I had the opportunity to get Drea on my blog to ask her a few questions and get to know her and her visions for Blinney Lane

Digital Reads Blog Tours presents Drea Damara

1) Tell me something about yourself

I grew up in a rural community in Illinois, working on my family’s farm. I remember using my imagination at a young age. Often I would pretend I was on adventures in our woods. I was a voracious reader as a child and loved how books could transport me to another world. When I was nineteen, I wrote my first full length novel, but didn’t pursue getting published until years later when I got out of the Army. However, that childhood spark of my imagination stayed with me. My parents always said I was a dreamer. I say, why not

2) What made you write this genre? What was your inspiration?

I didn’t intend to write fantasy, but I was inspired by a notion I had when I was younger. I used to dream that if I fell asleep with a book, when I woke up I would be inside the world of the book. I wanted so much for that to happen that I decided to write a story about the idea.

3) How did you get the idea for the newly coined word stroomphblutels?

You’re the first person to ask me that question! Congrats. Stroomphblutel is a combination and variation of two words. One is fictional, blutbot, and one is Greek, stroomph.
On the pilot episode of Grimm, a creature/blutbot zips past the screen and nabs a woman who is jogging. My sister joked that when she opens her house door at night, she has a fear that a blutbot will get her.
Stroomph, I learned from my friends in Greece where I spent many years visiting. We were sitting around talking about cartoons we grew up watching and I was suprised to find they had broadcasts of the same ones we do in America. Then they kept asking me if I watched The Stroomphs and I didn’t know what in the hell they were talking about. We soon deciphered that The Smurfs were called Stroomphs in Greek.

4) How has your journey been from writing to publishing?

It’s been a wonderful journey. I have a superb publishing company in BHC Press who took a chance on me and they are great to work with. I don’t feel like just a number. They really care about their authors.

5)Where do you see yourself 5 years hence?

I would love to do audiobook narration for others. I enjoy putting voices to the books I read, however, at the moment I just don’t have the time. I do plan to keep branching out to other genres though as far as writing.

Stay with me for the next session of Drea on Saturday!!

The Blog Tour can be followed here

Digital Reads Blog Tours