Meet Dana Claire | Award-Winning Young Adult Author

We had the good fortune of connecting with Dana Claire and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Dana, what is the most important factor behind your success?
The most important factor behind my success and really the motivation for putting the proverbial pen to paper was my mother. She encouraged me to pursue a life-long dream to be a published author and write stories that would appeal to young people. When I was a young girl, my mother, an elementary school teacher, inspired me to create imaginary worlds between the pages. My room overflowed with books, a sea of rainbow-colored spines. And every night, we’d cuddle and read together. As I grew up, we had made a promise to write a book together, a mother daughter co-author team. But unfortunately, it never came to fruition. After I graduated college, my mother became fatally ill dying two years later of cancer at a relatively young age. It took some time before I processed my grief, but I knew that my writing dreams needed to be fulfilled; as much for myself as for my mother. It wasn’t until 2020, that I made good on my promise. I was between jobs at the time and decided to buckle down and write the stories that had consumed my mind for years. My first book, The Connection, book one of a trilogy was published later that year. Today, I have three published books with another purchased by CamCat Books to be released early 2023.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I am a hopeless romantic and an action junkie who would stay up all hours sometimes watching the sun peek through the horizon reading a book. For me, reading was a way to live a thousand lives, take a ride in someone else’s shoes, and experience a journey halfway around the world. As an author, I wanted to create the same experience for my readers. So, in my books I’ll toss in a couple supernatural, magical, or sci-fi ingredients mix it in a bowl with high school angst and love, add a dash of imminent threats and viola, my Young Adult book babies are born. If you love exciting, spine-tingling moments, with chaptering ending hooks, you’ll be smitten with my writing. I like to tell my readers: Come for the romance, stay for the non-stop action.

It wasn’t an easy road by any means. I remember the feeling I had after I finished my first book. I sat at my computer staring into the illuminated screen and said, “Now what?” I hadn’t a clue about self-publishing or traditional publishing. I researched and tried to wrap my head around the pros and cons. Then I decided to try each path and today, with three books published and three more on their way, I’m proud of the challenges and struggles I’ve overcome because it makes the success all the more satisfying.

What can you tell us about any other projects you have in the works?           Lots of stuff cooking over here in writing land. I’m relaunching The Reclaimed Kingdom October 1st, 2022, with extended content, a new cover, a kingdom map, and audiobook. TRK is a retelling of Robin Hood with a female lead. It’s a fun-loving classic trope with a twist. The loveable motley crew of ruffians, the Band of Brothers, and Dru, the female Robin Hood, pilfer from the rich to feed the poor while challenging the wicked Queen from her throne. My PNR (paranormal romance), Hunterland, will be released February 7^th, 2023. An enemies to lovers tale of a badass monster hunter falling for a girl caught up in supernatural serial killings. Later that year, The Chameleon Curse, a magical realism novel where the female protagonist finds out she is the answer to a curse bestowed upon an island by her enchantress ancestor eight generations ago, will be released (date TBD). And I’m currently pitching a historical fantasy fiction trilogy based on Greek mythology to agents which is hush hush! So, shhh don’t tell anyone!

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
A week trip with my best friend visiting from the east coast to Los Angeles would be filled with scenic spots, physical activities, and hitting the latest and greatest eateries. As an active person, we would start with a yoga class at Hot8Yoga or Sweat Yoga, given that I teach at both, and definitely at some point a hike at Runyon Canyon, one of my favorite spots. Later, we’d rent a pink, yes pink, ’57 Chevy convertible to drive up the PCH to Malibu Wines for a tasting. On our way back, we’d stop at Duke’s for fish tacos, and then Mastro’s Ocean Club for their signature Warm Butter Cake. And at some point during her stay, we’d go to The Last Book Store in LA and take pictures with my published works. Finally, we’d get tickets to the Magic Castle, an exclusive private club, for one of their fabulous performances.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
The most important factor behind my success and really the motivation for putting the proverbial pen to paper was my mother. She encouraged me to pursue a life-long dream to be a published author and write stories that would appeal to young people. When I was a young girl, my mother, an elementary school teacher, inspired me to create imaginary worlds between the pages. My room overflowed with books, a sea of rainbow-colored spines. And every night, we’d cuddle and read together. As I grew up, we had made a promise to write a book together, a mother daughter co-author team. But unfortunately, it never came to fruition. After I graduated college, my mother became fatally ill dying two years later of cancer at a relatively young age. It took some time before I processed my grief, but I knew that my writing dreams needed to be fulfilled; as much for myself as for my mother. It wasn’t until 2020, that I made good on my promise. I was between jobs at the time and decided to buckle down and write the stories that had consumed my mind for years. My first book, The Connection, book one of a trilogy was published later that year. Today, I have three published books with another purchased by CamCat Books to be released early 2023.

Website: https://danaclairebooks.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/authordanaclaire

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DanaClaireBooks

Other: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/20913760.Dana_Claire

Image Credits
Shannon Madden