Hello lovelies, this is a blog tour that I was invited to participate in by Ryan Jo Summers, author at Soul Mate Publishing. You can find Ryan here http://summersrye.wordpress.com/ I have some questions to answer, to talk to you about my writing process, which at the moment is a bit like the picture to the left - two steps forward and one step back. But, hey, let's crack on and get these questions answered. 1. What am I working on? Hmm, technically nothing at the moment, as I am not putting fingers to keyboard or palm to mouse. But I am plotting a lot and I have been reading lots of books on craft. Going back to basics. In fact, reading about conflict and characterisation suddenly came to life for me one night last week when watching "Power". Agreed, it's not everybody's cup of tea, and the subject matter and morality might offend some, but the way the characters were introduced, background story fed in through dialogue and action, inner and outer conflict developed and future plot turns drip fed, I was blown away. I couldn't stop thinking about it all day at work on Friday and thought it was so very, very well crafted. 2. How does my work differ from others in its genre? Haha, it's not written yet! I am the WORST at prevaricating constantly. I get ideas, get fired up but do things arse about face. I'll spend hours mocking up a cover and finding just the right photo for characters, and then come to a dead end. I would like to say I do something differently, so perhaps it is that I do it back to front, or try to do things from both ends and the bit in the middle - the actual writing - gets lost. Call me Dr Doolittle! 3. Why do I write what I do? To be honest, because of several people for several reasons. My mum taught me to read before I started school and I had a voracious appetite for books growing up. I loved Little Women, The Naughtiest Girl series, Mallory Towers, The Hobbit, The Chronicles of Narnia, The Enchanted Wood, and a lot of my mum's books from when she was a child growing up in the late 1950s. My mum also read a lot and when I was old enough - 11, maybe 12 - I was dispatched once a week to the library to choose four Mills & Boon books for my mum. She trusted me to choose, but I do not remember any instruction on what to look for. I just know that if I liked the cover, and the blurb on the back, particularly names, that's what she got. I got into writing the summer I was 15. My friend at school, and I will name names - Lisa Billard - always wanted to be a journalist and when she told me she was writing a novel, that was it. My competitive nature kicked in and that's what I spent the summer doing - writing story after story in many a notebook. That was the summer my parents lost me to my bedroom. I was obsessed, but I never finished a story. It wasn't until 2013 that I finished the novel that I hard started in 1994. Slowly slowly, catchy monkey! 4. How does my writing process work? In the early days, I just used to write whatever grabbed me, pen and paper. No plot, just writing to get the words down. I used to write for hours and hours, and think about my characters non-stop. Now, I have ideas. I forget them. They come back and I try to write them down. I'm a visual learner, and so I find a picture of my characters to inspire me. I make a mock cover. Then I do nothing for weeks on end and plot in my head. I am a panster who likes to plot endlessly. I want desperately to write, but at the end of the day, which is full of my day job, my family, life in general, it's not the most driving thing at the moment. I'm a writer in my imagination and I will get back to where I want to be. I can already hear a lot you thinking, if you really want it, you'd make time, but I'm not there right now. I learn every day, and I learn from you guys, so you keep writing. I'll keep reading and dreaming of the day when my writing process will be organised, real and from the heart. Now, it's on to another two awesome writers, Charlotte McFall and Elle Marlow, who will answer the same four questions on their writing process, and who will invite two more authors each to participate. Charlotte McFall lives in Sheffield, a mere stone's throw from the beautiful Peak District, where she enjoys long walks with her husband and beloved spaniel. She writes in her living room, surrounded by her family who are a never-ending source of inspiration for her stories. Check out Charlotte's blog http://www.wordenlightenment.blogspot.co.uk Find her on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/charlotte.mcfall.7 Tweet her on Twitter @chazmac76 Elle Marlow is a native born and raised Arizonan. She writes primarily western romances both historical and contemporary and often with humor. A mom of five wonderful kids, two amazing step kids and a feisty but perfect granddaughter. She is usually, cooking, cleaning, chasing kids or riding her horse around barrels. Married to the perfect cowboy to inspire her, it is easy to understand where she gets her many stories and inspiration. Of Irish/Shawnee decent. Native love stories are her favorite. Hoping one day Kevin Costner will put her on his team of writers for his next big epic. Visit Elle at her blog http://www.ellemarlow.blogspot.com. Find her on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/ellemarlow Tweet her on Twitter @ellemarlowwrite Thank you to Ryan Jo Summer for bringing me along on the blog tour. Don't forget to check out Ryan, Charlotte and Elle's blogs and books.
Take care, lovelies. Tx
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