My Writing Process

Today I’m taking part in a Writing Process Blog Hop. It’s all about writers, authors, and what makes them tick. Last week, Kim Handysides told us all about her writing process. Feel free to stop by her blog and check it out.

What am I working on?

I have two things in the works right now. The first is an untitled novella in the Felony Romance series which I plan to release this year. It is a prequel to Vindicated, which will also be released this year. I didn’t really plan to write the prequel/novella, but I think it adds to the series as a whole, and – well – I’m enjoying it, so why not? That’s the beauty of being a writer. The only limit to what you can do is your imagination. I hope the fans of Intoxicated will enjoy it, too.

How does my work differ from others of its genre?

I love reading new adult contemporary romance, but most of the stories I’ve read deal with handsome billionaires and beautiful young women. As much as I’ve enjoyed all the books I’ve read, the premises seem unrealistic. After all, there are only so many billionaires in the world and most of them aren’t accessible to us common folk. My goal is to write hot, interesting romance that deals with real people and their everyday problems. I like my heroes and heroines to be imperfect and conflicted, someone who might live next door or shop at the same grocery as you.

Why do I write what I do?

This is a difficult question. Someone once told me to write what you know, and that’s what I do. I write about the bars that I’ve visited, the kinds of people that I’ve met there, and the interesting stories that they’ve told me over the years. Of course, all of my characters are fictional and the plot lines are figments of my very fertile imagination. I’ve taken great liberties with the truth and embellished it to make it interesting. Every now and then, one of my friends will read my stories and say, “That sounds like something we might’ve done.”

How does your writing process work?

I have a very disorganized and crazy writing process. I usually start with an idea based on bits of dialogue or an emotion and write a scene around that. I keep writing scenes as they come to me until I have enough to make a book. Then I take all the bits and pieces that I’ve written and put them in some kind of coherent order. After that I weave the pieces together with pertinent bits of information. I like to think of it like literary lasagna with layer after layer of depth and character added to it. I continue to take classes about plotting and outlining to strengthen my skill in that area and to streamline my hectic process.

I love to write early in the morning or late at night. I read somewhere that the best ideas come when we’re closest to sleep or dreaming and it seems to be true for me. I find that my mind becomes cluttered during the day with mundane things like bills and groceries and my day job.

Well, now you’ve had a peak into my writing process. I hope you’ll take a minute to stop by the next two people on this tour, Lanora Mangano and Fiona Riplee  They will be blogging about their writing processes next Monday, May 26^th.