Character Interview: the fairy Poppy from Valentine Wishes @DaisyBanks12 #RLFblog

Title Valentine Wishes

Genre Fantasy Romance

Author Name Daisy Banks

Book heat level (based on movie ratings): R

Full of good intentions the novice fairy Poppy grants her first
big wish at a Valentine’s Day party. The wish to bring her mortals love is powerful
but misses its target and lands in the party punch. All three of her sweet mortal
girls take just a sip and each one falls for the wrong man. There hasn’t been a
fairy disaster this bad in centuries and Poppy has no idea how to put things right.
Add to the catastrophe the arrival of Cedar Heartwood, the fairy of her dreams,
who drinks the punch too, and Poppy’s dilemma grows. Cedar loves her in ways she’s
only dreamed about. Should she take back the wish from both the mortals and the
fairy she adores? She must step with care or lose everything.

Publisher Liquid Silver Books www.lsbooks.com/daisybanks-c365.php

Barnes and Noble http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/valentine-wishes-daisy-banks/1118654370?ean=9781622100798

What is it that you want,
but cannot have? Authors call this the conflict of the story.

At the beginning of the story there are two things I want most.
One is to help my mortals, so I will have good things to tell from my fly about
when I go back to the fairy court. The other thing, the most important thing, is
a secret only I know. I want Cedar Heartwood all to myself. I adore him. I left
the fairy court to try to get over him, but even after so long away; he is still
the fairy of my dreams. He is gorgeous, I mean it, and you would faint if you saw
him. Well, yes, I expect you would, as he is a fairy with fabulous wings.

While I lived at the fairy court, I wanted him so much I used
to get stomachache. Whenever I saw him I used to go all dizzy, tongue-tied and…
Well, you get the idea. Doing fly about was hard but I found my three girls and
they are great fun, despite all that, I still want Cedar.

What’s your internal limitation?
Meaning, what is it about you that makes it so you cannot do what it is you need
to do during this story?

The odd thing is, as a fairy all I need to do is grant wishes,
it’s my job. My girls aren’t very good at asking though, they just don’t say the
‘I wish’ words. I help them with little wishes like keeping the oven clean, but
big wishes are different.

There are lots of things I try to do, but mostly my problem is
I’m ever so clumsy. I don’t mean to be, but I am. I bump into things or drop things
all the time. I don’t think I’m very clever either. Other fairies seem to know a
lot more than me. They used to laugh at me all the time when I was at the court.
Daisy, my writer, she did her best, poor girl, but even she couldn’t make me get
the big wish right.

What inner doubt causes
you the most difficulty?

I suppose the problem is caused by me not trusting myself to
grant wishes properly. I have to say it is very hard to trust yourself with something
as special as a love wish when your track record with magic is like mine. Please,
don’t laugh.

How would you feel if you turned your brother blue? The color
wouldn’t wash off and I had to look at him for days while it faded. He looked awful
and so many other fairies laughing didn’t help at all. Even worse than a blue Yew,
when the girls…Oh my, I can’t bear to think about it. I won’t tell you any more
about the bad things. I try not to think of them.

What’s your external complication?
In the story world your author created, explain what it is you fear most.

At the beginning of the story, I was very frightened that if
I went back to the fairy court and I didn’t have some good news about helping my
mortals, I could be banished to a Christmas tree for years. I can’t tell you how
horrible it would be to have to spend most of the year in a box, and then when someone
gets you out and dusts you off they shove prickly pine twigs up the back of your
skirt. What a nightmare!

By the end of the story, my fears became very different. You’d
be astonished how something so simple can be very special and change everything
in the whole world. I’m not going to say too much about this or Daisy will be cross.
People will want to read the story to find out.

There Daisy, I remembered.

Tell us about your significant
other, that person who makes living worthwhile.

For years, as long as I can remember I have loved Cedar Heartwood,
the most wonderful, beautiful, clever, gorgeous, sexy, delicious fairy that has
ever flown or ever will fly. He is so special. I did fly about because of him though.
I left the fairy court and went to find experiences in the world of mortals. You
see he is so marvelous and I never ever thought he’d even look at someone as clumsy
and silly as me.

I couldn’t believe it when he arrived in my garden. I went all
jellified. Things got really complicated once he turned up.

Daisy is looking cross, so I’d better not say anymore. I know
you’re all going to love Cedar too. I can’t think of anyone who couldn’t love someone
like him.

What would that person
say about you?

Cedar says I have a very pretty freckle shaped like a tulip,
just by the side of my mouth. I think it’s a horrid freckle, but he likes it. He
also says it’s easy to get too involved with mortals. I think he’s wrong about that.
One of the reasons fairies do what they do is because of mortals. I love my mortals,
they are fun and I like helping them. My girls are so sweet. They have a beautiful
garden with lights and flowers in pots, and herbs too. I enjoyed being one of the
girls. Cedar would probably say I go inside too much, he thinks it’s dangerous.
There is the nasty net curtain at the windows but if I’m careful, it’s not a problem.
My mortals don’t have a cat, so where’s the danger?

What is your family like?

My parents don’t live at the fairy court any more though they
did at one time. They moved to an orchard in Worcestershire, to work helping some
mortals grow apples. My brother, Yew, he’s really good looking, except when he’s
blue. He is a courtier, he loves all the gossip, the parties, dancing and … Ah,
I won’t say anything about the other things at the court. Yew and Cedar are friends,
that’s how I got to see Cedar so often when I was at the court. I used to watch
him and daydream all kinds of things.

I didn’t tell Yew how much I wanted Cedar. My brother would probably
have laughed at me because Cedar had so many fairies he could pick to share a bargain
with him. They followed him around, a gaggle of them, all doing things to make him
notice them. I couldn’t do the things they did. If I tried to make mini butterflies
all cling to me as my dress, I can guess what might have happened. I’d have had
lots of fairies laughing at me.

I didn’t enjoy the fashions at the court, some of them were silly,
three flowers and a weed, you try making an attractive outfit out of that.

There is a word for what I think about the court; I’ll have to
ask Daisy, I think she’ll know. Anyway, I didn’t like the court because it was superficial,
that’s the word according to Daisy. I was glad to go on fly about to get away from
all of it but the thing that made me go was Cedar. I couldn’t bear watching him
and wanting him the way I did. I thought it would be better to go from the court
and try to forget, if I could. I did miss him. I missed him every day. He was always
in my head.

What special skills do
you rely on?

Flying and magic. I love flying and flying with Cedar is the
best thing ever. I love granting wishes because it is so exciting. I love watching
the wishes work, when they go right.

Are you happy with the
way your story ended? Why or why not?

I am thrilled with the way my story ends. Don’t let her know,
but I think Daisy could have done a bit more writing to be truthful. I mean, it
wouldn’t have broken the computer to add another couple of chapters. I was having
such a good time and so were my mortals. I have to be very careful what I say here
as Daisy has just come in and she is staring at me. Her eyes go all pointy at the
edges when she gets cross. I’ve told her she’ll get wrinkles but she doesn’t seem
to care.

Anyway, I loved the ending to my story and so did my mortals.
There were a few hiccups along the way to get to there, but I think it was worth
it.

You have the length of
a tweet (140 characters) to describe yourself as a writer. Let’s see what you can
do.

I’m an obsessive writer who loves to write. A new story is a
thrill to work on and I want readers to have the best time reading my stories.

Why did you choose to
write about this character?

I have loved fairy stories since I was a very small child. To
write an adult fairy tale, with fairies with adult motivations felt very natural.
Poppy is rather an accident-prone fairy, but I couldn’t help become fond of her.
She tries so hard.

Was there anything you
discovered about this character that was a surprise to you?

Yes, Poppy’s lack of faith in herself and her magic did surprise
me. I’d assumed she’d realize how beautiful and magical she is, but she doesn’t
seem to have any idea at all. I thought she’d understand that despite the odd accident
here and there, she is an incredible fairy, but she struggled so hard to see that
in herself. Her sense of self worth needed a lot of work. I have to say working
with a fairy with such low self-esteem proved troublesome some days.

When you wrote about this
character, what made you the most happy? What made you the most sad?

Poppy is happiest when she is helping the mortals and her wishes
work. I felt happy when she did. She is such a caring fairy. When the big wish went
wrong, I could have cried for her. Poor Poppy was desperate. When Cedar arrived,
I didn’t have much hope things would improve. The magic made a big difference.

Why do you write?

That question is a bit like asking why I breathe. I write because
I must. I know that may sound rather odd but it’s the way it is for me at present.
I work on my writing in one way or another every day. I write because there are
stories in my head demanding to come out. My writing, as it allows me to use my
imagination and create, is a pleasure for me. I like working in a range of genres
and finding my way in them. I love reading too and if I am not writing then I am
reading. I learn from reading too. I hope in ten years time I will still be reading,
learning and writing.

What do you want to write
next?

I have a new historical that is about half way done. I also have
an idea for another. I have just finished the sequel to my story Timeless, and will
be submitting that before the end of February. There is a third part to that story
too.

Are any sequels planned
for this book?

At present, I am not planning a sequel to this book. I may write
another fairy tale in the future but I’m not certain. I’d like to explore the darker
side of fairy.

Is there anything you’d
like to say to your readers?

I’d like to say a big thank you to them for taking the time to
read my stories. I love it when I hear back from people who have enjoyed a story.

Romance author Daisy Banks writes sensual and spicy novels in
the Historical, Paranormal and Fantasy genres. Daisy uses a fresh and lyrical voice
to weave a compelling and magical spell for readers.

Website http://daisybanksnovels.yolasite.com/

Blog http://daisybanks.wordpress.com/

Twitter https://twitter.com/DaisyBanks12

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