Indie Author Spotlight: Ms. Viper

Quick note before continuing onto the author spotlight: the idea of the author profile layout goes to the founder of the Dark Desires Book Club, Maddy/madc0ow22!

Author name: Ms.Viper
Tome user name: msviper
Upcoming book title: Addicted to Dahlia
ARC links (if any): https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSer_kkcK9nSovM0Grob0mb8U_U-nKaFjv0sgiLKxxMMvvymww/viewform

1. Using only emojis summarize your book! ⚖👨‍⚖️🥀❤️‍🔥📈🎥🛩🌴⛓️‍💥
2. Why did you decide on Addicted to Dahlia as being your title? After I knew the premise of my story and the main characters names, the title came to me pretty fast!! it became clear to me that my MMC Dallas, who struggles with substance abuse, is trading one addiction for a new one, and that’s Dahlia.
3. Can you tell me a secret about Addicted to Dahlia that no one else knows? I’m going to tell you TWO!!! 😉 One, Addicted to Dahlia is a duet. SURPRISE!!! Book one is part of a series called “Legally Bound” and I hope to have the second part of the duet published in 2027!!! Two! Y’all are NOT READY for Dahlia’s character arc. Do NOT be fully fooled by book one in the Legally Bound series, there is WAY MORE than meets the eye when it comes to her. In book two, {REDACTED TITLE}, Dahlia has her “Gone Girl” moment 😘
4. Do you remember the exact moment that you knew you wanted to write this story? YES! I was coming home from seeing a broadway play with my friend, and on the way home, I was deciding on whether or not I was actually going to write this dark romance, and as I was going home from NYC, I saw two “signs.” One, was for a restaurant. ‘Dallas BBQ.’ Then, further down the street, there was a new bar called “Dahlia’s” and I immediately knew that I needed to write this.
5. How did you know that you wanted to write this genre? That’s a funny story LOL! I used to write a lot of fanfiction back in the day that absolutely qualified as dark romance, however, I didn’t think I could write a book like that. I was young and thought that type of content was strictly for fanfiction. When I went to college for English literature and writing, I wanted to be a YA author and or the next ‘Stephen king’ type (could never be as talented as that man lol) and began working on a paranormal murder mystery. It wasn’t until post grad school I realized I didn’t have to force myself into a box, romance is a legit genre, and if I am having an absolute blast writing it, what’s the harm?!
6. Anything else we should know about you and your author journey? Two things!! As a pagan🔮 and a stoner girlie🌿, I sometimes use cannabis in a ritualistic way to help me write! My story is Dual POV, so sometimes when I use cannabis, it helps me get out of my head and into my character, especially Dallas since he is a stoner serial killing lawyer. If anyone is curious about how I ritually smoke, I would love to talk about that on here! Two: it’s SO important to me that I talk about the charities I am donating to once Addicted to Dahlia comes out. As a resident of Los Angeles, I witnessed the destruction that the palisades fires caused. The animal that were directly affected by it haunt me. I decided after the fire, that Addicted to Dahlia would no longer be a free work on AO3, and that I wanted to fully become a professional author and use my platform to donate to charities in need. Now, every time I release a book, I decided to donate 100% of the first 6 months - full year of profits to a different charity. Addicted to Dahlia will be donating to the California Wildlife Center for rehabilitating animals, and the Los Angeles Fire department wildfire foundation. Book two of the legally bound series, {REDACTED TITLE} will be donating to the center for missing and exploited children when it is released in HOPEFULLY 2027 👀