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Danielle Thorne freelanced for online and print magazines from 1998 through 2001, adding reviewing and editing to her resume. She has published poetry, short fiction and novels. Danielle is the author of sweet romantic adventure books, both historical and contemporary.Other work has appeared with Espresso Fiction, Every Day Fiction, Arts and Prose Magazine, Mississippi Crow, The Nantahala Review, StorySouth, Bookideas, The Mid-West Review, and more. She won an Honorable Mention in Writer’s Digest’s 2006 annual writing competition and won the 2008 Awe-Struck Short Novel Contest. In 2009, Danielle won Classic Romance Revival's Work in Progress Contest, which resulted in another contract for her fiction.
Danielle currently writes from south of Atlanta, Georgia. She was the 2009-2010 Co-Chair for the New Voices Competition for young writers, is active with online author groups such as Classic Romance Revival and EPIC and moderates for The Sweetest Romance Authors at the Coffee Time Romance boards. She has four sons with her husband, Rob. Together they enjoy travel and the outdoors.
Danielle is talking to us today about heroines:
The Change
No, I’m not referring to hot flashes. I’m talking about the moment when a heroine realizes she has room to grow. Perhaps she’s misjudged the hero, or learned that she can handle a gun or roomful of snarky snobs. There comes in every story, a moment when the heroine comes to a life-changing corner in her journey. We read for it. We wait for it. We live for it. Why? Because we can identify. Even if we haven’t gone through the trauma or joy of these moments, we know we might someday.
I think Elizabeth Bennet said it best when she observed, “Until this moment, I never knew myself.” If that doesn’t put a knot in your throat, you’ve never screwed up a relationship or a major chapter of your life. Falling in love with a heroine is a journey. We love to read about women we either want to be, or would like to be friends with. Even those we don’t care for initially, we want and almost need for them to change.
A great heroine doesn’t have to be beautiful or have special powers. All we need is for her to conquer, and if that means conquering herself, then all the better. By living through a heroine we can relate to, we may just find the courage to become more than we ever knew we could.
In my novel, THE PRIVATEER, the heroine, Kate O'Connell, is convinced she can live happily forever with her doddering, permissive father. Men aren't necessary for her future, and falling in love brings pain. Not only is Kate disconcerted by a strong attraction to the enigmatic privateer, Julius Bertrand, she finds she has to face loss and hardship in the brutal West Indies and survive. This she manages to do, perhaps not with flying colors, but her determination sees her through.
Writing THE PRIVATEER gave me something to smile about, but it many ways it meant so much more. I took one more baby step forward in conquering myself. It taught me to speak up, to grow a thicker skin, and to try, try again. I couldn’t have done that without a heroine leading the way.
So here’s to your favorite heroine. And here’s to you, simply for having the courage to understand that we all have the room and the capacity to change.
~Danielle Thorne
Thank you so much for visiting us at Heroines with Hearts, Danielle!
No, I’m not referring to hot flashes. I’m talking about the moment when a heroine realizes she has room to grow. Perhaps she’s misjudged the hero, or learned that she can handle a gun or roomful of snarky snobs. There comes in every story, a moment when the heroine comes to a life-changing corner in her journey. We read for it. We wait for it. We live for it. Why? Because we can identify. Even if we haven’t gone through the trauma or joy of these moments, we know we might someday.
I think Elizabeth Bennet said it best when she observed, “Until this moment, I never knew myself.” If that doesn’t put a knot in your throat, you’ve never screwed up a relationship or a major chapter of your life. Falling in love with a heroine is a journey. We love to read about women we either want to be, or would like to be friends with. Even those we don’t care for initially, we want and almost need for them to change.
A great heroine doesn’t have to be beautiful or have special powers. All we need is for her to conquer, and if that means conquering herself, then all the better. By living through a heroine we can relate to, we may just find the courage to become more than we ever knew we could.
In my novel, THE PRIVATEER, the heroine, Kate O'Connell, is convinced she can live happily forever with her doddering, permissive father. Men aren't necessary for her future, and falling in love brings pain. Not only is Kate disconcerted by a strong attraction to the enigmatic privateer, Julius Bertrand, she finds she has to face loss and hardship in the brutal West Indies and survive. This she manages to do, perhaps not with flying colors, but her determination sees her through.
Writing THE PRIVATEER gave me something to smile about, but it many ways it meant so much more. I took one more baby step forward in conquering myself. It taught me to speak up, to grow a thicker skin, and to try, try again. I couldn’t have done that without a heroine leading the way.
So here’s to your favorite heroine. And here’s to you, simply for having the courage to understand that we all have the room and the capacity to change.
~Danielle Thorne
Thank you so much for visiting us at Heroines with Hearts, Danielle!
Visit Danielle and her other books at:
Website: http://www.daniellethorne.com/
Blog: http://www.thebalancedwriter.blogspot.com/
THE PRIVATEER
Desert Breeze Publishing
The reign of piracy is over in the Caribbean, or so it’s believed, until diamonds are d
iscovered in Brazil. Despite the cover-up, Captain Julius Bertrand begins to hear whispers. The Spanish guardacostas are dumping log books, and a new French pirate is on the prowl. Distracted by an avaricious woman he could never love and the beautiful Kate O’Connell who doesn’t need him, he tries to untangle the web of mysterious cargo someone in the New World wants kept secret. When Bertrand’s pirating past returns with the explosive force of a sweeping broadside, he finds he must sacrifice everything his respectable life has brought him, in order to save what matters most.
Amazon Link:
http://www.amazon.com/The-Privateer-ebook/dp/B004HO5I98/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&s=digital-text&qid=1294029129&sr=8-5
Publisher's Link:
http://stores.desertbreezepublishing.com/-strse-135/Danielle-Thorne-The-Privateer/Detail.bok
Website: http://www.daniellethorne.com/
Blog: http://www.thebalancedwriter.blogspot.com/
THE PRIVATEER
Desert Breeze Publishing
The reign of piracy is over in the Caribbean, or so it’s believed, until diamonds are d
iscovered in Brazil. Despite the cover-up, Captain Julius Bertrand begins to hear whispers. The Spanish guardacostas are dumping log books, and a new French pirate is on the prowl. Distracted by an avaricious woman he could never love and the beautiful Kate O’Connell who doesn’t need him, he tries to untangle the web of mysterious cargo someone in the New World wants kept secret. When Bertrand’s pirating past returns with the explosive force of a sweeping broadside, he finds he must sacrifice everything his respectable life has brought him, in order to save what matters most.Amazon Link:
http://www.amazon.com/The-Privateer-ebook/dp/B004HO5I98/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&s=digital-text&qid=1294029129&sr=8-5
Publisher's Link:
http://stores.desertbreezepublishing.com/-strse-135/Danielle-Thorne-The-Privateer/Detail.bok
Very interesting Your novel sounds fascinating Have you been to the West Indies? Was that yur inspiration?
ReplyDeleteI often pass through Atlanta airport!!
It's great to have you here, Danielle. Do you approach your set-up for your heroine's 'change' differently in an historical vs a contemporary?
ReplyDeleteHi Margaret. I've been to the Caribbean three times, and visited several islands and done some diving. I'm heading to Nassau in April--once the center of pirating activity, so I'm excited. I was first inspired by this era after seeing two movies: Master and Commander and Pirates of the Caribbean. Hit the library research center and never looked back!
ReplyDeleteThanks for visiting, Ana. You asked a great question. Stopped me in my tracks. I don't think genre really matters insomuch as how or why a character changes...I think it's universal and that's why having different genres, like historical, is fun. We can see that we are all human and go through the same things. That being said, as far as women and heroines, three issues always stand out for me: Love, self-worth, and independence. It seems to be a life long journey for most of us.
ReplyDeleteHi Danielle, and welcome to HWH.
ReplyDeleteOMG, "The Privateer" sounds just the sort of novel I adore. Hee hee, shall go seek it for my Kindle library! ;)
In my youth I fell madly in love with Daphne du Maurier's Captain Jean-Benoit Aubéry, the gorgeous French pirate in "Frenchman's Creek". My mother had a lot to do with my interest in historical novels, for she had all the swashbuckling romances on her personal bookshelves. Historical novels too are my greatest love when writing.
best
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I've never read Frenchman's Creek. Thanks for the referral! I love finding great pirating fiction.
ReplyDeleteOh I loved Frenchman's Creek AND Jean-Benoit Aubrey - I wish they would make a tv series on the novel. You will love it Danielle.
ReplyDeleteMaster and Commander wonderful film. Do you ever go to the Carolinas - a lot of pirates, I believe, started off from there? I used to love Pirate films when I was a kid, especially The Spanish Main. Good luck with your books, Danielle.