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# Write Now With Rebecca Danzenbaker
- URL: https://justincox.com/blog/2025/07/write-now-with-rebecca-danzenbaker/
- Published: 2025-07-16T15:00:46.000Z
- Updated: 2025-07-16T15:00:46.000Z
- Description: Today's Write Now interview features Rebecca Danzenbaker, author of SOULMATCH.
- Author: Justin Cox
- Tags: Interview, #rebecca-danzenbaker

## Who are you?

I’m Rebecca Danzenbaker, author of [*Soulmatch*](https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Soulmatch/Rebecca-Danzenbaker/9781665963701?ref=justincox.com) – a YA dystopian romance publishing with Simon & Schuster about a future where you can’t escape the mistakes of your past lives. I’m also an award-winning portrait photographer in Ashburn, VA, worked in the corporate world for a decade, and was once an elementary school music teacher.

## What do you write?

I write commercial YA romances heavy on the angst.

The niggling idea to write *Soulmatch* came in 2010, but at the time, I had two toddlers and was building my photography business while managing a team of 25 at Congressional Quarterly. Instead, I made world-building notes here and there over the next decade, telling myself I’d write it when I found the time.

COVID hit, and I started having panic attacks after reluctantly shuttering the photography business I’d nurtured for so long. On top of that stress, I feared that I or someone I loved would catch this mysterious illness, or we wouldn’t have enough groceries… or toilet paper!

The movie nights, jigsaw puzzles, and six-feet-apart jogs with friends didn’t begin to fill the hours I typically spent running my business. My preteen/teen children didn’t require and weren’t interested in constant supervision. A few weeks in, I joked with my husband about “finally writing that novel I always said I would.”

The next day, I was in the middle of a Photoshop workshop on CreativeLive when the futility hit me. I wouldn’t remember the complicated editing technique if and when I could reopen my photography business. On a whim, I searched their catalog for “how to write a novel.” The first course that popped up was “Wired for Story: How to Become a Story Genius” by Lisa Cron. I started it that day.

A week later, I had an outline for what would eventually become *Soulmatch*. Three months after that, I completed the first draft. I was hooked, enjoying the entire process from outline to edits. As a bibliophile who (until I began writing) digested over 100 novels per year, I loved my new superpower of crafting from scratch the type of story I enjoyed most - with savvy characters, witty dialogue, high-stakes action, and a heavy dose of romance. As far as themes go, I’ll never include torture or rape in my stories. If I don't want to read about it, I certainly don’t want to write about it. One (admittedly random) word I avoid is “palpable” because it always pops out to me, taking me out of the story. Yes, I see the humor in the word “palpable” being too palpable for my own use.

## Where do you write?

My photo editing spot doubles as my writing nook. I have a comfy high-back chair in the combined kitchen and living room that allows me to feel like I’m part of the family, even when I’m at work. Sometimes I escape to my bedroom when things get too loud or busy; but I spend most days sitting in that chair, my MacBook resting on a lap desk, typing away.

I use Dabble to organize my characters, plot, research, and to write my first draft. I edit in Google Docs because (as of writing this) Dabble doesn’t yet keep version history. I don’t want to delete a passage accidentally and lose it forever, which I’ve come horrifyingly close to in both Word and Dabble.

![](https://justincox.com/content/images/2025/03/Soulmatch---Cover.jpg)

Photo courtesy of Rebecca Danzenbaker

## When do you write?

I write best when I have hours of uninterrupted time, so I can fully immerse myself in the story. Before I begin, I close out as many to-dos as possible - paying bills, responding to emails, sending out photo galleries, etc. Writing is my reward for “taking care of business.”

When I first start a project, I’ll set a 15-20 minute timer and write in sprints, but once I’ve found my stride, I just write and write until I get hungry, thirsty, or am otherwise forced out of my chair. I become irrationally frustrated when I want to write but have to do something else, even if it’s a fun activity.

## Why do you write?

Writing isn’t so much a calling for me as it is entertainment. As my career history suggests, when I no longer find joy in my profession, I pivot to a new one (after a ton of research and planning). If I didn’t absolutely adore writing Soulmatch and the story it became, I wouldn’t have persisted through the many rejections and countless revisions required to get an agent and publisher.

The querying and submission process was mentally taxing, but whenever I considered giving up, my family encouraged and motivated me to stick with it, as did critique partners, beta readers, and friends who fell in love with *Soulmatch*. In the story, the main character achieves her goals through effort, perseverance, and the help of carefully curated teammates. When I look back now, I see the parallels between her journey and what would become my own, so I guess a character of my own creation inspired me as well!

## How do you overcome writer's block?

If I get writer’s block, it’s usually because my plot isn’t exciting enough to keep me invested. I revisit my outline and try to incorporate new obstacles to amp up the tension. If I’m stuck on how to do that, I do more research, brainstorm with a friend or in a notebook, take a shower, and/or go for a drive in silence. If all else fails, I start a new fifteen-minute timer and just type until the story takes hold again.

## Bonus: What do you enjoy doing when not writing?

Hiking, watching musical theater, listening to audiobooks while working on jigsaw puzzles (a pastime I continued after COVID), jogging/walking with friends (no longer 6-feet apart), and binging the latest teen dramas, romances, or sci-fi shows and movies.

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*My thanks to Rebecca Danzenbaker for today's interview.*