My Writing Process

Albert Anker's painting courtesy of Wikimedia

My writer friend, Antonia van Zandt has tagged me to participate in this writer's blog. "Just answer a few questions about writing," she said. "How hard can it be?" I think I'm about to find out. Anyhow, here goes

1. What am I working on? 

As usual, I have about ten partially finished manuscripts on my computer. I've just completed the fourth part of my Anton and Lenora historical series, a novella tentatively called Willow and it's sitting fallow at the moment until I pick it up again for a good going over. Next up is a romantic comedy about a soap star of a certain age whose character has been killed off. Georgette, the main character, is very dramatic and she's been after me to finish her story. Beyond that, I have two more novellas to write for Anton and Lenora before I bring their adventures to a finish, a more serious novel about a red cross worker who goes to Afghanistan, and a book about ski racing that features Creech, a secondary character in Dancing in the White Room. I'm also playing with a kind of magical realism story called "The Orchard". There's more, but those ought to keep me busy for the next decade or so. :)

2. How does my work differ from others in its genre?

I write across several genres, including historical, women's fiction, and romance. All of them are character driven, I believe that strong and interesting characters are at the heart of any good story. I also pay a lot of attention to things like tone and metaphor, description and emotional resonance. I think this is because my love of words began with poetry--and you'll find some of those 'poetic' elements in my work. 

3. Why do I write what I do?

I write romance because I love love. I'm a romantic at heart. Women's fiction comes out of a love of the genre, I like stories about strong women who overcome, and more often than not, these are the characters I write about.

4. How does my writing process work? 

The most unusual thing about how I write, I guess, is that I write all my first drafts out long hand. It's not the most efficient way to work, but there are a couple of key advantages. First off, there's something to the physical act of writing that connects me to the page and helps me get the tone and feel of my characters and their stories. And secondly, it forces me to rewrite every word into the computer, so that, when I have a 'computer draft' finished, it's in better shape than it would be if I wrote directly to my lap top. 

As Part of this hop, I've tagged three more writers. The fab three I've tagged are 'housemates' of sorts, they, like me, are authors who have been published by Champagne Books. I hope you'll check them out, as well as the other great books over at Champagne.

Elizabeth Fountain left a demanding job as a university administrator in Seattle to move to the small town of Ellensburg, Washington, and pursue her dream of writing novels.  She started writing in grade school; fortunately, most of her tortured high school poetry and song lyrics are lost to posterity. Her first book, An Alien’s Guide to World Domination, is a tale of people, aliens, and dogs who face the impossible, and do it anyway.  Now Liz has three more novels in progress, including You, Jane, which will be published by Champagne Book Group in June, 2014. She takes breaks from writing to teach university courses, spend time with family and friends, and take long walks while leaning into the diabolical Kittitas Valley wind. Liz strives to live according to a line from British singer-songwriter Chris Rea: “Every day, good luck comes in the strangest of ways.” Read more of her work atlizfountain.wordpress.com

Buy links:

Amazon - http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B00B0I5RM2

BURST! - http://burstbooks.ca/manufacturer.php?id_manufacturer=28

Kenneth D. Schultz is the author of the science fiction novel Truth-Teller Rebellion and its sequel, Truth-Teller Revenge, which has a November release date. Since childhood Ken’s loved writing and science. After a successful career in finance, he started to write again. Now he brings characters and worlds to life on a daily basis. Ken lives in the quaint fishing village of Poulsbo, on Washington State’s Olympic Peninsula with his wife Teresa, Vizsla Ruby, and Pomeranian emergency back-up dog Otto.

He  blogs at www.kennethdschultz.wordpress.com

Stephanie Joyce Cole lived for decades in Alaska.  She and her husband recently relocated to Seattle, where they reside with a predatory but lovable tailless Manx cat named Bruno. Stephanie has an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Alaska, Anchorage. When she's not writing, she's hiking, creating ceramics, practicing yoga, traveling, volunteering and discovering new ways to have fun--and oh yes, reading, reading, reading. 

Find her at her website--www.stephaniejoycecole.com
And her blog-http://www.stephaniejoycecole.com/blog

Her book, Compass North can be purchased at Amazon  


On a side note, The All Things Returned blog tour starts today with a spotlight at Melissa Keir's blog

Valentine's Blog Hop #CBG

Have you bought your chocolates yet? It's nearly Valentine's Day. In celebration, I'm blog hopping with some other great authors.
It's a big week for me--I have a new book releasing on Tuesday. The book, Dancing in the White Room, is about skiing and love. What could be better for a big heart winter celebration?

Dancing in the white room is slang for skiing or boarding in deep powder snow. The dancer is PD Bell, one of the best extreme skiers on the planet. Mallory Prescott, the woman who lives with him and loves him, is used to Bell’s exploits. A patrol woman at Whiteface Mountain near Lake Placid, New York, Mallory is no stranger to risk. But this time Bell is taking on the West Rib of Denali, highest and most dangerous mountain in North America. It’s a descent that has never been done, though it’s been tried. Five years ago, Bell had tried it. The attempt nearly killed him. Five years ago, he promised Mallory he wouldn’t try it again.

     Over the six weeks in which he’s gone, Mallory begins to question her relationship with Bell. Does he really love her? Is he in it for the duration? What has loving him cost her?  Mallory’s life choices are thrown into stark relief when her daughter Emily takes a terrible fall. Together with her life-long friend Creech Creches, she must work her way through a maze of uncharted territory at a hospital miles from home.

            Dancing in the White Room is the story of the love we keep, the price we pay for that love, and the forgiveness it takes to hold on to what is precious.

I'll have more updates and some sneak peeks at Dancing later this week. Meanwhile, leave me a comment for a chance to win any one of my books you choose. 

There's more fun and prizes at all the stops below. And a GREAT GRAND PRIZE of a Kindle Paperweight e-reader loaded down with books, including the first two novellas of my Anton and Lenora Series:

Did I mention the kindle is chock full of books? Here's a list of all the titles:

J.A. Garland Books: INSTINCT, Dysus Dreamer

Celia Breslin: Haven

Pippa Jay: Gethyon

Mimi Sebastian: The Necromancer’s Seduction

Cecilia Dominic: The Mountain’s Shadow

Jude Johnson: Save the Last Dance Trilogy

Isabella Norse: Assassin’s Heart

Dani Harper: First Bite, Storm Warrior

Rita Bay: The Aegis, Into the Lyons Den

Allison Knight: Lynbrook’s Lady, Betrayed Bride

Joyce Proell: A Deadly Truth

Holly Hunt: The Devil’s Wife, Scale & Feather

Ceci Giltenan: Highland Solution

Ute Carbone: To the Wind, Sweet Lenora

Cassiel Knight: Blood on the Moon, Key of Solomon

Audra Middleton: Hitchhiker

Morgan Wyatt: Dangerous Curves, Escaping West

Angela Kay Austin: Rumer

Liz Crowe: Floor Time, Sweat Equity, Closing Costs

January Bain: Forever Man, Forever Woman, Forever Clan

Susan Frances: The King Maker

Linda Rettstatt: In The Spirit, A Falling Star

Graeme Brown The Pact

Dani Collins: The Healer

Stop by at The Valentine's Day Blog Hop Home Page for your chance to enter. And be sure to check out all the other hop stops, too, for chances at more prizes and fun!