Maggie Blackbird

Today, I have author D.B. Sayers in the interview chair. We’re discussing his latest release The Nyra Westensee Series, a new adult romance. Don’t forget to enter the Rafflecopter giveaway.

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1. If you knew you would die tomorrow, how would you spend your last day?

D.B.: It would depend on time of year and where I was. If it was winter and I was near a ski resort, I would absolutely spend my last day snow skiing. If I found myself on the coast and there was a decent swell, I’d go surfing. Failing that, I’d probably saddle up and ride out into the mountains.

2. Which of your novels can you imagine being made into a movie?

D.B.: All of them, honestly. Each has something to offer visually, emotionally, and intellectually. But I think the best story for cinema and the richness of theme would be either West of Tomorrow, or either of the Nyra Westensee books. Both Best-Case Scenario and The Year of Maybe would make satisfying stories and visually beautiful.

3. What can we expect from you in the future?

D.B.: I’m currently working on the third volume of the Nyra Westensee series and the third volume of my science fiction yarn, The Knolan Cycle. I’m also working on a fairly…okay, really erotic novel that isn’t for the faint of heart.

4. What did you enjoy most about writing this book?

D.B.: I’m guessing most people will find this a bit perverse, but I love editing and refining. That’s been true especially of character-driven stories like Best-Case Scenario and The Year of Maybe.  It’s not that I don’t enjoy the creative part of writing. I do. But for me, there’s something really satisfying about refining each chapter and scene, line by line until it just reads well. I always use the read aloud mode in MS Word to hear how what I’ve written sounds out loud. It’s the best way I’ve found to pick out the soft spots in my writing.

5. Who designed your book covers?

D.B.: I’m afraid I’m the culprit. When I finish a story, I imagine one of the central characters or situations and then put together the cover to match both the genre and to hint at the story. I prefer to go with dramatic colors and evocative images.

6. Convince us why your book is a must-read.

D.B.: Must read? Honestly, it isn’t. That said, it might prove helpful. All my stories have change as one of the central themes. We are, I believe, in the midst of multiple, concurrent paradigm shifts coming at us at an unprecedented pace. Change tends to sweep away many of the signposts by which we’ve been accustomed to navigate. It has to be especially trying for young adults to deal with, especially since a lot of older adults to whom young people used to turn in the past aren’t much help. How Nyra copes with change and her uncanny sense of balance might in some ways help others navigate the sometimes-frenetic maelstrom we call the 21^st Century.

7. Do your characters come to you all at the same time, or do they come to you as you write?

D.B.: For me, it’s a combination. I start out with a plan, and a cast of characters who define the story, the plot’s throughline and the conflict implicit in that story. But somewhere along the way, I tend to embellish things a bit and that generally means adding characters to the story.

8. What’s your biggest challenge in writing?

D.B.: I’m sure most of your readers have heard of the planner-pantser dichotomy as those writing techniques apply to authors. I’m a plantzer, by which I mean I start out with a plan. Then, somewhere along the way, I get a hair fire, take an unplanned right turn at Albuquerque, wander off and get lost. Then I have to figure out how to make the whole thing work. Sometimes I discover that hair fire I had wasn’t such a hot idea, after all. Other times it works out, but only after I’ve done some readjustments to make everything fit together in a way that unifies the story.

9. Do you read, and if so, what’s your favourite genre?

D.B.: I read a lot of non-fiction, as well as science fiction, contemporary fiction and historical novels. I enjoy stories with a liberal dash of romance with a twist of eroticism in them, irrespective of genre. Humans are defined by our relationships and among the most compelling ones tend to involve connections that are if not romantic at least layered and nuanced.

10. What makes a good story?

D.B.: Irrespective of genre, a good story leaves the reader with a feeling and teaches us something about others or ourselves. There are a lot of ways to do that, but if the story doesn’t engage us and make us feel something, it’s a waste of time, to me. And it should in some way add to our overall understanding of this muddy mystery we call life.

11. Describe yourself in five words or less.

D.B.: Free-spirited adrenaline junkie.

12. Where did you grow up?

D.B.: I’m Midwest born and raised, but you’d never know it today. I don’t know to what extent I’m an exception, but growing up on a flat plain, I couldn’t wait to get the hell out of there. The day I graduated from college, I was commissioned a Marine officer, and I’ve only been back to Iowa once, where I grew up. And don’t miss it. I am now a product of my first career, half of which I spent in S.E. Asia, the Pacific, the Mediterranean, Africa and Europe. Nothing, in my opinion, makes us as acutely aware of how much humans everywhere have in common than looking in the eyes of someone of radically different experiences and yet seeing ourselves.

13. What is something unique/quirky about you?

D.B.: I guess I’m kind of a paradox. I’m completely unrestricted by consistency. Like most of us, I’m a creature of habit, but just about the time you think you have me figured out, I’ll do something that at first blush seems like it’s out of character. Yet I did it, so it must be in character. I have principles and I tend to stick with them. They don’t change much. But likes, tastes and interests? My past is rarely a faithful predictor of what I’ll do next. It’s not something I do with malice of forethought or change for its own sake…it just happens.

14. Are your characters based on real people or from your imagination?

D.B.: Most of my characters are an amalgam of people I’ve known, with a bit of creative eyesight. I’d love to say I’m inventive enough to just make them up out of thin air, but I’d be lying if I told you that. So you could say it’s both—and neither.

15. Tell us something really interesting that’s happened to you!

D.B.: Years ago, I was surfing at Trestles on about an eight-foot day. Toward late afternoon, the wind had died down and we were bobbing around waiting for the next wave when a Sea Lion pup popped up next to me and barked. I barked back at him, trying to be funny. To my surprise—and everyone else’s—the pup climbed up on the back of my board and propped his chin on my back. I guess he was tired and thought I’d be as good a place as any to rest. He stayed about ten minutes, until the next decent sized wave rolled in, and I had to paddle out to avoid getting cleaned up by it.

He swam into the beach and started begging for bait fish from a couple of the surf fishermen in the wet sand area. He was still on the beach when I paddled in. Guessing he was orphaned, I talked the lifeguards into calling Sea World down in San Diego to come and get him and (hopefully) pair him up with a buddy with whom he could eventually be released.

16. What kind of research do you do before you begin writing?

D.B.: It depends on the book. Most of the time, I’m writing contemporary fiction, and mostly writing what I know…or think I do. So I tend to start plotting and as I do, I realize I don’t know enough to write one or more of the scenes. So I research whatever holes there are in my knowledge more or less on the fly. In science fiction I tend to do a little more research up front, either to determine what’s at least theoretically possible, or to find a theory I can bend to make the story more interesting.

17. Pen or type writer or computer?

D.B.: Yes. Just kidding. Mostly I write with my laptop. On occasion, I will make notes with pen and paper, but when I get down to actually writing the story, it’s always on my laptop.

18. Describe your writing style.

D.B.: Yikes! It depends on the genre. I’ve been told (variously) that my writing reminds readers of Joesph Conrad, Cory Doctorow, John Steinbeck or Frank Herbert. I wish! Seriously, I think of myself as an eclectic who reads a passage from another really compelling author and adapts a snippet of their style to what I’m working on. What I hope is true of my work is that it inspires reflection and leaves the reader with a feeling that makes them want to keep reading and find more of my work.

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Title: Best Case Scenario: Act I of Nyra’s Journey
Series: The Nyra Westensee Series, Book 1
Author: D.B. Sayers
Genre: New Adult Romance

Isn’t hope in some form our best-case scenario?

Blurb: More than a year after graduating from college, Nyra is beginning to wonder when her life, professional and personal, gets started. Was it like this for her mother? She doubts it, but things were different, then.

Nyra’s reality is nothing like her mother’s. Each generation confronts its own challenges. Still, she’s tired of feeling like she’s wading through waist-deep wet cement. Buried somewhere deep in a future she can sense but not feel, Nyra can hear the siren’s song of hope and hypothetical options whispering to her. She’s so ready! But is the song she hears hope or just an illusion?

Best Case Scenario is the first act in Nyra Westensee’s journey from student to self-aware, fully actualized woman.

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The mirror in the women’s room taunts Nyra with a confusion of pride and dissatisfaction. Expressive green eyes set in a clear complexion get lots of second looks. Her prominent hawk nose calls attention to high cheekbones and overall symmetry. Cute, on balance. The charitable might even call her pretty. Time to tweeze her eyebrows, though.

Lips maybe a little too full for her thin “ish” face. A boyfriend from two years ago had called them “kissable.” He’d wanted to do a lot more than kiss, but had moved on just before Nyra’s simmering sexuality overwhelmed Sister Elise’s repeated admonitions against promiscuity.

The modest swell of her breasts is nearly camouflaged by her loose-fitting tunic. Twisting in the mirror, she pulls it tight and pouts. Does anyone even notice? Nyra twists and stands on tip toe, for an over-the-shoulder look. Does her slender waist make her ass look too wide?

Her brother’s best friend commented, once, on her ‘sassy chassis.’ Nyra’s all-through-high school crush on Mark began the day her brother Kip shared Mark’s comment with her.  Mark had flirted persistently, but nothing ever came of it. Had Kip warned him off?

The door swings open and Toni, one of the IT Applications Managers, smiles at her. Nyra quickly turns back toward the mirror.

“Hey, Nyra!” Toni pulls out her lip stick and gets to work. “You look just fine leaving, if that’s what you were wondering. How goes it in the call center?”

“Nothing but a party.” Nyra pulls out her lip-gloss and concentrates unnecessarily on applying it.

“One of those days, huh? I feel your pain.” Toni grimaces. “Used to work the IT help desk before I got my certification.”

Toni has most of what Nyra wishes she had. Prominent, rounded breasts, perfect symmetry and flawless mahogany skin that seems to glow along with generous, kissable lips. Toni catches her looking. Their eyes meet in the mirror and Nyra’s stomach twists. Nyra picks up the thread of their conversation. “I’ll get over it.”

“That which does not kill us?” Toni’s smile leaks warmth. As their eyes meet again in the mirror, Nyra’s pulse races, drawn to Toni’s liquid hazel eyes.

Toni drops her lipstick into her purse and pulls out the cell phone chiming to a text message. Furrows appear on her brow as she reads. “Gotta go.” She smiles at Nyra in the mirror, then turns for the door.

“Keep the faith, Baby,” she says over her shoulder. Nyra’s eyes follow Toni until the door closes slowly behind her.

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Title: The Year of Maybe: Act II of Nyra’s Journey
Series: The Nyra Westensee Series, Book 2
Author: D.B. Sayers
Genre: New Adult Romance

He’s nothing like her hopeful dream—and everything she wants.

Blurb: Nyra’s transition from college grad scrambling for her first career job to full independence is as on track as it can be, these days. With her new marketing job is going well, even if she’s still living at home,Nyra’s pretty sure the light at the end of the tunnel is not an onrushing train.

Still, she gets bored, sometimes. A whimsical decision to take up surfing brings her together with Tai Abrega, a professional surfer and shaper so delicious Nyra’s imagination hasn’t even gotten around to fantasizing about a man like him, yet. Surfing awakens a latent, mystical connection with the sea along with a driven passion for the man himself.

But embracing one possibility often demands abandoning another. How can Nyra fit Tai and the seductive siren song of freedom into her “safer” vision of perfect? Can she blend her conventional world with his freespirited lifestyle, or is she doomed to disappointment and heartbreak? New Adult fans of It Ends with Us and Finding Perfect are sure to enjoy this upbeat tale of hope.

The Year of Maybe Act II of Nyra’s Journey continues the story begun in Best-Case Scenario.

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The hint of summer heat in the afternoon sun persists, even as it sinks low. It stains the ocean a dazzling electrum and quicksilver through the hazy marine layer on the horizon, making Nyra squint.

What little wind there is meanders aimlessly from north-northwest, to north-northeast, but it’s never blown hard enough to affect wave shape. As a result, Nyra and Tai have been surfing waist to head-high waves most of the afternoon.

“Let’s call it a day,” Tai says. “Tide’s headed back in and it’s getting mushy, anyway.”

Nyra nods and they catch their last wave, proning out in the soup. Nyra picks up the shorter board Tai has loaned her and tucks it under her arm. On the hike back to Tai’s truck, they walk so close together, Nyra imagines she can feel his warmth. The accidental brush of his shoulder sends a little shiver of excitement racing up her arm.

“It’s a rush, isn’t it?” Tai asks. “How do you like the shorter board?”

“I love it,” Nyra says, wondering if he means more than he’s saying. She decides to play it safe. “It’s so much more responsive than the nose rider.”

“You were shredding.” Tai eyes Nyra sidelong through a curtain of hair hanging into his eyes.

“Riiight.” Nyra shifts her grip on his board. “It’s easier to ride faster waves, though.”

“It is,” Tai agrees. “A little more juice always helps.”

Nyra flashes Tai a quizzical look. “Are you trying to make me feel better? I wouldn’t have thought you would call those waves juicy.”

Tai’s toothy grin displays perfect pearly whites contrasting with his dark skin. “Well, it’s not like Rocky Point,” he says, “but compared to Old Man’s?”

Nyra nods. “How would it compare to Trestles?” “Trestles is a little faster.” He squints, turns, and looks back up the beach at Lower Trestles. “Depending on swell direction, it can be a lot faster, especially on a big southwest.” Nyra turns with him and looks back up the beach.

“Interested in trying it?” Tai asks.

“Someday.”

At his truck, Tai turns his back and Nyra unzips his spring suit for him. She turns for his help with her own, purchased just last week to help with the chilly waters from an unseasonal upwelling. He unlocks his camper shell and tosses her a towel from the back of his truck.

“What did you call that place we surfed today?”

“Dog patch.” Tai takes the board he loaned her, dries it off and slips it wax down into his truck bed. “And seriously,” he adds, “the faster waves made you instantly better.”

Kinetic, Nyra thinks best describes the experience. “I’m hooked,” she says out loud.

“So you liked the shorter board?”

“It’s so easy to turn. I love it!” Nyra chafes her legs dry and drapes the towel over her shoulder to wring the water out of her braid. She peeks at Tai sidelong, her face still half in the towel. “Thanks for letting me use it. I really appreciate you trusting me with it.”

“It’s my favorite, so you better not have dinged it.” Tai’s eyebrows sink over his eyes in warning.

“You don’t scare me. And no, I didn’t ding it.” Nyra wrinkles her nose. “At least I don’t think I did.”

Tai unfurls his own towel and threatens to snap her legs with it. Nyra unwinds her own in response and they go at it, half-heartedly, before succumbing to laughter. They finish drying off and Tai feeds his own board in the back, closing his camper shell.

When Tai turns to face her, Nyra’s gut twists as she gets lost in his soulful brown eyes. She shivers slightly and her bikini strap slips over her shoulder. She pushes it back without thinking.

“Want to know how to keep that from happening?”

“Like get a top that fits better, maybe?” Tai shook his head. “Won’t matter. Sooner or later, you’ll get churned and the wave’ll just suck it right off.” He laughs at her expression. “Happens all the time in the Islands…unless you tie it off with a shoestring, or something. My sisters all do that.”

“Or get a racer back,” Ny suggests.

“You could…” He laughs. “If you want a haole tan line.”

Ny shrugs, in lieu of a comeback. Tai walks around his truck to the driver’s side. Unlocking the door, he checks the time on his phone and frowns. “I gotta jam. I’m shaping a new board for one of Kalani’s team riders.”

Their eyes lock, awakening a legion of butterflies in Nyra’s stomach. God, he’s gorgeous! “If ya gotta, ya gotta.” Nyra half-turns, smiling at him over her shoulder. “Thanks for the lesson. See you next Saturday.”

Tai’s return smile rivals the sun, before he turns to fold himself into the driver’s seat.

Despite being stoked at her rapid progression as a surfer, it’s all Nyra can do to stay awake on the drive home. The couple who started with Nyra gave up after a month, leaving Nyra as his sole remaining student. It’s helped her progress, not to mention secretly pleasing her with his undivided attention.

She keeps nodding as lane lines blur slightly, in the enervating sun through the driver’s side window. Nyra stays semi-alert by replaying each wave, thinking about how Tai surfed them and speculating on how she might emulate his moves.

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Dirk’s path to authorship wasn’t quite an accident, but almost. Through two previous careers, first as a Marine officer and subsequently as a corporate trainer, he started way more stories than he finished.

But in the backwash of the 2008 financial collapse, Dirk’s employer filed for Chapter 11 protection, cordially inviting him to leave and not return. Out of work and excuses, he published his first novel, West of Tomorrow, while job hunting.

Since opting for “retirement,” Dirk has published five more titles including an anthology of short stories, two science fiction yarns and two new adult novels. He lives in Laguna Niguel with his wife, two psychotic cats and a fourteen-year-old Ball Python named Corona.

Follow D.B.: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Amazon | Goodreads

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