Feature Friday: Dana Perry

Dana Perry is an undergraduate student at Tufts University, where she’s pursuing a degree in biology. She grew up in Bethany, Connecticut, where she had an unlimited area of woods to roam and trees to climb. When not in class, Dana most likely has her nose buried in a book about the supernatural. Ascendence is her first published work.




Interview:
A.L.:
What piece of advice would you give to a budding author?

Dana:
I think one of the most important things to remember when writing a long-term project is to not limit yourself by constantly doubting your work. Trust me, every word is useful, even if it won’t have a place in the final work. I’ve written some pretty unintelligible stuff while up waaay past my bedtime, but come morning, revising those scribbles kept the ball rolling and helped fight writer’s block.

A.L.:
What's your favorite book and why?

Dana:
Kelley Armstrong’s The Gathering blew me out of the water. I must admit, it’s been a few years since I’ve last read it, but it was phenomenal. Some combination of the setting (a teeny-tiny Canadian town settled deep in the woods), the strong protagonist, and the awesome mountain-lion-centric mythology had me so well hooked that I read it straight through the night on the day I got it, only to fall asleep and dream about it before waking up and picking it right back up again.

A.L.:
Where did you get the idea for Ascendence?  Any reason for the unique spelling of the title?

Dana:
I love any sort of book involving the paranormal, but I’ve found that a lot of them start with their protagonist in the dark as to the supernatural. I thought it might be fun to play with a main character who knew a little too much for her own good, and everything else followed! As for the title, spelling Ascendence with an ‘e’ is less popular than with an ‘a’, but for some reason, I felt like spelling it with an ‘e’ gave the word a little bit more of a spine (no pun intended!), rather than a lighter, more effervescent feel.

A.L.:
Did you hit any snags while writing Ascendence?  What were they and how did you fix them?

Dana:
My biggest snag was time management. I was in high school when I wrote Ascendence, so sometimes it was a bit tough to set aside a decent chunk of time to just sit down and write. Thankfully, I have an awesome friend who was able to look past the unavoidable garbage that cluttered the first manuscript and fall in love with the work, demanding new chapters, which gave me a reason to write and edit as fast as I could.

A.L.:
Which one of the characters in Ascendence is your favorite and why?

Dana:
That’s like asking me to pick between my children! It’s a hard choice, because I love them all, but Luke in particular speaks to me. I’m a sucker for a character who’ll go to the end of the earth and back for their family, and Luke fits that down to a T.

A.L.:
Can you tell us a little bit about your journey as an author?

Dana:
To be honest, I’ve never really thought about myself as a creative person. I was never really one for art or music, but reading is my weakness. I guess when a couple hundred books go in, it makes sense that one would come out. Now that I’ve written one, though, I don’t know if I can be stopped! Writing is such a rewarding experience, and I don’t know what I’d do without it.

A.L.:
What are you working on now?  Sequel?  Something new?

Dana:
Right now, I’m finishing up the first manuscript on another book in the Ascendence universe, but focusing on Benjamin Bellevue many years in the future. I have to say, I’ve utterly fallen in love with this one, so hopefully it’ll be polished up soon!

A.L.:
You grew up in Bethany, CT!  As a fellow Nutmegger, I believe in spreading the CT Pride.  What is your favorite hang out spot in CT and why?

Dana:
There are a lot of golden spots to hang out in Connecticut, but not much can top the view from the top of Sleeping Giant State Park’s blue trail. It’s a hard hike, but scaling those cliffs makes for one amazing view I’ll never forget.

A.L.:
So -- because I'm dorky and get super excited when I find out other people are into the supernatural -- what's your favorite supernatural being and why?

Dana:
Ooh, this is a toughie. I think I’d have to go with shapeshifters, because there’s just something special about a creature that you could look right at and not even realize anything’s amiss. They toe the blurry line between human, animal, and other, and that’s such a fun dynamic to explore.

A.L.:
You grew up roaming the woods.  Do you have a particularly memorable woodland adventure story to share with us?

Dana:
One time, I was hiking up a particularly steep trail up a cliff face with two friends of mine. It had been a long hike, and my legs were like Jello. So, when I saw someone had spray-painted a series of arrows up the sheer rock as an alternate route to walking the path, I started climbing immediately. It took me all of a minute to realize that I was in way over my head, clinging to the ledge like a drowned kitten a good hundred feet above the ground. Somehow, I managed to haul my sorry butt up and over the lip of the cliff, only to fall directly on top of a picnic another group of hikers had set out. I wound up giving them all a heart attack by just appearing out of nowhere, but hey, I survived the climb!

A.L.:
What's your favorite part of being an author and why?

Dana:
My favorite part of being an author is seeing people fall in love with my characters. Through the whole, drawn-out process of writing a novel, you come to spend a lot of time with them, to the point where they are almost real, in a way. It’s just the most incredible feeling to know someone else likes them just as much as you do.


The Giveaway:
Dana will be giving away a copy of Ascendence (US).

Ascendence: Leah Walker may be head-over-heels obsessed with the supernatural, but it seems the world just isn’t throwing her any bones. Or ghosts. Or vampires. Or much of anything, really. That is, until a newcomer takes up residence in her sleepy little town. To her good fortune, Luke is pretty darn attractive with his muscular physique, keen senses, and air of mystery...Which means to say, she’s lucky because he’s totally a werewolf. Upon his arrival, her days grow almost as interesting as her nights, in which Leah is bombarded with welcome dreams of the Protector.

The Protector’s sole purpose is to guard human souls from the threat of the demonic. Her days are filled with darkness and death, but she and her angelic blade Haldis exorcise demons with unfeeling, single-minded determination. Leah wants nothing more than to be the Protector and to live in such a clearcut, evil vs. good world.

What she didn’t think of, however, is that to live in such a world there has to be evil. As blood begins to flow and the darkness of her dreams pours into her waking life, Leah meets more of it than she could ever comprehend...Or hope to fight alone.

How to Enter:

a Rafflecopter giveaway