Book Talk + Giveaway with C.L. Donley

Describe your writing style.

I call my style “romantic realism.” It’s sort of a blend of the fairy tale nature of the traditional romantic scenario combined with the wrench of actual human behavior.

My writing background and influence are in modern fiction and because I have an advanced degree in English, it has more of a literary bent. So, while I’m committed to the HEA ending, it doesn’t always come in a conventional way, because I’m doubly committed to realism. Almost to a fault. Most of the feedback has been overwhelmingly good, where I have readers saying, “I will literally read anything that you choose to write.” But then the people that hate it… really hate it, lol. Which I understand. Because my characters are usually flawed and do and say questionable things. And in the midst of a romance, it can make the resolution emotionally unsatisfying for some readers, who expect to read about the coming together of two likable people that absolutely, positively deserve each other. I also get accused of being boring, haha.

Meanwhile, others who find the genre to sometimes be a bit stale usually find it refreshing.

How did you come up with the title of this book?

I usually start out using the hero as the focus for the title, and 9 times out of 10 it doesn’t end up being the case. And this is also one of those times. In my mind, I had this really historical-looking, evocative cover using old photographs or post-marked letters or something. Or something with soldiers since it’s about WWII. But I didn’t have luck finding anything that would look romantic enough or eye-catching.

I usually have a title by the time I’m ready to sit down and design a cover, but this time I had nothing. But once I stumbled on the art for it, I got inspired. I like it because it’s not the evocative title I was reaching for, but it’s much more broad and yet has all this meaning that can be understood once you read the story. I like that it’s so simple and accurate without giving away much of anything.

Can you tell us a little bit about the characters in Finding Camille? Camille is a black woman who lives in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn. She’s part of a large family who’s {whose} mother emigrated from Guyana, South America, and a light-skinned father from Alabama.

She falls in love with a soldier that she strikes up a relationship with while writing letters during the war. Kenneth Hargrove is the owner of an ad agency that Camille finds herself working for ten years letter.

As a veteran of the war, he offers to help Camille find this long lost friend of hers, when she explains how his letters just dried up after 1944. So the story follows the present-day relationship with her boss as they become colleagues and friends, and flashes back to the old letters that Camille and her soldier pen pal wrote to each other.

What’s the most difficult thing about writing characters from the opposite sex?

Not knowing how sex feels for them, haha. I do a lot of “guy research” that’s only become more intense since I started. Dating advice gurus, social media, message boards, my husband, any honest, unfiltered accounts that will help me get into the male psyche. I’ve learned quite a lot by doing that, but there are some things you just gotta make up! :p

About the Book

Finding Camille by C.L. Donley
Genre: Historical BWWM Interracial Romance

Synopsis

It’s ten years after the end of WWII when Camille Winters accepts a position as the only colored secretary in the office at Hargrove and Chase, an advertising agency on Madison Avenue in the mid-1950’s. When the owner and senior partner Kenneth Hargrove takes a professional liking to Camille after seeing her potential, Camille thinks she’s finally found her niche, vindicated after pursuing her career rather than settling down. Mr. Hargrove uses his influence to find an old acquaintance from the war as a favor to Camille. But instead of the gesture bringing closure, the ghosts from the past suddenly come back to haunt her, putting her hard-won successful career in jeopardy.

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About the Author

C.L. Donley is a future New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author of multicultural and interracial romance, who believes romance novels that are impossible to put down are the only kind that should exist! Armed with a B.A. in English and M.A. in Writing, she is new to the romance game, having written her first novel, Amara’s Calling, after discovering the romance genre in September 2017.

Donley writes in a style she calls “romantic realism” that is sophisticated yet simple, grounded yet unaplogetically escapist, and character-driven rather than plot-driven. This style creates a unique, modern reading experience ideal for book club discussions, personal epiphanies, satisfying re-reads, and the occasional spiraling reviewer! Love it or hate it, fans and critics alike can’t deny her talent, and always find themselves coming back for more!

Other books by C.L. Donley on this website: Halcyon