Meet Guest Author Dana Pratola

CG: Hi Dana! I’m so excited to have you here on the blog today. Your new book, Voice of Truth, sounds fabulous. Why don’t you start by telling us a little bit about yourself? Where did you grow up? What do you write? Why do you write? 

DP: I was born and raised in New Jersey. I write because I’ve never been able to not write. It’s part of my make-up and what I know God wants me to do.

CG: So true! For many of us authors, we write because we have to. There really is no choice. So, what is one thing most people wouldn’t know about you? 

DP: I’m pretty good with a gun. Oh, and if I’m in the car and Steve Perry comes on the radio, all talking must cease, lol.

CG: Sounds like the ladies around here out in the country in NC. OK, lets get to the nitty-gritty of writing. Of the writing process, what do you enjoy most?

DP: Editing. I know that sounds crazy, but for me the pressure of getting the story down is off and I can relax.

CG: I completely agree. I enjoy editing too. And the the plotting. When you wrote your latest novel, Voice of Truth, what came first the story or character?

DP: The story. I’ve always wanted to wake up one day and just know how to play piano – without lessons. So I thought, hmm, what if that actually happened to someone, only with a voice?

CG: Oh, wow, yes! Wouldn't that be awesome? Now speaking of your novel, Voice of Truth if you had  to pick a “Theme Love Song” for it what would it be? Why? 

DP: I’m Movin’ On by Rascal Flatts. It’s not a love song, but it describes very well the kinds of things Sophia is going through during much of the book and her decision to finally move ahead in spite of her life not going the way she had planned. Excellent song.

CG: Everyone give it a listen. It is a great song! Can you give us a tidbit about Voice of Truth that readers might not know? 

DP: This book was actually part of a different, longer story, but the parts I didn’t use here, are now the plot foundation for another book I’m working on.

CG: Thats very interesting. I find that I too am scavenging older, out of print stories and reusing them. Thanks for being here today, Dana. Please give us an excerpt from your new release. 

The chill Sophia radiated when he’d first arrived hadn’t warmed any, yet by the time they stepped into the afternoon sun, Cade had decided he was quite infatuated with her. He wasn’t the type to believe he could fall in love over the space of their short acquaintance, but he could accept infatuation. He would enjoy it until it faded. He’d give it another week. After giving her a sidelong glance he revised it to two, taking her hand as they walked.

“Where’s Leon or Lenny, or whatever his name is?” Cade asked when the new bodyguard failed to materialize at Sophia’s side.

“Lonnie is no longer under my employ,” she said, snatching her hand back.

He chuckled at the haughty tone and the fact that Lonnie was the third bodyguard she’d had since they’d met. He’d thought Kitty had been exaggerating when she’d told him Sophia went through them like a kid with candy.

“How about a ride?”

“I have my car,” she said, pointing to a white SUV.

Though Sophia slitted her brown eyes, she made no argument when he led her past her own car and opened his passenger door for her. Cade’s gaze stayed on hers as he rounded the hood and got in. The instant his door was shut she tore into him.

“Don’t you ever do something like that again,’ Sophia said. “I don’t appreciate you horning in on my personal time.”

Personal time?

“Whoa,” Cade raised his hands and turned to face her. “I do what I like, Sophia, remember that.”

“We agreed—“

“To meet tomorrow morning so I can interview you until you pack up your tents and move out,” he interjected. “I still intend to do that.”

“Well, between appointments, you can’t just show up and take notes.”

“Yes, I can.” He stabbed the key into the ignition.

“You won’t.”

“As I said, I can do what I like.” With a turn of his wrist, the engine roared to life and tires squealed into the light flow of traffic.

“You have no right to haunt me!”

A thought occurred to Cade, one that had occurred to him when he’d first arrived and one that twisted his gut into a very unpleasant knot. He’d never been jealous a day in his life, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t recognize the insidious monster when it reared its head. “Did I interrupt something in there?”

Sophia’s mouth dropped open, and then shut as quickly. Her chin came up defiantly. “That’s none of your business.”

She was right, of course.

“I think it is.”

Fists clenched in her lap, Sophia sat rigid in the seat. At the first red light, she reached for the door handle only to find her arm trapped in a vise-like grip.

“That’s not a good idea,” Cade told her, eyes glittering, but he loosened his fingers enough for her to yank away. “It’s a long walk and if you called for a ride, you’d probably fire the driver halfway back.”

Her body remained a controlled bundle of fury for the duration of the ride, yet when he pulled to a stop in front of the hotel she didn’t slam the door as expected, or bolt for the lobby. Instead, she walked with quick, measured steps into the building. He knew following her was pointless, but he did it anyway.

He hadn’t gotten ten feet inside when he saw them: two plain-clothes guards, conspicuous in their drab, colorless suits when contrasted with the sophistication and gloss of the clientele. They flanked him, as another whisked Sophia into the open elevator.

“That’s far enough, sir,” one of them told Cade.

Sophia offered him a sweet smile as the doors slid shut.

Purchase Voice of Truth at Amazon and Pelican Book Group

Blurb: Sophia Gallo is celebrated and adored by millions, but in her meteoric rise to fame, it might appear she’s forgotten the One Who gave her the gift that made possible her life of wealth and glory. She hasn’t forgotten. She’s reminded every day as she endeavors to hide a secret that could change everything and expose her as the freak and outcast she always thought herself to be.

Cade Fioretti has never backed down from finding the truth, and he’s not about to start now. Its his job and his passion. Sophia is beautiful, talented, and the subject of his next book; but she’s hiding something. No matter what it takes, he’s going to dig it up, and in the process learn all there is to know about this woman who’s stolen his heart.

Author Bio: I was born and raised in West Orange, New Jersey, home of the Thomas A. Edison factory and springboard of celebrities and astronauts alike. But, I’ll say the most important people ever to hail from West Orange are my three children, all of whom are destined to make wide, colorful splashes in this world. My husband and I share our home with two dogs, who pretty much run the place. I have no hobbies to speak of, unless you include writing. I don’t. http://danapratola.webs.com