Dan Walsh is the bestselling author of 8
novels, published by Revell and Guideposts, including The Unfinished Gift,
Remembering Christmas, and
The Reunion. For those who haven’t read Dan’s books, reviewers often
compare them to Nicholas Sparks and Richard Paul Evans. He’s won 3 ACFW Carol
Awards, twice his books have been finalists for RT’s Inspirational Book of the
Year. His latest project is partnering with Gary Smalley on a 4-book fiction
series. The first is called, The Dance,
which released in April. A member of American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW)
and Word Weavers, Dan served as a pastor for 25 years and now writes fulltime.
He and his wife Cindi have been married 36 years and have 2 grown children,
both married, and 1 grandson. They live in Port Orange, FL. You can follow him
on Facebook or Twitter, or read his blog. There are buttons to connect to
these, as well as a sneak peek at all his books on his website at http://danwalshbooks.com.
Publishers Weekly says the following about The Dance:
“Marilyn Anderson, after 27 years of
marriage, leaves her husband. ‘I’ve dropped hint after hint, clue after clue,’
she says in her note. Jim, a successful businessman, is clueless, but, once
over his anger, he begins soul-searching with help from his children and
retired dance instructor Audrey Windsor. Marilyn, meanwhile, finds a job and a
roommate and begins dance lessons. Throw in a well-meaning uncle, their daughter
Michele’s wedding, their sons’ questions, a demanding church deacon, a dashing
dance instructor, and a hurricane, and readers will definitely come away
satisfied and shedding tears at the end. Mixing fiction’s emotion and
nonfiction’s teaching works splendidly here.” ―Publishers Weekly
Dan, what inspired you to write The Dance?
The inspiration for The Dance came as I read a major best-selling book Gary Smalley had written in 2007 with his sons, Greg and Michael. It’s called The DNA of Relationships.
We decided to draw the theme for the first book in our Restoration
series from this DNA book. I hadn’t read it before then but, to me, it
is one of the best books on relationships I’ve ever read. While reading
it, the whole story for The Dance came into
view. They use the idea of couples dancing as a wonderful metaphor to
illustrate some of the key relational truths in the book.
Yes, Dan, a wonderful book! My counselor husband uses this resource in sessions. So thrilled that you've teamed up with Gary Smalley to extend the message of this book in yet another format. When Chuck and I took up dancing after we entered the empty nest, we discovered very quickly who was leading and who was following! Yikes! Revealed some stuff about our marital roles as well. An added perk: Dancing actually encouraged us to look into each other's eyes. For a female, it doesn't get much better than that. :)
What is one fun thing my readers might not know about you?
That
I spent my high school years as a long-haired surfer bum. I lived a few
blocks from the beach, wore baggies and flip-flops to school everyday
(even wore these under my graduation gown at my high school graduation).
I didn't get a haircut from 10th grade till a year out of high school
(my pony tail reached down my back to my beltline). Oddly enough, God
used the original Jaws movie to interrupt all this. I had seen
too many sharks out in the water before seeing this movie. After, I kept
seeing them even when they weren't there (worse, I'd hear that terrible
Jaws theme playing in my head).
Haha! And a comedian, too. :) I'm sure you have gleaned lots of writing fodder from your past adventures!
Great to have you share with my readers today, Dan!
For more information about Dan and his books, check out the following locations.
On Dan's website, you'll find 1-click buttons to interact with him
on places like Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads and Pinterest. http://danwalshbooks.com
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Ooh, and that's not all! Dan is giving away a signed copy of his new release, The Dance! So leave a comment to enter the drawing.
