Check it out here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N0NY53L/
Dissent is the 2nd book in the Love Vanquishes All series. How many books do you have planned for the series?
My standalone historical series features only Black heroines from different historical periods and none of the heroines play a subservient role. Yes, Dissent is the 2nd book. I’ve plans for four. I’d like to pen more but I’ll have to see how my stamina holds up as I also write a science fiction romance series for a small press. I have more books planned for that series. Gotta block out the time.
What do you think makes a great story?
I think a great story needs an involved, multi-layered plot with believable conflict. Look, I adore romance books but if the plot centers only on what’s going on between the main couple, I get bored. No one lives in a bubble of constant sex. At least, I don’t. I can only write so many cozy, love scenes. I also have a limit as to how many I can take reading in a book (unless it’s pure erotica then I know why the Robo-Sex is there; that’s what the genre is about) before I find myself nodding off. After the fifth, simultaneous, Big O scene, between the hero and heroine, I’m checking out. Sex can be written lots of ways but after a time, no matter how hot, it becomes mechanical and laughable. Sorry.
Which writers/books inspired you when writing this series?
The writers of “Old School” romance and Beverly Jenkins inspired me. I like the grandeur of the historical romances from the last century. But I wanted to see a Black heroine as the main character who was not a concubine or a bed wench. I wanted her engaging in the same things the default heroine was engaging in. I wanted her to be the main attraction. I wanted her in an opulent setting, in opulent clothing. And if her role called for her to lounge around eating bon-bons... So be it. I knew it was possible. There is a plethora of regular and high-born Black females, from ages past, who’d make terrific heroines, who did not have slavery in their background. There are centuries of history that attest to that. A writer only flip open a few history books and do research.
What are your ambitions for your writing career? Full time? Part time?
I write full-time now but I do not let my dream become a nightmare. I love what I do but I know when to take a break. Also, after reading my work, I’d like a reader to say, “That was a good romance.” Not, “that was a good multicultural romance.”
When did you decide to become a writer?
I’ve always written stories but I didn’t do it seriously until my day job was off-shored 12 years ago. I did contract work (which I hated) to pay the bills after the “secure” 9-to-5 tanked. I devoted time each day to my writing to assuage the anger I felt after my department was dumped after its 20 + years of service. Oh, I’ve lived by the seat of my pants since the “purge” and the contract gigs, and things can still get hairy at times, but I’ve realized nothing is “secure” and I have decided to stick to living my dream.
When writing Dissent did anything stand out as particularly challenging?
The most challenging thing was getting the titles and formal forms of address correct for the characters. French royalty and aristocracy had distinct ways of being addressed. My undergrad degree is in French Civilization so I was familiar with the country’s history, and the societal stratification of the era (the Renaissance) in which I’d set my story. The same for African nobility. The bibliography I provide in the book confirms that the African elite from various nations visited Europe during the Renaissance. I’d had several African Studies courses but they were mostly general surveys. So, I had to dig deeper. Africa is a vast CONTINENT not ONE country so I had to narrow down my area of concentration for the book. My heroine, and her family, are Wolof aristocracy from the then Jolof Kingdom of West Africa.
How did you come up with the story of Dissent?
From my studies, I knew different cultures, peoples, kingdoms had always mingled, married, mated and had done business with one another. So, why not write about that? Why not depict three, disparate monarchies doing business the old-fashioned way - through marriage, espionage, betrayal and an exchange of goods. Doing business with some shattering consequences for all involved. Toss in some religious, personal and racial conflict. A bit of murder. Voila! Instant historical romance. Just without the traditionally expected main characters acting the traditionally expected way.
What do you like to do when not writing?
I exercise. I like to cook. When I can, I walk long distances. You must move around because in this business, your backside will get bigger and become stuck to the couch if you let it. I am a 70s-movie junkie and a public television junkie too (POLDARK, past and present. Sigh). I listen to NPR and I read ebooks. But I do enjoy holding a paperback or hard back book.
How can readers discover more about you and your work?
They can visit my website: http://www.pjdeanwriter.weebly.com; my blog if they are brave: http://wwwdiverseviews.blogspot.com (that’s not a typo; there is no period after www); my Amazon Author page, http://www.amazon.com/author/pjdean; Twitter: https://twitter.com/PJDeanwriter; Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PJ-Deans-Fan-Page