Donise Sheppard is co-owner of Pixie Forest Publishing and a fiction writer born in Ohio, but residing in Southern West Virginia with her husband and four children. She has six self-published novels on Amazon and six other short stories published in anthologies and a magazine. When she isn’t writing, she’s reading, baking, or chasing her monsters. Check out her website donisesite.wordpress.com, sign up for her newsletter, and follow her on Twitter @donise_sheppard Facebook https://www.facebook.com/authordonisesheppard/ Instagram @donisesheppard
1. Where did your inspiration for your story come from? It started as an entry for a flash fiction challenge in a writing group I’m in. I fell in love with the characters and setting and wanted to elaborate.
2. Who is your favorite character in this story and why? Mr. Pierce is definitely my favorite. I feel like he needs more time to tell his story. Perhaps a short story to go into it one day?
3. When you aren’t writing, where can we find you? Home. Cleaning or playing with the kids. I read a lot and bake a lot.
4. What author has influenced you the most? Ooo. Either R.L. Stine, who has taught me how important it is to write for children, or Jodi Picoult simply because her stories are perfectly crafted works of art.
5. Where do you write? Is there a special place? Share a picture if you wish. I have a desk and a desktop, but for some reason, I write better at the kitchen table on my laptop. Maybe because it’s closer to the coffee?
6. Do you consider reading as part of your job as a writer? Why or why not? I do. Mostly because it means I get to pretend I’m working when all I want to do is snuggle on the couch with a new book. I call it “research”
7. Other than family, what are five things you cannot live without? Coffee, books, friends, buffalo wings, and of course, my writing.
8. What is your all-time favorite TV show? Grey’s Anatomy. Without a doubt. Maybe Doctor Who if you’re going outside of the drama genre. Both are my absolute favorite.
9. Not picking your own, which story in Love Dust is your favorite? I don’t think I can pick! There are so many good ones! Some happy endings, some sad ones, all amazing in their own way! I loved every single one of these stories, which is why they made it in, I suppose. 😉
10. If you could meet one writer in the history of the world, who would it be? What would you talk about? Honestly, I would love to interview Ben Mikaelsen. He wrote my all-time favorite middle grade fiction Petey. I never read any of his other works, but this one story touched my heart when I was only twelve years old. He is the reason I love to write sad stories. It would be nice to learn what inspired his.
11. What are you working on now? Currently, I am editing a submission for Stormy Island Publishing’s inaugural anthology. Once I finish with it, I’ll get back to writing a romance novel I started.
12. Where can we find more about you and your work? I am dying for more followers, so if you see this and have nothing better to do, go to donisesite.wordpress.com and sign up for my newsletter, subscribe to my blog, and follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and even Pinterest.