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.
