Today we’d like to introduce you to Deanna Dellia.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I’m a clinical psychotherapist, dark romance author, and podcast host.
I was an extremely quiet, introspective kid that dealt with a lot of trauma and abuse. This pushed me toward helping professions, and a deep desire to become the person I needed growing up. And after much schooling, practicum, and internships, I became a clinical psychotherapist. I now specialize in childhood and sexual trauma, using abstract healing approaches like Brainspotting and IFS.
The trauma and infliction for the dark things in life are also what drove me to writing. I was actually a playwriting & screenwriting major in undergrad. I also published poetry for a few years. Writing a whole book had never dawned on me until I had a dark night of the soul a few years ago, alone at 4am in my childhood home. I started some simple journaling in the notes app on my phone, and at some point, the perspective shifted from mine to a wealthy, depressed, alcoholic housewife’s with a whole world of secrets. And thus, my first main character emerged and Black Roses was born. It really was that simple. A dark night of the soul and a bunch of big feelings that I wanted to process. I’m big on the fact that all you need to write a meaningful story is a feeling you want to understand, and the bravery to explore it. There is nothing more healing than processing through the written word. I firmly believe that anyone can write a book. And everyone should. I now write trauma-informed dark romance, a space where heat meets healing. Every one of my books is meant to serve as a tool for processing and healing trauma.
I co-host a podcast with my bestie called Hot Girl Psychology. From the second we met, I knew Emahlea and I were kindred spirits, meant to find each other and change the world together. We started our podcast, Hot Girl Psychology a few months ago, kind of on a whim. And now, it’s become an entire community of girlies healing together. Our goal is to blend our clinical insight and raw, messy, personal experiences to help educate our girlies on topics like attachment, feminine energy, dating, healthy relationships, inner child healing, and so much more. At Hot Girl Psychology, we help you become the highest and hottest version of yourself.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Oh, it never is, is it? Creating a new genre of literature is not very chill thing to do. Creating something new means being misunderstood before you’re understood, being questioned before you’re celebrated, and believing in something long before anyone else buys it.
And learning the realities of the literary world hasn’t always been fun. Like the fact that publishers these days bank on authors having strong social media skills, and expect them to do all the work themselves while still getting their payout. Or that dark romance is an extremely controversial genre, let alone mixing in heavy mental health elements. Or the fact that the time you spend as an author is only about 30% writing, and 70% shamelessly slinging your book on social media, touring across the country for book events when all you want to do is watch Vampire Diaries in your warm bed, editing and re-editing until you think your eyes may bleed, networking with bookstores and other authors, and more marketing, marketing, marketing. It doesn’t always leave a lot of time for my fun little hobbies, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything. It’s definitely hard to balance being a full-time therapist and being a full-time author. And it’s also hard to balance my identity as a therapist and my identity as an artist. At times, I feel like I’m Hannah Montana, with an alter ego and each foot in a very different world from the other. I try to remind myself that the things that make me a good therapist are the same qualities that make me a good writer that readers connect with deeply. I’m still working on that, but my goal in life is to grow flowers in dark places. And I intend to do that every day, no matter what it takes. Creating trauma-informed dark romance has come with many obstacles, but you can’t pioneer a new path and expect it to feel like a well-lit sidewalk. Sometimes you’re the one carrying the match.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I’m a clinical psychotherapist and a published dark romance author. I treat complex trauma by day and I live it by night.
As a therapist, I’m known to use abstract approaches such as IFS and Brainspotting to help individuals and couples dive deep into their stories and rewrite them from a place of meaning. As a therapist, my motto is that you gotta feel in order to heal. And if there’s strength in healing, then there’s strength in feeling.
My passion for diving deep into the abyss of the human experience to help others swim to the surface is one of the many reasons I created a new genre of literature, trauma-informed dark romance. Where heat meets healing. I write books that are thrilling, provocative, poetic, and spicy, but ultimately, they are meant to be used as tools for processing and healing trauma. I want my readers to feel seen and heard when they open my books. And I want them to know that wherever they are, wherever they’ve been, they are not alone.
I use my expertise as a clinical psychotherapist and certified hot-mess-express to co-host a podcast called Hot Girl Psychology, where we believe that the darkest parts of your mind are the sexiest.
I also sing and make R&B music with my husband as a duo called The Luttrells.
So maybe we end on discussing what matters most to you and why?
I’m not sure if I was born to help people and make art, but I was certainly raised to. Trauma is funny like that. That’s what is most important to me, helping people and making art. I am someone who lives life by knowing and staying true to my core values, the things that matter the most to me and help me lead a life of meaning. Some of those values include: empathy, creativity, soul/depth, innovation, humanitarianism, softness, mindfulness, freedom, peace… okay I’ll stop there because I can go on all day.
Pricing:
- Confessions of a Sugar Baby: $18.65
- Black Roses: $21.65
Contact Info:
- Website: https://deannadellia.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/deannadellia/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@HotGirlPsychology
- TikTok: TikTok.com/therapyforartists | TikTok.com/darkromancedeannadellia | TikTok.com/thebooksommelier
