Dianna Hardy Guest Post

Today we are joined by Dianna Hardy who wrote a book I reviewed a while back for the first book in her The Witching Pen series, which I really enjoyed. So I hope you enjoy Dianna Hardy's guest post as well as look forward to the review of her second book which will be coming up later.

Different Characters, Different Lives

Dianna Hardy

Thank you so much, Kate, for having me on your blog today :)

Those that have read my (small, but growing number of) books may have come to realise that I don't like to write the same kind of characters over and over again. When writing romance, I think this can be tricky, because part of what readers want about romance is consistency; a lot of readers like a certain kind of romance, and will stick to the same author because they know what they're getting.

I don't do that (lol – sorry!). Each book I write, or each couple I write, will be different from the previous that you've read, and as a result, the sexual and emotional relationship between them will be different too. So romance readers, beware, that with me, you'll be getting something you may not expect every time.

In The Witching Pen Novellas, we have three couples evolving throughout the series. Karl and Elena are the sweet ones. Their relationship is built on a lifelong love, affection and trust, and together they form a strong foundation from which the other characters can bounce off.

Then there's Pueblo and Amy. They're troubled, to a certain extent; both of them with difficult histories, and they've been thrown together, pretty much by accident (although, there's actually no such thing as an accident in my world). Love with these two is not necessarily easy, and it's not black and white, but all shades of grey and every colour from one end of the spectrum to the other. Their relationship will continue to evolve throughout all the books – it has to. There's no neatly wrapping things up for them in one book, and life doesn't always work that way anyway…

Finally, we have Gwain and Mary. Now I can't write too much about them due to spoilers (their story's yet to be told), but they are the 'intense' ones. It's all or nothing for them. For them, love is life and death, and a disturbing concoction of agony and peace. There's a very Scorpionic energy about them, and most readers will probably find their relationship the hardest to relate to. Nevertheless, they are the way they are (yes, I'm serious – they didn't want to be written any other way)…

The conclusion of The Witching Pen Novellas (resulting in book three, The Demon Bride, released in the summer), will catapult all these characters into the spin-off novel, The Last Angel, in which they will all continue to evolve, although the spin-off novel will be more action / plot focused and less relationship-based – in this sense, it may fall into urban fantasy (possibly urban fantasy romance) rather than a romance specifically.

This blog post, is really to give you a glimpse into how I write relationships, and how I like to write as a writer in general. Nope – you won't find 'samey' from me, but (I hope) a surprise each time, which you may or may not find pleasant … but as a reader, that's what I look for in an author – someone who can surprise me – maybe it comes from my great love of horror novels growing up (everyone likes to be surprised when reading horror, right? It's that 'make me jump' factor.) I went back to the author that could give me something unexpected in every book, my favourites being James Herbert and Richard Laymon.

I'd love to know what you think as readers. Do you go back to an author because you know exactly what to expect (and with regards to what? POV? The romance? The action? The characters' personalities?) or because you know you're going to get something a little different?

Thanks so much for stopping by and chatting :)

For more information on all of my work, please visit DiannaHardy.comor for The Witching Pen Novellas, please see TheWitchingPen.co.uk (there's also a very cool book trailer here).

Read UF Reviews' review of The Witching Pen.

See the series on Amazon US

See the series on Amazon UK