Five Questions With Dana
Do you have a favorite band or musician based off of lyrics? -Based off of lyrics only, I'd have to say Trevor Hall. Right now in my life his words comfort me and speak to a deep part of my soul. With the way the world is going right now it's nice to hear his light shine through the words that he sings.
What is your favorite time-sucking app? -Instagram wins this one, hands down. I follow a lot of travelers and get serious FOMO looking at their posts. But I also use it for writing promotion and to keep me honest and motivated in my writing life. My personal account is basically my journal right now so, unfortunately, I spend way too much time on there. I delete the app every once in a while to take a break.
Do you have a favorite place to go to be alone and think/be? -I haven't had a lot of this since moving states the last year but I can pretty much zone out in any cafe or coffee shop with my headphones in & a book or notebook in front of me. If I need a minute to myself I'll sneak off and sit on the back deck. We have a pretty great view of the mountains out there and it's easy to feel peace.
What is your current favorite inspirational quote? -Dreams don't work unless you do. This changed my life and how I spend my free time. I "work" a lot more these days as a writer and I'm finally able to see that all of the time I put into it comes back to me, in the form of books, people reacting to those books, or conversations with other writers I wouldn't have met otherwise. I had to make my hobby a bit more like work, respect it like a job, in order to live the dream instead of keep dreaming about it.
Who is a favorite author of yours and why? - This is another hard one. Jane Austen has always been a writer that I've loved. She's quite a heroine of mine, actually, which is why the main character in New City is named Jane. She's such a romantic and lived her fantasies through her writing. I was recently able to visit a few places where she lived, walked, and wrote - which made me love and appreciate her creativity even more. I know what it's like to be in a small town, imagining a different life or a different world from that around me. This next year I'm going to study her work more in-depth and learn from her. I'm quite excited about it.