Dana L. Brown - Romance with a Heart

Five years ago, Dana L. Brown had an epiphany. She’d been reading a book and decided she could write one like it. While biking with her husband, a complete story came into her head. It was then that she told her husband she wanted to retire from her 32 years as a regional bank manager and write a novel. Her husband convinced her to wait a year, which she did, and in 2017, Brown joined the ranks of romance writers with her first published book.

While Brown has no formal training as a writer, she's always loved reading and liked to write “for fun” when she was younger. In 2003, she joined a writer’s group hoping to hone her skills. “I loved it,” she says. “They had a writing contest, and I came in second. But I had young kids and was busy with my job, so I set it aside.” As her children grew and she advanced at work, she never lost her desire to write, and in 2016, with a now-empty nest, she left her day job and began working on her debut novel, a contemporary romance titled Lottie Loser.

“I was inspired by Liliana Hart’s books,” Brown says. “I love her characters, and I wanted to write a book like those.” She admits that writing Lottie Loser was easy for her. “The opening scene was just there,” she recalls. “As I’d ride my bike, new scenes would come into my head.”  The main character was inspired by the protagonists in other novels Brown had read. “Lottie’s strong, but also kind and loving,” Brown says. “I love her integrity and the way she cares for her friends.” One trait Brown and her character share is their struggle with weight. “I’ve struggled with food my whole life,” Brown says,  “so I decided that Lottie would have that issue. But her story is not my story. I like to think of her as me with a lot of upgrades.”

Set on Anna Maria Island, Lottie Loser chronicles the life and loves of Charlotte “Lottie” Luce.  Switching between past and present, the story follows Lottie’s development from insecure, overweight teenager to the slim, stylish president of Olde Florida Bank. Her new life is upended by the return of Nick Greyson, the man she has secretly loved since childhood, who comes home to help save his father’s business. The book was named a semi-finalist in the Royal Palms Literary Awards given by the Florida Writers Association.

Encouraged by the response to Lottie Loser, Brown decided to pen a sequel. Call Me Charlotte, published this year, has Charlotte trying to mend her broken relationship with Nick. “I like to stress the empowerment of forgiveness,” Brown says. “Charlotte’s refusal to forgive impacted the next twelve years of her life. When she realizes the power that comes when she forgives, it opens up a whole new world.” Call Me Charlotte received the gold medal for romance from the Florida Authors and Publishers Association.

Brown has recently completed The Greysons, the third in what she calls The Anna Maria Island Series. “The characters had so much to say, the first book became a second, then a trilogy, and maybe more.” She is also at work on a stand-alone novel about an older woman bemoaning the loss of her youth. “I love the creativity involved in writing,” Brown says. “It’s such fun to make up characters and give them backstory. I love using my imagination to make up stories, and I love reading them.”

For more information, visit her website at www.danalbrownbooks.com.