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Erica Danekes

Goodreads Author

Born

The United States

Website

http://www.ericadanekes.com

Genre

Romance, Paranormal, Contemporary

Member Since

November 2012

URL

https://www.goodreads.com/ericadanekes

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Erica discovered writing for entertainment after a local newspaper journalist visited her sixth grade class during career week. He spoke at length of his joy of writing, of being able to create a story his readers would enjoy, while at the same absorbing the importance of his article.
Up until then, she had viewed writing only as the physical act of putting words on paper through use of a pencil (pen if it was a final draft). But writing was never fun. It was school essays and had the added difficulty of being left-handed. She still doesn’t hold a pen “right” but has adapted to having her paper sideways so her hand doesn’t smear her words across the page.
Discovering writing could be fun opened a whole new world for Erica. She promptly b Erica discovered writing for entertainment after a local newspaper journalist visited her sixth grade class during career week. He spoke at length of his joy of writing, of being able to create a story his readers would enjoy, while at the same absorbing the importance of his article.
Up until then, she had viewed writing only as the physical act of putting words on paper through use of a pencil (pen if it was a final draft). But writing was never fun. It was school essays and had the added difficulty of being left-handed. She still doesn’t hold a pen “right” but has adapted to having her paper sideways so her hand doesn’t smear her words across the page.
Discovering writing could be fun opened a whole new world for Erica. She promptly began writing murder mysteries inspired by And Then There Were None and Clue. Not really knowing what she was doing, she based her characters on her friends and classmates. Those same friends and classmates quickly demanded to be written about properly, so most became married to their current Hollywood crush. Oddly, some also have very specific instructions on how their character was to die.
The more gore-than-plot stories slowly gave way to romance novels. Erica feels she has hit her stride writing about the rose-colored side of life. It’s not all sunshine and butterflies though, she still has a mean streak and some of her characters suffer greatly, and at the hands of those who should love and support them the most.
Erica always seems to be on the go. Some days she is amazed by her own popularity, but loves having the vast pool of people to pull character traits from. This means, woe to thee who pisses her off. It does not tend to end well. For them at least. And to be fair, little pieces of herself pop up in her characters as well.
She also enjoys a wide-range of reading material, including non-fiction enabling her to sprinkle accurate tidbits throughout her books. (Research on tallow candles was a real eye opener!) When the characters aren’t playing well with each other (or Erica) she’ll turn to her other interests including LEGO building, video games (she can rock a battle ax) or baking. Such activities require concentration and focus, but also allows her to ponder a sticky plot point or argument if she needs to.
She does find it funny that the only time every single character leaves her alone is when she’s at the gym. Apparently even fictional people don’t like to sweat. That’s fine with her as she’s left in peace to murder the calories she enjoyed earlier in the day.
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Popular Answered Questions

What’s your advice for aspiring writers?

Erica Danekes Keep writing. And write what you want. What does the voice inside of you demand you tell the world? Don't worry about publication, finding an agent, g…moreKeep writing. And write what you want. What does the voice inside of you demand you tell the world? Don't worry about publication, finding an agent, getting you books to sell. Craft the story. You can't sell what you don't have. (less)

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How do you deal with writer’s block?

Erica Danekes I have several options available. Some days I'll play a video game. While I mash zombies, or race through the streets, part of my brain will quietly p…moreI have several options available. Some days I'll play a video game. While I mash zombies, or race through the streets, part of my brain will quietly ponder the current corner I've written myself into. Usually just the break from the focus is all I need for a path to become clear.
Other days I'll blast some music and delve into my Lego collection. Building can also let my mind wander and I'll usually begin with a random dialog and go from there.
If I'm really really stuck, then I'll tag some unfortunately victim and throw the scenario at them and see what they think up. I'll admit, I don't usually get helpful answers, but the process of denying those possibilities makes it easier for me to find the answers I want.
I will admit, a time or two. . . or three, I've written and moved on. I always hate myself for doing that when I cycle back, but eventually the answer works itself out.
It's like when you're trying to overcome an obstacle and when you finally get over (under or around) it and you look back, you see an easier way, but you just missed it the first time around. (less)

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Erica Danekes’s books

Average rating: 4.36 · 22 ratings · 8 reviews · 9 distinct works

	Lilith's Love 4.40 avg rating — 5 ratings — published 2011 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Fate and Phedra it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 4 ratings — published 2011 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Love's Tender Touch 4.25 avg rating — 4 ratings — published 2012 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Daughter of the Crypt (Children of the Crypt Book 1) by Erica Danekes (Goodreads Author), Adolph Soliz (Illustrator) it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 2 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Claiming Her Dragon 4.50 avg rating — 2 ratings — published 2014 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Tangled Destinies by Erica Danekes (Goodreads Author), Adolph Soliz (Illustrator) liked it 3.00 avg rating — 3 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Vengeance of the Crypt it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 1 rating — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Legend of Dragon's Pearl really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 1 rating — published 2013 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Unlocked 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Erica Danekes's Blog

Time Flies

Yes I'm still alive! I didn't realize how long I've been gone but to be fair I don't know that we should count 2020 as actual time passed. I'm still losing track of days, or even what month we're in.
Through all of the 2020 crazy (my day job hours were brutal, but I am also amazingly grateful to have had stable employment through (hopefully) the worst of the plague) I've been sporadically working Read more of this blog post »

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