Thunder Rolls
(Episode 8)
by Dee Davis
Secrets, Sex and Scandals …
Welcome to Storm, Texas, where passion runs hot, desire runs deep, and secrets have the power to destroy… Get ready. The storm is coming.
As Hannah Grossman grapples with the very real possibility that she is dating one Johnson brother while secretly in love with another, the entire town prepares for Founders Day. The building tempest threatens not just Hannah’s relationship with Tucker and Tate, but everyone in Storm as dire revelations threaten to tear the town apart.
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An Exclusive Interview With Dee Davis:
~ with Jillian Stein of Read Love Blog
I loved your installment of the Rising Storm series, Thunder Rolls. I was struck by how seamless the transition was from one author to another. Was that a difficult task?
In television, which of course is what stimulated this project, shows have writer’s rooms and different people work on different episodes and yet characters remain consistent. In part, I think, because the actors have a handle on each character and can keep it real no matter what direction the show goes. With books it’s an entirely different process. Characters are built and presented through a writer’s voice. Honestly, I was concerned in the beginning as to whether we would all be able to transition in a seamless manner. Not because the writers aren’t talented—they are all wonderful—but more because we each have very unique and different voices. But I have been consistently amazed at the way it has all come together and how the different voices have merged so that it does feel consistent across the board. And the characters, who have been brought to life in such fabulous ways, have become so real that regardless of which author is writing about them, they are presented consistently. And finally, I have to say that we have such a dedicated group of copy editors and they have worked tirelessly to try and catch any continuity errors.
How did you and Julie Kenner come up with this awesome and different project?
Julie is actually the one who had the original idea to write a serialized story along the lines of soap operas like Peyton Place and Dallas. And when she brought the idea to me, I jumped at the opportunity. I’ve been a lifetime soap fan, and the idea of actually getting to create one (albeit on paper instead of on screen) was super exciting. And once we settled on the idea and had a rudimentary feeling for the world we wanted to create we spent a long weekend in Fredericksburg, Texas (the model for Storm) and began populating our town with the characters that people grown to love! Jacob was one of the first characters to jump, practically fully formed, from our heads to the page. And from there the key families—the Salts, Rushes, Morenos, Averezes and Murphys—were born.
What were some of the soap-style shows you watched, or still do?
I’m an ABC girl. All My Children. One Life to Live. General Hospital. (I’m still in mourning for AMC). I also watched Dallas, Falcon Crest, Melrose Place and Knots Landing during that era. I was a huge fan of the first two seasons of Revenge. And am currently enjoying Nashville. So I think it’s safe to say that I love the soaps!
How much fun was it coming up with some of the drama these characters have to deal with? (insert evil laugh)
I think one of the fun things about soap operas is that you can jerk these people around. Give them happy endings and then pull it all out from under them only to dangle something new right in front of their eyes. The hardest thing for us was losing Jacob. Without ever putting a word to the page we fell in love with him. And after writing the prequel the feelings for me only got stronger. So that was a tough one. But it’s also fun now because I know (at least through the second season) what’s going to happen to everyone and so when people ask, I get to do the evil laugh and say just wait and see!
Biography:
Bestselling author Dee Davis has a masters degree in public administration. Prior to writing, she served as the director of two associations, wrote award winning PSAs, did television and radio commercials, starred in the Seven Year Itch, taught college classes, and lobbied both the Texas Legislature and the US Congress.
Her highly acclaimed first novel, Everything In Its Time, was published in July 2000. Since then, among others, she’s won the Booksellers Best, Golden Leaf, Texas Gold and Prism awards, and been nominated for the National Readers Choice Award, the Holt and two RT Reviewers Choice Awards.
Recently she was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the New York Romance Writers and has also been nominated for a Lifetime Achievement Award for romantic suspense from Romantic Times. In addition, she is Hall of Fame member of the New Jersey Romance Writers and was awarded an Odyssey Medal from Hendrix College.
To date, she has written over twenty-five romantic suspense, time travel, and women’s fiction novels and novellas. Among her latest books you’ll find her A-Tac, Liar’s Game, and Last Chance series.
She’s lived in Austria and traveled in Europe extensively. And although she now resides in an 1802 farmhouse in Connecticut, she still calls Texas home.
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