Ask the Author: Donnell Ann Bell
Answered Questions (8)
Donnell Ann Bell
Hi, Mary. Sorry not to answer sooner. I wasn't able to enter the Daphne this year. But I was deeply honored and humbled when Black Pearl, my Cold Case Suspense was a 2020 Colorado Book Award finalist. Ideas come from so many places. Newspapers, conversations, sometimes when I'm watching a program, my muse goes off in a different direction than the screenwriter's. Thank you for reaching out!
Donnell Ann Bell
Hi, Alicia, my apologies for not responding sooner. I've been writing. Yes, I live in Colorado Springs. I'm so happy you're enjoying The Past Came Hunting. I've lived here for quite a while and wanted to give readers the ambiance of our city. Thank you for referring it! Best wishes!
Donnell Ann Bell
My most recent published book is Betrayed. I was reading about a daughter who never knew she was adopted and met an entire family she didn't know existed as a result. The adoption wasn't nefarious, she was simply the oldest child of a couple who got pregnant out of wedlock. They gave her up, but later married and had more children. They were later reunited.
I, of course, write suspense, and I took the story and made it my own. What if a woman never knew she had a daughter? What if she was told the baby was stillborn? What if it involved more than one person, and involved something even bigger?
Imagination is one of our greatest gifts. It can take us on all kinds of rides!
I, of course, write suspense, and I took the story and made it my own. What if a woman never knew she had a daughter? What if she was told the baby was stillborn? What if it involved more than one person, and involved something even bigger?
Imagination is one of our greatest gifts. It can take us on all kinds of rides!
Donnell Ann Bell
I open my eyes in the morning. I'm always inspired. Headlines inspire me, radio broadcasts, walks, my surroundings. I once wrote a book because I couldn't learn the outcome. A man was gunned down on the capital steps in Santa Fe, New Mexico. I was on my lunch hour and it was breaking news. That night I tried to find out what happened, and it was as if the news had vanished. People aren't normally gunned down in Santa Fe in such a public place. I wrote my first book out of frustration, I suppose.
Donnell Ann Bell
I am working on my first series for BelleBooks/Bell Bridge Books. It's a suspense.
Donnell Ann Bell
Finish the book. If you're passionate about a story idea, keep going. It doesn't have to be Pulitzer prize winning. But there's something magical that happens when you take an idea and follow it to completion. Don't keep polishing the opening chapters -- move on. It gives you an enormous sense of accomplishment.
Donnell Ann Bell
I get to daydream and no one calls me on it. I like being a professional daydreamer. Even better seeing an idea blossom into a plot, and a plot explode into an entire book.
Donnell Ann Bell
I go for a walk or get into the shower. Writers block is always cured when you can't write something down ;) What if scenarios are terrific ways to cure writers block. If your character isn't cooperating ... change it around.. do something absurd. Probably what is happening is you're stuck with one outcome. Good luck!
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