Interview with Deana Birch, Author of Love Repaired

What can you tell us about your new release, Love Repaired?

The seed for Love Repaired was planted in a Twitter chat between a few other Romance writers. I liked the idea of giving a female main character the nickname “Cupcake” and started to imagine reasons why she would be called that. It turned out to be a more emotional book for me, where I dug into the emotional wounds of family dynamics.

What or who inspired you to become an author?

I never enjoyed creative writing when I was younger. I have an English minor but focused more on grammar and literature. I dabbled with blogging and poetry but one day, two characters popped into my head and wouldn’t leave me alone, so I wrote their story which turned out to be my first book Faster.

What’s on your top 5 list for the best books you’ve ever read?

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr, Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara, We Were Liars by E. Lockhart and Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff.

Say you’re the host of a literary talk show. Who would be your first guest? What would you want to ask?

What would you want to ask? I live in Europe and all of my writing buddies are in the states. So I would probably invite my favorite critique partner Amelia Foster to come on because I’ve never met her face to face. Then I would probably spend the entire time thanking her for all she’s done for me behind the scenes.

What’s your favorite thing about writing?

I love writing dialogue. Sometimes I put down the entire conversation and then go back and fill in the inner thoughts and tags. I also like when I go back and edit and still find things in the book funny. There is always a touch of humor in my books.

What is a typical day like for you?

Depends on the day! I teach yoga twice a week and drive the mom taxi a lot. But on writing days, once the kids are out of the house and I’ve caught up on the news of the world, I make a pot of jasmine white tea and either write or edit for a few solid hours. Then once my CPs wake up in the states I usually spend a bit of time on social media. After lunch I have a smaller window until I need to mom again.

What scene in Love Repaired was your favorite to write?

The last one! I knew that Amee and Ben needed their HEA and I spent a lot of time thinking about how to balance giving them both what they needed and wanted. The theme that Ben didn’t want anything monetary from Amee was important to bring back, but also that Amee truly understood how to make him happy. The idea literally popped into my head about 75% into writing the first draft and I knew it would be their perfect ending. I’d say more but I don’t want to give it away.

Do you have a motto, quote or philosophy you live by?

“You can’t change people, you can only change the way you react to them.”

Deana Birch is the author of the new book Love Repaired.

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