Good morning, lovely readers!!
Today, I am taking part in the ongoing My Writing Process Tour - I was invited by the lovely Jenny Kane who shared her writing process last week. Authors are often asked how there books are created so this tour is a way of getting as many author's experiences and processes shared, as possible.
There are four set questions, so here come my answers!
1) What am I working on?
Right now, I am working on book three in my Victorian romance series with eKensington - book three is Monica's story. Monica is a secondary character in my upcoming release (The Temptation of Laura - out Feb 20th), and after my editor finished reading the story, he immediately asked if I would be interested in writing Monica's story…to which I gave a resounding "YES!!".
Monica is a star in Bath's theatre world and when her father is killed, she is forced to return to her family home - the only appealing part of this dreaded duty is she seeing Thomas again, the family's loyal and hardworking groom. What she doesn't take into account, is Thomas has changed as much as she has in the five years she's been away and is no longer the dutiful servant to the family, but a man with his own ambitions and desires. Ambitions and desires that sorely conflict with Monica's...
2) How does my work differ from others in the genre?
I write contemporary romance for Harlequin Superromance and Victorian romance for eKensington, both US publishers. I think my books are different in that all my characters are British and each story takes part in South West England. I love that my editors have allowed me to write about towns I know well (even if one has been given a fictitious name!) and I hope my books offer a certain amount of British authenticity to the genres.
3) Why do I write what I do?
I basically write what I love to read! I love romantic suspense, Victorian romance as well as historical murder mystery. I like exploring relationships most of all, but also love the drama a good villain can bring to a book! More often than not, I start planning my books as straight romance but by the time I'm half way through my chapter plan, a villain has made him or herself known and it turns into either romantic suspense or romance with a strong suspense element.
4) How does your writing process work?
I start each book with a premise - an idea or a real life event that inspires me. For my historicals, I like to explore a woman's issue of the time and how women fought to be heard in such a male dominated world. From the nugget of an idea, I write a very rough two to three page synopsis, working hard to establish the hero and heroine's goals, motivations and internal conflicts. I do the same for the villain.
Once I have a good hold on their GMCs - I write character sketches for each of the main characters which gives me background into why they think and feel the way they do today or when the story begins. The completed character sketches will then mean going back to my synopsis and tweaking it to include the new discoveries I've made.
Occasionally, I will write a chapter plan if the plot has several threads so that I can keep on track.
Once this preparation is done, I dive straight into the writing and will continue all the way through to The End without looking back.
The hard work comes in draft two, three, four…you get the idea. I love having the words on the page to play, cut and alter as I see fit. By the time I am ready for draft two, I know my characters inside out and the process is fun…but hard work.
That's it - my writing process!
Thanks for stopping by, if you want to learn more about some great authors and their processes, I have invited three of my friends to continue the tour. All three will be posting on their respective blogs next week (Feb 27th).
Aubrie Dionne is an author and flutist in New England. Her books have received the highest ratings from Romance Times Magazine, as well as Night Owl Reviews and Two Lips Reviews. Her books are published by Entangled Publishing, Harper Impulse, Astraea Press, Spencer Hill Press, Inkspell Publishing, and Lyrical Press. When she's not writing, Aubrie teaches flute and plays in orchestras.
Sharon Struth writes romance for the ageless at heart. Her debut novel, The Hourglass, is published by Etopia Press and 2013 finalist in the Chantelaine Awards for romantic fiction novels. Other writing credits include essays in several Chicken Soup for the Soul Books, the anthology A Cup of Comfort for New Mothers, Sasee Magazine and WritersWeekly.com. Her second novel, Share the Moon, is a finalist in the Unpublished Beacon Contest and Heart of the West Great Beginnings Contest. It is represented by Blue Ridge Literary Agency. For more on Sharon, please visitwww.sharonstruth.com.
I always enjoy hearing about the process others use. Thanks for sharing.
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