Blog Hop!

My Golden Gate ACFW chapter mate Sydney Avey asked me to participate this time. Sydney has a great blog here.

She has a series on Writing California in which she interviews various authors who write with a California setting. Her latest book is The Sheep Walker's Daughter:

"Three generations, four women, a history of family secrets will be reveal when Dee finds a postcard that says "Lost sheep may be recovered. Lost time cannot."

And now for my writing process interview:

1. What are you working on right now?

At the moment I have turned in my content edits for the prequel book in the Harte’s Peak series (title TBD, but probably Beginnings in Harte’s Peak),and while I wait for the copy edits (we’re way ahead of schedule because thankfully this book didn’t need as many revisions) I’m working on something entirely new. This one is a contemporary romance set in wine country, and is the second in a series as well. A retired baseball pitcher buys a vineyard and tries to hire a woman from his past to run it. The problem is this woman had every intention of buying the vineyard herself, until the ball player plunked down cash for it. Now she has to decide if she wants to work for the man, or wait until he fails. Decisions, decisions.

2. How does your work differ from others of its genre?

As authors we are always cultivating our own "voice". It's a mixture of syntax, emotional depth and delivery. I think and hope that I now have my own voice which is a mixture of humor and emotion. But this is something I'll forever be perfecting.

3. Why do you write what you do?

(Below, Jack naps while I work. It's a rough life, he wants you to know.)

I love stories about real people – people who love are gloriously flawed but know how to love. Though I find mysteries and thrillers engaging I know I could never write them. I like to write from a happy place, even as I put my characters through the emotional ringer. Humor is important to me and I love to make myself laugh as I write. (As long as it isn’t the love scene.)

4. How does your writing process work?

I’m excited to announce I have a new process! I’m officially a plotser now because I begin with knowing what my inciting event will be, and the first turning point. I have a good feel for the hero and heroine, and their pasts (especially if they have some sort of shared past). The subplots I allow to reveal themselves to me as I write the first draft. I’ve got a firm grasp of the setting and the character Arc that each of them will have.

My new process is going to involve writing the first draft of Act I and then reviewing it to make sure all of the points are covered and I’m not missing anything. I hope this will reduce on revisions once I’m done. It’s also going to give me a good outline to follow. Anyway, I’m going to try it and see how it works.