First, if we were meeting at a coffee shop I’d be drinking a Latte 🙂

What would you order? I love lattes or cappuccino.

Thanks so much for taking the time to answer a few questions.  Your books are described as Romantic Thrillers – that description makes it sound so “on-the-edge-of-your-seat” intense! What drove you to writing romantic thrillers? What type of research did you do to prepare yourself?

I love big complex stories, so I wanted to write a series with a big romance that develops during a big suspense, but one with a larger threat (to a nation or the world), which is why my stories are really not just suspense, but thrillers.  I love what I call “who’s zooming who” movies like The Italian Job.  It’s that thrill of knowing things are getting more dangerous every minute and the romance is tangled up in all of it.  Then … BAM, an unexpected twist. That’s what I go for in my stories. Lots of emotion, lots of action and lots of surprises.

For those who are not familiar with your work, you write paranormal romance and have a paranormal romance series -the Beladors. Is it easy to switch genres when writing? I love when I encounter authors who can write fabulous books in multiple genres, and do it so well. How do you keep every character and story line straight?

I actually enjoy the change from one genre to another one, because then  my “thriller” thinking takes a break and my “fantasy” thinking gets to come out and play.  I’m fortunate to have Cassondra Murray, who is a first reader familiar with all of my series, and she does a great job of helping me catch continuity issues that pop up.  I also go back and re-read prior books to get back into the mindset of those series.  As I do that, I highlight and save passages from the previous books on my Kindle Fire, then I refer to those when I’m working on the next book.

Congratulations on the sixth book in your Slye Temp series that released at the end of March. How many books can we expect in this series? I am reviewing Stolen Vengeance tomorrow and look forward to your next book!

I’m so excited that you’re reading and reviewing STOLEN VENGEANCE!  I hope you enjoy the “ah ha!” moments I wove into that one.  Slye Temp will have seven books in the actual series, but the Slye Temp characters will continue in my upcoming HAMR Brotherhood series.  Readers met Logan and Margaux in KISS THE ENEMY. They got their HFN (Happy For Now), but there were complications.  Logan heads up the North American division of HAMR Brotherhood and now has Margaux with him.  We’ll get to see those two eventually reach their HEA, and we’ll see HEAs for some other Slye Temp characters too, but if I say more I’ll give spoilers for Sabrina and Gage’s book, so I have to shut up now. *grin*

While reading your bio I was intrigued that your first career was as an artist painting signs. What was the most memorable sign you painted? Do you ever miss it?

I do and I don’t .  I don’t miss painting outdoors. I loved painting no matter what, and spring and fall, it was the bomb.  But I hated the winters and 100+ degree summers outside.   As to the most memorable… Wow, hard to think back over all the bazillion miles of walls I’ve painted, but  a few stick out in my mind.

I’ve painted a lot of celebrities, and I remember one in particular.  Whitney Houston was in town, and they drove her to a painting I did. It was a picture of her, and it was on a billboard that was close to the road in Atlanta.  Later I was told she went wild over it, which was incredibly flattering, and I’ve never forgotten that. Another time, I painted a fifty-foot-long sign with five beer bottles in ice.  A major liquor distributor  (the owner) loved it so much he bought the entire sign, dismantled it and had it assembled inside his plant.  But I think all the work I did for Coca-Cola will always be most dear to me, especially during the time leading up to the 1996 Olympics®.  They gave me some outstanding projects that allowed me to stretch my creative wings.

On your website you have a section devoted to motorcycles – I love it! Riding a motorcycle was one thing I was forbidden to do while living at home with my parents. However, one night after a college class I was offered the chance to take a ride on a friends Harley. It was the best hour ever! I never told my parents and was so grateful to have that experience.  What is the coolest trip you took on your motorcycle and where?

Another hard question!! I had several Harleys at one time and loved them, but I know have a BMW. I think one of my favorite trips was riding up the Pacific coast from California to Port Townsend, WA (where my author friend Mary Buckham lives). We rode through the redwood forest, a place I’d always wanted to go and it was just incredible.  We toured across the top of the country and made our way back to GA.  I’ve had a lot of great trips, including a signing tour I did on my motorcycle a couple years back, because my readers kept asking. 🙂 I rode up to New England last year and that was beautiful.  I had a Harley Softail when I was writing my first book and my husband has a photo of me editing on my pages while I sat on my bike as it was parked on a ferry ride that lasted about 90 min.  Lot of memories on my bikes.

Thanks so much for hanging out – I had a blast!

Thank you so much for inviting me.  I love hanging out with readers!

Tantalizing Tidbits – A Baker’s Dozen:

1. What is your must read book and why? Ready Player One, because I keep hearing about it and I haven’t had time to crack that one open.

2. What is one place I should see if I visit your hometown? Stone Mountain Park.  There is no other version of that mountain in the world, and the history of it still baffles geologists, plus the carving is on the largest exposed granite in the world.

3. Castles or Beaches? Beaches

4. What is one thing readers would be surprised to know about you? I enjoy heights and collect hand-cut eggs.

5. Hard Rock or Classical? Favorite Band or Artist? Love pretty much all music, but Spanish guitarists will always capture my attention.  I also love jazz, vintage rock, contemporary rock, and country.

6. If you had an all expenses paid trip anywhere in the world for research, where would you go? Scotland.

7. What is your guilty pleasure? Peanut M&Ms. 🙂

8. What are you afraid of? Not tellin’.  *grin*

9. Tats or No Tats? If tats, how many and what did you choose for your first one? None yet, still thinking, and my hubby is prodding me. 

10. What’s your favorite TV show and why? LOVE The Voice, because it’s so positive, and fun to watch people reach for their dreams. I also LOVE The Blacklist because that is great writing.

11. One thing you can’t live without. My husband. 😉

12. Do you love to cook or go out to eat? My husband’s a fabulous cook so I’ll stay home with him anytime.

13. If you could invite 5 people to dinner (not friends and family – that’s too easy) who would you invite? It could be anyone past or present. Leonardo Da Vinci because he was such a creative thinker and inventor that it would be amazing to ask him questions, Amelia Earhart (shouldn’t have to explain), Whitney Houston to ask her to sing one more song for me, Gutzon Borglum, to ask him if he was nervous when he made that first strike to carve Mount Rushmore, John D. MacDonald, to ask him to tell me one more Travis McGee story.

THANK YOU SO MUCH for your time.

Thank you, Rae!!

*****GIVEAWAY*****

Dianna will give away an e-copy of STOLEN VENGEANCE and a set of signed Keeper Kase Cards to one reader. (Open to US and int’l readers. Amazon or Barnes & Noble account required to receive e-books)
Comment below for a chance to win!
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Author Info:

New York Times bestseller Dianna Love once dangled over a hundred feet in the air to create unusual marketing projects for Fortune 500 companies. Now she focuses her energetic muse on storytelling. The first book she wrote won a RITA® Award and sold out in six weeks. She writes high-octane romantic thrillers and urban fantasy. STOLEN VENGEANCE, book 6 in the sexy, fast-paced Slye Temp romantic suspense series released March 2015, and WITCHLOCK, book 6 in the bestselling Belador urban fantasy series will be out this July.

When not in the writing cave, Dianna loves touring the country on her BMW motorcycle. She lives in the Atlanta, GA area with her motorcycle-instructor husband and a tank full of unruly saltwater critters.

Connect with Dianna on facebook at Dianna Love Fan Page or sign up for the crazy fun on her Dianna Love Street Team
Excerpts of all her books are at AuthorDiannaLove.com.