The Wanted BrideSylvia McDanielShe’s a Runaway BrideValerie Burrows is running from a wedding, her attorney fiancé and the law. Pampered Valerie takes a bus to nowheresville, where she learns her cash and credit cards have been stolen. Left with only her designer clothes and luggage she takes on a new identity and must learn to be self-reliant. She swears off men, especially attorneys, only to find the one man who refuses a one night stand and wants a relationship.He’s Looking For A WifeMatt Jordan, the Colorado Crusher, is the most successful liability lawyer in the state. After the death of his brother-in-law, he realizes he’s ready to settle down with a family of his own. His only requirements are intelligent, great-looking, wants more than a hook-up and doesn’t lie. After witnessing the lies his father told his mother, he demands complete honesty. Yet Valerie Brown shows him sometimes in order to find yourself, you must become someone else. Even if that means lying.
Author InterviewHow did you get started writing?All my life I have been a voracious reader. One day I read a particularly bad historical romance and thought, I could do a better job. So I bought a typewriter (yes, this was before home computers) and started a book. I quickly learned that it's not as easy as it appears, but I finished that novel that terrible first draft and realized I loved writing. At that point, I began the journey to learn how to craft stories. Along the way, I met some fantastic writers who not only taught me the craft, but some were my critique partners who helped guide me on this journey. It took me three books and eight years before I published. I published nine historicals with a major New York Publisher before I decided to go straight Indie.Tell us about your current book.My book, The Wanted Bride is a runaway bride story. My heroine is an only child who has received everything she wanted and never had to work hard in her life. But that’s about to change.What is your favorite part of writing?I love to storyboard an idea, so that I have the necessary map to take me on the journey. Then I sit down and I let the fingers fly on the keyboard, while the movie plays in my head. I'm sort of the stenographer at his point, just getting the story down on paper. I hit roadblocks and things change along the way, but to me this is the best part of writing, just letting the story flow onto the page.What is your least favorite part of writing?My least favorite part of writing is the last draft. At this point, I've edited the story 3-4 times. Usually around draft 5, I have everything the way I want and I'm going back through to make certain that the scenes work, end on a hook, setting, grammar, etc. By the last draft, I'm ready for the story to end and to start thinking of a new project.What is your next project and when will it be released?Right now, I'm working on the first draft of a Christmas novella that is about the matchmaking mother in my Burnett Brides series. I thought she deserved her own story. So Eugenia Meets Her Match is what I’m currently working on.What is your typical day like?I get up at six am, ride the elliptical for twenty minutes and then I'm off to the computer. I work on the computer for an hour and then get ready for the day job. The day job is working for a small insurance agency, where I take care of commercial insurance for clients. I'm home at five thirty and back on the computer until supper time. Eat a quick bite and then back on the computer until about nine o'clock, when the body wears out and the eyes start to see double. I sit downstairs and watch several taped TV shows, until I crash into bed about eleven o'clock.How has your experience with self-publishing been?I absolutely love self-publishing. I'm learning as I go, but I know that I don't have the time to do everything, so I am hiring out editing, cover design and formatting. That being said it's really important that you find someone who is good at the formatting. I’m in charge of my own destiny and if I fail, it's no one's fault but my own.What advice do you have for other authors wanting to self-publish?I was scared to try. I also didn't want to be seen as someone who was "vanity" publishing. It took me hearing from at least three people that this was the future and how successful they were before I decided to put out my backlist. Now, I doubt I ever sell to another New York Publisher. I'm not a New York Times Bestseller yet, but I'm doing okay and I'm publishing again. I'm hearing from readers again. I'm back doing what I love and I'm not waiting for an editor or agent to send me a rejection letter any longer. Now I'm working at my pace, not a publishers pace. I'm happier than I've been in years and it just feels right for me.What if you found out five minutes before you walk down the aisle, that your best-friend is pregnant by your fiancé? Everyone is seated in the church when Valerie goes running out the door, jumps in his vintage corvette to escape until the car breaks down in downtown Dallas.I won’t tell you what she did, but there’s a reason it’s called The Wanted Bride. If you like sassy heroines and tales of women who change, then you’ll enjoy The Wanted Bride.
About the Author
Sylvia McDaniel and her very supportive husband Don, the love of her life, live in Texas with son Shane, Putz the klutzy dachshund and Ashley our shy dachshund. During the day, she works for a small insurance agency, helping clients with their commercial insurance coverage. The weekends are spent working out in the garden until the temperature climbs above ninety degrees. Currently, she's written fourteen novels. Her novel, A Hero's Heart, was a 1996 Golden Heart Finalist. Sylvia is the President Elect of Dallas Area Romance Authors.
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