BiographyIt was the mystique of Arizona’s history and landscape that called to Deena Remiel and catapulted her career as an author. When she’s not writing romance novels and poetry in the wee, small hours of the morning or in the deep, dark of night, Deena teaches language arts to middle school students. She currently lives in Gilbert with her husband and two children, but New Jersey will always tug at her heartstrings. She loves connecting with her fans, so find her at deenaremiel.com.
February is synonymous with romance--heart-shaped candies, roses, and winged creatures. Our interview this month is with romance author Deena Remiel who is as well versed in the struggles authors face today as she is with what makes a good romance. A teacher by day and a writer by night, she tells us how time management is a key to surviving both worlds. We thank her for sharing with us her thoughts on writing, networking, and her winged heroes, angels from two of her Brethren Trilogy novels: Trinity and the recently-released Relic.
Interview by Diane Sismour
BWG: Not all of our readers follow the romance genre. Can you explain what makes your novels fall within this category?
Remiel: My novels, although packed with action and fantasy, always have a strong romantic thread. Our heroes and heroines are brought together organically, and throughout each story, desire for each other grows, passion ignites, and all is rosy for a while. And then something happens to put a wrench in things – the villain attacks or a character flaw appears. Finally, the two lovers find their way back to each other.
BWG: How do you find the time to balance writing and teaching?
Remiel: Well, it’s rather easy when I’ve got a schedule to stick to. My school days are fixed so Monday through Friday, before and after school, I am attending to promotional and social media tasks. Then, toward evening, I do my post writing and/or novel writing. It’s the weekend and the breaks in the school year that give me full-time opportunities to write my books. It is getting more and more challenging as demands for promotion increase with each book I release. Eventually, I hope to be able to write full-time.
BWG: What is your favorite time to write – morning, mid-day or evening; and do you need total piece and quiet to focus or do you listen to any particular kind of music?
Remiel: Morning seems to be best at the moment, however, for a long while, late at night worked well. I can write any time of day really. The conditions have to be right and off I go. Music is too distracting for me, but I have a wonderful online sound machine that makes a thunderstorm sound for those times when my house is filled with loud kids. Otherwise, silence is golden!
BWG: What is your interesting writing ritual?
Remiel: Before I begin my writing session, I usually put my peanut m&m’s and a drink right next to me. Then, to begin, I take a deep cleansing breath, close my eyes, and visualize the last scene written. I replay it over and over until I’m there and the new scene comes to life. Then, I write it all down.
BWG: How do you use social media to get your name in the public eye and which sites do you use?
Remiel: Social media is crucial to the success of all of us. We don’t have to like it, but we do need to acknowledge it and respect its power. I use facebook for gathering my tribe and connecting with friends and fans. I have a few different platforms there- a profile page, a fan page, and a fun group page. I also use twitter and triberr to maximize my twitter potential. Good reads is used by so many authors and readers, and I, too, have a page and go on. But I find it difficult to navigate, truthfully, and although it’s a powerful tool, I don’t use it much. I am a featured member of The Romance Studio, and this place is stellar for promotion because of how easy they make it for authors and readers alike! I have a page on The Romance Reviews as well. And I’m in many more places. The more real estate you claim on the web, the better! Any place that has a place to connect with your readers is a good place. But you have to work it.
BWG: How many works in progress do you have? Tell us a little bit about one of the projects.
Remiel: I only have time to work on one project until it’s complete given my time constraints. I’m currently working on the third book in the Brethren series, Elixxir. Nathanael, the Brethren Warrior who we met in Brethren Beginnings Volume One, is our hero. Callie, whom we meet in Relic, Book Two, is our heroine. They are both complex characters with issues and pasts that have shaped who they are today.
BWG: Where do your characters come from: are they imagined or drawn from real people you know; and which character is your favorite?
Remiel: A few characters are based on a combination of personalities and events from my own life. I’ve obviously never met Satan or his minions, nor have I met any angels yet, so these characters are borne from many hours of watching horror movies growing up and reading hundreds of romance books with strong alpha males.
BWG: Are you a member of any writing organizations; do you recommend writers join a local writing group and why?
Remiel: I belong to RWA national and my local chapter, Desert Rose. I believe it’s crucial to belong to some kind of writing group in order to be connected with the industry and your peers. It is a lonely endeavor, writing novels, but when you go to your meeting, you are instantly amongst friends. There is also a lot of knowledge to be gained. Information you didn’t know you didn’t know. On a social level, it’s my chapter sisters who I turn to when my other friends don’t understand what I’m going through. They’re the ones who “get” who I am now, and we can help each other on our roads to success.
BWG: What is your favorite genre to read?
Remiel: I love reading romantic suspense for the tension, the emotional roller coaster, and the scary villains. And most importantly, I love the strong women in these stories. She’s not the one always being the damsel in distress, but also the one who’s kicking ass and taking names.
BWG: What else do you like to do besides put words to paper?
Remiel: I enjoy scrapbooking, photography, listening to music, and going to museums, zoos, and aquariums.
BWG: The second book in the Trilogy is releasing shortly, can you tell us a bit about it and where will the series go from here?
Remiel: Relic is releasing the end of January, that’s right. I can’t wait! We find Raphael, grappling with a mission he’s hesitant to complete and having lost his power to heal. He is an angel laden with issues stemming from the war in Book One, Trinity. We are introduced to Serena, a young business owner, whose good-for-nothing brother has burdened her with a stolen relic from a dig he’d worked on. She has no idea, and is hunted down by his buddies and eventually left for dead in the Arizona desert. This is where our angel and our heroine cross paths and destinies. Here’s a blurb to whet your appetite…
Raphael, a Brethren Savior, an angel with a forgotten past, has lost his power to heal and is on a self-imposed guilt trip to get it back. If he can’t, his tour of eternal duty as Brethren Savior will be revoked. On his journey, he winds up enmeshed in a web of attempted murder and resurrection all thanks to a woman he’s only seen in a photograph and by chance on an Arizona desert hiking trail.
Serena Sikes is a wanted woman. Desired by “undesirables” for a gift her brother gave her- a stolen relic with suspected healing powers. Hunted down in the Arizona desert and left for dead, she is found by none other than the angel who cannot heal.
Raphael and Serena are inexorably bound together, for locked deep within the relic’s heart had lived the soul of his long lost wife. Now, it resides inside Serena. Evil lurks around every corner as Raphael tries to keep both Serena and his dead wife’s soul alive and lustful temptation at bay.
Three souls bound together by an ancient relic, bound by a timeless gift, and bound by a love that is eternal.
BWG: Is there anything else you would like to the readers to know we have not touched on?
Remiel: It’s been a pleasure answering these questions for you. I hope everyone finds success of one kind or another during this New Year. I believe in making forward progress every day. So if you’re a writer, and the words are hard to come by today, just add a sentence or two. It may not be the thousands of words you were hoping for, but it’s still more than you had yesterday. If you’re a reader, and the pages are just not speaking to you, put the book down and get a new one. You shouldn’t have to suffer through the first third of a book to get to the great stuff. The word reading should never be in the same sentence as the word suffering. It should always be partnered with the word, pleasure! Thank you, and happy reading!