.
Emma thought she had chosen the right path, but too late does she realize her mistake as her husband reveals the monster behind his smile-morphing their fairytale image with loveless obligation.  Trapped in a broken marriage to a powerful, abusive husband, she knows this is not the life she was destined to live.  As her hope for love withers, she meets James, her love from a lifetime ago.
Emma cannot deny the love pulling her toward James, but courage to abandon her marriage wavers and unknowingly puts her love on the line.  If Emma has any hope of life and love, she must trust the bond with James and be with the man destiny has spent two lifetimes guiding her toward.  Are they fated to fulfill their love, or will they choose once again, to leave love unfinished?

Available at : Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Smashwords .

Today I have the pleasure of welcoming a very dear friend and author of this wonderful book, Darian Wilk. She has written this touching love story which is a must read if you are looking for sweet romance. She shares with us her some tidbits about the book and some valuable information for new authors like me!


Hello Darian, welcome to my blog! Why don't you tell us something about your book!
It's a story of soul mates who die a tragic death on their wedding day, yet are fated to meet again in new incarnations, leading vastly different lives.  She has already married, and he has vowed to never love again.

Love! *Sigh* I am a big fan of romance novels. What got you a romance story idea? Why not anything else?
I'm a very curious person by nature, I see people and can't help but wonder something about them, which in turn leads to story ideas.  But in the end, I'm a girl who loves love.  I love that rush of falling in love, heart fluttering, the flush that creeps up your neck when you see him...I think its the natural combination of the two, my curiosity and (mild) addiction to love that gives me ideas for romance novels.

Does this story have any resemblance to people you know? The main characters, as I noted in my review here, looked very real to me! 
It's funny, but no.  Although there is one character, a very minor part, who is based solely on my mom and grandma, both who I lost to cancer.  The woman Carol (the bride) meets after she dies was created from my memory of those two women in my life.  From the characters movements, scent, how she looked to calling Carol "Pumpkin".  She is a true reflection of the two women who meant everything to me.

Getting a novel out there to read is a brave decision. What were the common obstacles and how did you face them?
There are numerous obstacles any writer faces, Indie or traditionally published, some being editing and critiques or reviews.  I once read that writing is the easy part, and editing is re-writing.  This could not be more true.  No matter how challenging the first draft might seem, it's nothing compared to the second draft, the third, etc.  I faced editing by, as James Scott Bell says, editing cool, by taking time off between drafts so that I could come back to it with fresh eyes.  I push the writer in me aside and slip on my editors cap, because an editor doesn't care how pretty a scene is; if it adds nothing to the story he's going to cut it.  The writer, would cry and complain that he spent an entire day perfecting that worthless scene. For some reason, I often found myself thinking of a quote from The Godfather as I sat down to trim and polish, "It's not personal, it's just business."  I think for successful editing, you have to view it as that, business.

Critiques and reviews, well that is a hard and easy one for me to face.  Of course a writer only wants to hear glowing words about their work, but that's not always the case.  So what I do is take a day off to feel bad for myself.  I eat that carton of Ben & Jerry's, use a few choice words for the person, and then the next day I get back to work.  I seek anything constructive in what they said, look for opportunities to better myself as a writer.  I analyze what they said for truth and remind myself that truth often hurts, but in the end they've done me a favor, because now the book is better.

Who are your favorite authors?
Oh gosh, where to start!  Oddly, growing up I was a mystery buff like you would not believe.  I think at one point I had every single novel Ed McBain ever wrote, and I still continue to read him today.  I like the roughness in his writing, the flawed characters, it caters to my tomboy side I think!

I also have two other authors I will buy any book they write, without having a clue what it's about.  The first is Anne Tyler, she's more of a women's fiction writer than romance writer.  But I love the talent she has to create such real characters, to the point they almost seem like real people.  

The other is Anya Seton, a writer from 'back in the day' who wrote historical fiction.  I love tales told in the Victorian era, the flamboyant outfits, how elegant the speech was, and of course every novel of hers was riddle with passionate love and drama.  You just can't go wrong with one of her books!

One single advice to aspiring authors. 

Stop to see how far you've come, then keep going.  Once passed the rush of the first few chapters, a lot of times people realize writing is actually a lot of work.  But remember that each step you have taken is one more than someone else did, and with every step you've just passed another person.

Any more lovely romance stories out there for us?
There's a whole section at the library!  But from me, I'll be releasing my second novel, Reinventing Claire in late spring or early summer of 2012.  It's a tale of divorce, the dating dunce, and do-overs.

Thank you so much for the time Darian! It was fun interviewing you just like our endless emails! Haha..

Know The Author:Darian Wilk is an avid blogger and has a wealth of information on writing and publishing that you should check out - Crazy Lady With A Pen. She would also love to hear from you on twitter. You can follow her  @DarianWilk .