Monday, March 3, 2014

A Writing Process Blog Tour!






Welcome to a blog tour where writers and authors answer questions about their writing process. My critique partner, the fabulously talented Evie Owens, posted hers last week, where she gives you the inside scoop on her journey and she tagged me to join the tour. Thanks, Evie Owens! And all I can say to you is, where the heck is Psychic Detective II? 

What am I working on?
I’m working on a book with a draft title of  Kiss Me Twice from that great old song “It’s Been a Long, Long time”. It’s a bit more suspenseful in the genre sense than my past few books, all about a college reunion, our heroine’s doubt about the identity of an old lover, and her mother’s struggles with Alzheimer’s disease. So it’s thematically all about memory, faulty and otherwise.


How does my work differ from others of its genre?
I would say broadly I write women’s fiction, stories about women and those they love, their families, their triumphs and bumps in the road. But I am unable to imagine a story without a little detour into some other genre, a touch of mystery here, a paranormal occurrence there, even a visit to a past time, a la the 1950’s. So I differ most in that I can’t do anything by the book! HA! No surprise to anyone who knows me.

Why do I write what I do?
I’m a firm believer that writers write because they must. And each individual writer chews on issues that are important to them, even subconsciously. I am always in some way writing about identity. And secrets. And the 'why' of that is my personal life, and that’s all I’ll share about that. For now.

How does your writing process work?
An idea comes calling, a little explosion of ‘what if’, triggered by an image, or a sentence, or a thought about something I’ve read or heard. The ending of the story leaps into my head. Always the ending first. Title next. Main characters issues begin to materialize. First 3 chapters take shape in a lump. Then I outline, plot, do structure overviews. Meet other characters. Think about it. Decide to throw the whole thing out. (HA, just kidding. But only a little.) Rewrite the first 3 chapters about 10 times. Start slogging through the rest. Thank all the good things in heaven that I have a wonderful, long term critique group that is supportive and constructive and brilliant. Even when I disagree with one of them, they school me every meeting on the good, bad and ugly of what I’m doing. Then, write every day until the sucker is done. Then rewrite it another 10 times. Not kidding.



And now it's my turn to tag some people! I've chosen three wonderful writers. One is my critique partner. The others are up and coming Soul Mate Publishing sister authors. Be sure and go check them out next Monday at the addresses below to find out their revelations of how they handle that “I have to write” thing.

Mary Blayney : A dear friend and critique partner for over fifteen years, Mary is a New York Times best selling writer of the Pennistan family series of Regencies from Bantam books,  as well as  wonderful and compelling Contemporary romances.  http://maryblayney.com/

Elizabeth Janette, author of Redemption For Liars , is a fellow Soul Mate Publishing sister, who writes “Romantic suspense to die for”. http://www.elizabethjanette.com/

Patricia Patterson, a poet and writer, will see her debut novel, Crushed Circle, published by  Soul Mate Publishing in the summer of 2014.