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June's FEATURED AUTHOR: Please welcome Dianne Greenlay!

June 1, 2011
It's a new month, and with that we have a new Featured Author. This month's guest is Dianne Greenlay, who likes community theater and pirates. Without further ado, come check out what she has to say...

drey: Welcome to drey’s library, Dianne! I appreciate your taking the time to visit us this month. Shall we get you introduced to the readers?

Tell us about yourself.

Dianne: By day I save lives (physiotherapist and EMT), and by night I invent lies (writer/author and playwright/director of community theatre). When not traveling in search of adventures in exotic locales (we often take the whole family), I live with my husband on the Canadian prairies where we share our home with a consortium of pets, mostly cats. In our 1928 storey-and-a-half house, we raised a family of 6 kids (2 bathrooms but only 1 TV) and everyone made it out alive ...

drey: Oh my. 6 kids and 2 bathrooms? I shudder to imagine what mornings were like... *grin*

What was the very first story you wrote? What happened to it?

Dianne: When I was 12 years old, I held my first part-time job as a Saturday morning telephone receptionist for a small real estate company. There was a typewriter on my desk and in between answering the infrequent phone calls, I typed out a story about two teenage girls--best friends--who were both from dysfunctional families. I still have that manuscript.

drey: What is the ONE reason that you would never give up writing?

Dianne: I love capturing my imagination on paper. And getting positive feedback from others who have read what I've written is a real adrenaline rush. Writing is, initially, a very private creative outlet, where you are allowed to go back and edit, edit, edit, until you are ready for public feedback on your creativity. What an opportunity!

drey: Tell us about Quintspinner: A Pirate's Quest...

Dianne: Liar! Thief!

In the year 1717, sixteen year old Tess Willoughby is accused of being both by her father upon her return from a simple trip through a London marketplace. When the trip takes a bizarre twist and Tess witnesses a murder, she comes into possession of an ancient spinner ring, and becomes the target of her father's rage. Even so, she never imagines that she will find herself to be a unwilling passenger on a merchant ship bound for the pirate-infested waters of the West Indies and forcibly betrothed to the murderer, who covets her ring. His belief in, and desire for control of its supposed power of prophesy frightens her, as evidence mounts around her, suggesting that the power might just exist.

Wounds. Sicknesses. Starvation. In a sailor's world of casual violence and powerful superstitions, there are many ways to die on such a journey yet more than any of these, Tess fears a future--a life sentence, in her opinion--with her dangerous fiance and his plans for her. Her growing attraction to William, a press-ganged sailor complicates things, and threatens to endanger both of their lives. When their ship is attacked by pirates, she is faced with the realization that only her fiance can secure her safety, and he will do so, but at a horrific price. As a powerful hurricane overtakes the ship, Tess is forced to accept her Quintspinner legacy while making the most chilling decision of her life.

Quintspinner: A Pirate's Quest is a tale of pirates, secrets, betrayal, and danger on the seas of the West Indies, all bound together by a dash of ancient magic.

drey: What occupies your free time?

Dianne: Other than writing? I am heavily involved in our community theater group as a director, actress, and playwright and my evenings for three months are taken up with that on an annual basis. I love gardening and landscaping and I am so fortunate to live where my yard has 30 trees, 1500 feet of perennial flowerbeds, a tuscany patio, a hot tub, a small waterfall and a pond, all of which we have installed ourselves. Last spring I built a stone staircase and raised stone patio on the front of my house. (My husband was away for the week--it was quite a surprise for him when he got back home.)

drey: Wow! Whenever you're looking for something more to do, I have a little yard you could come putter around in... *grin*

Smackdown: Pick a favorite character to face off against Captain Jack Sparrow in a cage match. Who is it, who wins, and why?

Dianne: Favorite character would be Tess, because she is impetuous and headstrong. She would win, as Captain Jack would succumb to her seductive charms before the first dagger was drawn. He's a ladies' man and can't help himself. The REAL fight would be whether he found Tess or her bejewelled spinner rings more attractive ...

drey: True, that... That boy's flightier than a feather.

What's up next for you?

Dianne: I am at work on Book Two (as of yet untitled) in the Quintspinner series. A Pirate's Quest has won several awards (Best Historical and Honorable Mention Best YA - ReaderViews; Honorable Mention Best Book - Sask Book Awards; Honorable Mention Best Commercial Fiction - Eric Hoffer Awards; Honorable Mention Best Fiction - Creative Arts Award; Shortlist Best YA and Book of the Year - ForeWord Reviews) and I have had several readers contact me asking for more of Tess's adventures, so that is wonderful motivation to carry on.

And last, but not least, the quickie five:
  1. Bananarama or The Bangles?
    Oh. Two great girl bands. Hmm. Tough choice but I'd pick The Bangles. They sing and play instruments.
  2. What book would you grab if you could only have one ( stuck-on-an-island scenario)?
    Diana Gabaldon's Outlander. Besides being a favorite, it's pretty hefty and would keep me reading for quite a long time. It has enough details and action in it that it's a re-read, for sure.
  3. The Sea Hawk (1940) or Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003)?
    The Sea Hawk, because I haven't seen it, although I am aware of the story that it is based on. I did see The Curse of The Black Pearl and loved it - fantastic sets, incredible special effects, non-stop action and bits of humor thrown in at just the right moments - although I'm totally smitten with Captain Jack Sparrow and would watch that film again just to see him.
  4. Appetizer or dessert?
    If the appy is salty or has cream cheese in it, it gets the gold medal from me! Wait! - I just realized that desserts can have cream cheese in them too ... it's a tie! (Muahahahahaha! That was a trick question... *wink*)
  5. Best ice-cream flavor ever?
    Maple walnut beats chocolate out but only just by a single lick ...

Thank you so much for visiting us this month, Dianne! Everyone, find Dianne online at her website, http://diannegreenlay.com/, and on twitter at http://twitter.com/DianneGreenlay.

Giveaway!
Dianne has an e-copy of Quintspinner: A Pirate's Quest for one of you, as well as a Spinner ring for another lucky duck. To enter, fill out the form below before 6pm CST June 28th. Good luck!

6 comments:

mamabunny13 said...

I loved the interview. Thanks for the giveaway!

Unknown said...

Great interview with one of my fave authors. I totally loved Quintspinner and agree that Tess would blow Jack Sparrow out of the water!!

drey said...

Thank you for stopping in! I have Quintspinner on the pile next to me, and should get to it next week-ish... Can't wait to meet Tess. :)

holdenj said...

Great to hear from Dianne. Quintspinner looks exciting.

Dianne Greenlay said...

Hello to you all! Thanks for dropping by to drey's library. I'm so pleased for the opportunity to do an interview like this and connect with all of you. Good luck in the giveaways!

Denise Z said...

Thank you for sharing this giveaway opportunity. I just read your post from June 8th and would love to win a copy of this book.

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