Spotlighting: RT Reviewers' Choice Nominee Dawn Atkins

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 by Connie Flynn

I opened my copy of Romantic Times a short time ago and saw that my friend Dawn Atkins was up for a Reviewers' Choice Award. That was so cool and I immediately invited her to be my December spotlight guest.

Welcome, Dawn, and tell us a little about your award nominated Superomance . . . 

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I’m thrilled to be a guest on Cheaper Than Therapy to talk about how thrilled I was to have my 2013 Harlequin SuperRomance BACK WHERE SHE BELONGS nominated by Romantic Times Book Club for a Reviewer’s Choice Award. The honor is especially sweet because, after publishing 30-some books, I can say that—so far—this was the most difficult book I’ve ever written.

It tells the story of a woman returning to the small town named after her family, which she escaped after high school, to investigate the car accident that killed her father and put her sister in a coma, aided—and occasionally opposed--by her high school flame.

Why was this book so tough? The plot flummoxed me, for one, because it involved technical issues I had to research like crazy—electric cars, batteries, factory functions, brain injuries, recovering from a coma, car accident reconstruction, and on and on. On top of that, the characters remained murky to me far too long. I have to say that by the time I finished the extra revisions on the book, I was sorry to say farewell to Tara and Dylan, who’d become as dear to me as family (well, not quite, but you get the idea….

Dawn Atkins

There is always a burning fear when I write a book that I’ve chosen too difficult a path for the story and the people in it, that I’ve stretched beyond my capacity to convey their journey in a compelling, satisfying and believable way. When it works out, when I reach that satisfying conclusion, the elation is worth every sweated-out word, especially when readers tell me how much the story meant to them. That’s why I do what I do. By the way, the book is still available as an ebook. You can nab it via my website, www.dawnatkins.com or for your Kindle, iPad or Nook.

Sharing this with you has motivated to get back to my next book—A COP IN HER HEART for SuperRomance, about a female cop from a cop family who must investigate the murder of her roommate, shot with Julie’s gun. Sound complicated? Believe me, it is. Here I go again with the agony and the ecstasy of writing it.

Thanks again for allowing me to visit!

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Your are so welcome, Dawn, and it was inspiring to read about your process. Not enough writers share this information openly these days and I know readers are very interested in the insider details. So thanks for your generosity. There's probably some aspiring writer out there struggling with their characters' challenging path that will be encouraged by reading how you overcame your challenges.
Till later,
--Connie

CONTACT DAWN:
Via email:  dawn@dawnatkins.com
Website: http://www.dawnatkins.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/DawnAtkinsAuthor
Twitter:  http://twitter.com/dawnatkins