Guest post and giveaway from author Virna DePaul

Dream A Little Dream

Earlier this month, right after my debut novel, Chosen By Blood, came out, I attended the Lori Foster Reader Author Get Together in Ohio. It was the second time I’d attended, but it was my first time attending as a published author who would be participating in the author signing event. As luck would have it, I got to sit next to Nalini Singh, fabulous author of the Psy-Changeling series. I’d already had a chance to talk with Nalini before the signing and marveled at how much we had in common. We both write for Berkley Sensation. We both write paranormals. We both have dark hair…

Okay, so it’s not like we’re twins or lead parallel lives or anything, but still….

I’m always amazed when I meet hugely successful authors and it turns out they’re…well, normal. Nice. Down to earth. Willing to go out of their way to help someone new to the business or to talk with an appreciative reader. Why am I so surprised? I’m not sure. But I was even more impressed with Nalini after watching her sign books.

Nalini, much like Lori, had a huge line of fans waiting to get her autograph, and some of them even brought her entire backlist of books (single title and category novels) for her to sign! I got to listen to her fans’ enthusiastic and loving compliments, as well as her gracious and appreciative responses. It was a fine example of what hard work, talent, success, and kindness can bring to people both professionally and personally. And it was something I could witness and admire and yes, dream about—dream that someday I’d have that same kind of success and base of fans, and there would be a line of people waiting for my autograph.




But the best part? I was already able to meet readers and fans myself. Sure, it was on a much smaller scale, but I got to talk to people I’d only chatted with online before that point. Over that weekend, I was able to have dinner and pomegranate margaritas with Joy from Joyfully Reviewed and carry on a conversation that had nothing to do with books or authors in the slightest, and meet Celeste, a talented tattoo artist with amazing taste in shoes and books, and meet up with Ruth, Vanessa and Jade and talk about getting together in New Orleans next year, and give Bells a hug, and be interviewed by Lori, and enjoy my tablemates and meet a variety of wonderful former-strangers, and catch up with people I’d met last year and now thought of as friends.

And yes, I got to sign books while sitting next to Nalini Singh!

Don’t get me wrong. Being a published author isn’t all happy times. It’s stressful and there are plenty of people who seem to want to tear me down, put me in my place, or make sure I know I’m not the biggest, best, or brightest (no news there). But the friends I’ve made and the experiences I’ve had far outweigh the bad.

And it all started with a dream of finishing just one novel.

And then of getting published.

And then of getting published by more than one house.

So I’m not going to forget that dream of hitting it really big and having readers lined up to sign my backlist. But until that happens—or rather, even when that happens--I plan on enjoying every small blessing along the way.

As I head to New York later this week for the big national conference, I’m excited to mix business and pleasure yet again. And I want to thank all my supporters, including Athenna and Steph from Paranormal Haven, for your friendship, especially if I haven’t had a chance to meet you in person yet! Thanks for having me here and have a wonderful, joyous summer!


Bio: Virna DePaul is a former criminal prosecutor whose debut paranormal romantic
suspense novel, Chosen By Blood (Book 1 in the Para-Ops series), came out May 3, 2011
by Berkley Books. To read an excerpt, click here. To watch the trailer, click here.

In addition, Virna writes contemporary romantic suspense for Harlequin Romantic
Suspense (Dangerous To Her, September 2011) and HQN.

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Giveaway

We want to thank Virna for stopping our blog again. For more information about her and her books, check out her website.

Virna is giving away a $10 Amazon gift card to one lucky winner. This giveaway is open to international followers. Here's how to enter.


1. What authors would you love to have a drink with?
2. Leave your email address in your comment or have it available on your profile

**You can earn an extra +1 entry for spreading the word about our event on Twitter or Facebook and +1 entry for having event button on blog’s sidebar. Each extra entry needs to be placed in its own comment.**


All event giveaways end July 15th and winners will be announced on July 20th. They will have 3 days to respond to our emails [or message us at Paranormalhaven(at)gmail(dot)com] or another winner(s) will be chosen. Please read all event guidelines and rules before entering. Good luck everyone!