I'm it! Virtual author tag FTW!
Well this sure is fun! Rumer Haven "tagged" me to answer some questions about the way I write. Rumer is a fellow Omnific author -- her new book Seven for a Secret will be out this summer! It's one I am looking forward to -- 1920's Chicago, ghosts, and romance! Plus her website is gorgeous and fun to wander around.
WHAT AM I WORKING ON?
Glad you asked! On Easter weekend, I finally finished a good strong draft of Trouble Me, the sequel to Fix You. I let my writing group take a whack at it, and they gave me a TON of notes. The end of the same week, I started in on "real deal" edits for my next Omnific release, The Jeweler, with my editor Jessica, who (I tell everyone I run across and isn't afraid of me) is AMAZING. She is an unbelievable editor. Not even kidding. Then real life kicked in, too. My real life job revolves around school, and if you're a parent or an educator you know that the end of the school year is INSANE! Trouble Me is "resting" in a desk drawer (it's a virtual drawer, but you get the picture) until school's out and edits are done. The Jeweler proves to be a very entertaining edit. It's the story of Fender Barnes, a jeweler who doesn't believe in the one thing his whole business revolves around: marriage. He's cynical, he's jaded, but he's happy to sell an eager young guy an engagement ring for his fiancé to be. Except that the eager guy is hit by a car and killed. Fender, possessed by an odd moment of conscience, seeks out the girl who the ring was intended for. And when he meets her, he can't do it -- he can't tell her about the ring. Instead, he begins a long, ridiculous quest to find a way to tell her the truth, but he keeps falling more deeply for her as he does it. It is a ton of fun to write and hopefully will be a ton of fun to read, too!
HOW DOES MY WRITING DIFFER FROM OTHERS OF ITS GENRE?
I'm in the business of romance because I love, and believe, in love. I can testify to its transformative and life-saving powers. And I believe in happy endings. Is love always easy? Heck no. But it's completely and utterly worth it. That's why people keep falling in love over and over again.That's probably something I have in common with most folks who write romance. I don't write dirty, though, to many people's disappointment, and that's maybe different from what's hot right now. Here's my own admission: when I read a really steamy novel, I skim for the sex. I actually skip over most of the story, just looking for the juicy parts. I know. I'm a shallow reader. Bad girl! So, in my own version of logic, if I have a story that I want to tell, and I think it's worth reading and thinking about, I don't want all the Becks of the world skimming all the stuff I sweat blood and tears for just to get to the naughty bits. Use your imagination when I fade to black and stay focused on reading my book, you dirty girls! ;)
WHY DO I WRITE WHAT I DO?
Truth be told, I wonder how I would deal with things I see happening to people around me, so I decide to write about characters and see what might happen. The seeds of Fix You came from the sad fact that I've had two dear, dear friends of mine cope with the loss of a partner, and I wondered how someone goes on from there. What's next in a life after that? Also, I can't help but think of situations and wonder where they could go. The idea that a jeweler would fall in love with someone else's intended, that sounded fun to figure out what would happen next. Trouble Me, Fix You's sequel, started with an exploration of what fame would feel like from the inside out.
HOW DOES MY WRITING PROCESS WORK?
Ummm....one thing I do differently than some people, I don't write a novel in order. I write the scenes that come to me first, and see where they go later. I know it sounds like a bunch of mumbo jumbo, but scenes hatch. I woke up this morning with a full idea and a scene for a new novel. I think I may have dreams, but I don't remember them. Mostly scenes come to mind in the shower, or on walks, or lying in bed staring at the ceiling.I do end up with these wacky outlines, though, but it's usually after I've crossed over the 50 K mark. When I hit that, then I really know where the novel is going.YOU'RE IT! Okay, so now for the task of tagging four more people to take a crack at these questions: My Omnific bud Jennifer Lane. She's written the terrific Streamline and the awesome CONduct series. Buy them here. Another Omnific All-Star, Sarah Latchaw. Hydraulic Level Five rocks, and its sequel is coming soon.And yet another Omnific sister! Georgina Guthrie, author of the Words series. She rocks! Finally, an Omni alum: Emma Chase. She's writing like crazy, and the Tangled series is such fun. Now girls, if you're tagged, but you're buried in writing, you're off the hook, but otherwise, YOU'RE IT! ;)
picture courtesy gogo.com