Happy Easter Everyone! Check Out the Easter Message One Blog Below: Give Away: 2011 Carol Award Finalist S. Dionne Moore Talks About Writing and Promise Brides, Her New Book. She Gives Us a Peek at Her Office

S. Dionne will give away a copy of Promise Brides. To enter to win leave a comment with your email address.

Welcome. First, tell us a little about yourself. My name is Sandra. :) Is that “little” enough? No? Okay. I write as S. Dionne Moore because my first editor had just contracted my evil twin, Sandra Robbins (Sandra R. Is my bud and works with me at The Borrowed Book, so this is all good, ‘k?). In order not to confuse us I used my middle name and first initial.
S. Dionne it is. Were you an avid reader as a child? What did you read?Loved, loved, loved Nancy Drew. Still do, except now I play--please don’t tell--the Nancy Drew games. Yeah, I know they’re for kids. . .uh, teens, but I really like them. I also enjoyed good historicals where I came away having learned something new about the time period. Raise your hand if you like to learn while you read! Learning is much less painful that way. :)
I agree. I love to learn while reading. Let's talk about your writing. Why do you write?Because I couldn’t do math. No, seriously. I can do complicated math equations but do simple math? Nope. I have to use my fingers. Don’t tell. You know, I’m really giving out a lot of my deep dark secrets here.

Naw, it's just the left-brain-right-brain thing. Tell us about your latest book.My latest book is a compilation of three called Promise Brides. In 2011 the first book in the series, Promise of Tomorrow, was named a Carol Award finalist! All three are set in historic Pennsylvania.

Congratulations! That's wonderful. What inspired you to write this particular book?History! I am surrounded by beautiful Civil War battlefields here in Cumberland Valley. Johnstown, PA is about an hour and a half away and started my journey into writing historical romances when it dawned on me that I had never read a work of fiction with the Johnstown Flood of 1889 used as setting. It is a tragic event and I started to wonder what would happen if two people were in love and then. . .
Neat. That brings me right to my next question. Where do you get ideas for your books?Strangely enough, I normally have a setting in mind first, then build my characters around the setting.
How do you get to know your characters?
Usually I get to know my characters through their conflicts. I assign them problems then think through how those problems will hinder them and those around them. The romance part is easy, it’s the overcoming of our personal demons that makes the rest so difficult.

What is your writing schedule and where do you write?I write at my desk on a 27” iMac (LOVE me some Apple!). The huge screen is great for side-by-side editing or having pics of my characters on one side while I am writing on the other side. I’m a neat freak (yet another secret!) so I can’t stand too much clutter. And I love antiques, thus the German hutch behind my desk. It has the most beautiful elaborate carvings and it is a solid, heavy piece.

Find out more about Sandra here: Website: www.sdionnemoore.com
Twitter: @sdionnemoore
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/sdionnemoore/
Linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/in/sdionnemoore
The Borrowed Book: http://www.theborrowedbook.blogspot.com