My Writing Process - Blog Hop.

Today I'm taking part in the My Writing Process Blog Hop. Which is where authors talk a little about how they write. Thanks to fellow Choc-lit Author, Henriette Gyland, who invited me to follow her in the hop. Her post, featuring casinos, appeared on 10th February.  Here's the link - do check it out. 

Henri's blog

The 'Writing Process' questions:

1) What am I working on?

It isn't easy to decide on a WIP as I have several 'in development'. Which means in various states of chaotic planning. All of them are romantic suspense. There's the heist book, and the trilogy set on a Welsh island, for which I'm world building. And a couple of what I refer to as 'treasure hunt' books. Eventually one of those will shove the others out of the way and demand to be written, but until then, I'm at the research and staring into space part of the process. The WIP which I hope will be the next to be published is a novella and a little different from what I usually write as it's more of a romantic comedy than a romantic suspense. Funnily enough, it also features a casino - the one in San Remo, on the Italian Riviera.  It's a book I actually wrote some time ago, and it has taken a while to revamp it as I have learned a lot about writing and about the editing process since it was first completed.  It's nearly done - a final polish and it will be off to the Choc-lit Tasting Panel. Fingers crossed that they will like it. Before then there will be a short story as part of the Choc-lit anthology. Then it will be back to the romantic suspense. I fancy one of the treasure hunts at the moment, but I can be terribly fickle.  

2) How does my work differ from others of its genre?

Romantic suspense is not a well know genre in the UK. It's much better known in the States, so that makes my books a little different from the outset. It's a mix of thriller and romance where both elements get an equal share of the action. My books are set primarily in Europe, so that makes them different too, as most are set in America.

3) Why do I write what I do?

I experimented for a long time with a variety of different genres before I discovered the one I wanted to write, by way of reading some of the big American names, like Nora Roberts and Karen Rose. There are many, many novels and part novels in my filing cabinets. There are are years of work, sitting out there in the hall. Most of it is probably unpublishable, but I learned something from every manuscript, not least about what interested me as a writer.  It's just a pity that it took me such a long time to cotton on. But maybe it isn't - you're always learning, whatever you write. All my efforts at writing had a crime in them, even my enormous World War Two family saga, which featured a serial killer roaming the South Wales docks in the blackout. Gradually it dawned on me that I liked writing crime, but I still wanted the positive resolution that you get at the end of a romance. When I finally discovered the romantic suspense genre, I felt that I had come home. 

4) How does my writing process work?

As I've mentioned, I do a great deal of mental planning, before I start to write. I also doodle lists and plot points and time lines (I love time lines) on bits of paper - a process I have discovered has the posh name of mind mapping. I've always worked that way, ever since writing essays in school, reports at work and so on. I thought it was just me, messing about, doodling lists on bits of paper, with arrows round them ...

That's it from me. 

I'm passing the questions to Dave Sivers - who writes crime and fantasy novels and who I first met when we both attend the fabulous Crimefest in Bristol. I have Dave's  very successful police procedural The Scars Beneath the Soul in my TBR pile - if you can have one of those on a Kindle. So many books, so little time.

Dave introduces himself below.

Dave Sivers has been writing since primary school, and he spent much of his civil service career moonlighting as a freelance writer, to say nothing of spells as a bookmaker’s clerk and nightclub bouncer.  When he gave up the day job, he was able to devote more time to his writing.  Dave published his first contemporary crime novel, The Scars Beneath the Soul, set in Buckinghamshire and featuring detectives Archer and Baines, as a Kindle eBook in May 2013.  He has been delighted to see it feature in the top 20 in Amazon’s 'serial killers' bestseller list and is currently working on a sequel.  His other books include two hybrid 'crime fantasy' novels featuring the personal inquisitor Lowmar Dashiel

His blog link is 

Dave's blog

 and he will be talking about his writing process there on Monday 24th February. 

In a change from our usual programme ...

It's Valentine's day this Friday. I think you've probably noticed, with all the hearts and flowers in the shops. As writers of romance, the Choc-lit authors sometimes get a bit carried away on such a red letter day. To celebrate this year, we're doing a round robin story - that's like a game of consequences where one author writes a bit and then passes it on to the next. It started on Monday and will go on until Friday. Today it's Sue and tomorrow its me! So, to see what I've come up with, hop over to Chloe's Chick Lit Reviews
 http://chicklitchloe.blogspot.co.uk
and then follow the story to the conclusion with Isabelle on Book Girl of Mur-y- Castell.
http://books-forlife.blogspot.co.uk/

And talking of hops - I've been persuaded to take part in the My Writing Progress blog hop, where authors answer questions about their WIP. It takes place on a Monday, so next week's post will be on Monday 17th February. Drop in and see what I've chosen to talk about. I need to decide what exactly is my WIP by then.

A Robin for Valentine's day?

It probably hasn't escaped your notice that it's Valentine's day on Friday. And the authors of Choc-lit write romance - so, what did we do to celebrate?
The answer is a Robin. A round Robin - in which five of us formed a chain to write a story which will be appearing in instalments on some great book blogger sites every day this week. I'm told there will be questions and a give away too.
It's fun and a bit scary to get an e-mail with the other segments and then have to write your piece. I'm day 4 - and I have to thank Janet, Kathryn and Sue for setting up a smashing story for me to follow. When I saw it I decided it was my job to create the villain of the piece ... it's what I do, after all.
Here is the line up for the week.

Day 1 Monday  http://readinginthesunshine.wordpress.com/

Day 2 Tuesday  http://victorialovesbooks.wordpress.com/

Day 3 Wednesday  http://chicklitreviewsandnews.com/

Day 4 Thursday  http://chicklitchloe.blogspot.co.uk/

Day 5 Friday  http://books-forlife.blogspot.co.uk/


And if that's not enough there is currently a goodie give away on Shaz's blog
http://shazsbookboudoir.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/giveaway-win-choc-lit-goodie-bag-uk-only.html

And a whole list of Choc-lit books on Kindle special promo from Amazon - including Out of Sight Out of Mind.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Out-Sight-Mind-Choc-Lit-ebook/dp/B00B7RAQN6/ref=sr_1_cc_2?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1392029949&sr=1-2-catcorr&keywords=evonne+wareham

Have a fun Valentine week.

Waiting for the gas man

That's what I'm doing this morning. It's not as boring as it might be, because I'm talking to you, but still a chore to be got through. But - there are people who will do that for you - you have to hire them, of course, and I think it's probably a bit beyond my budget at the moment. But it hasn't stopped me writing about one. I wanted a heroine with a job that would take her into all sorts of different situations - for reasons of the plot. And so Cassie, who runs her own concierge service, was born. A concierge service is one that gets you things - like tickets for sold-out shows - does things - like waiting in for deliveries or collecting dry cleaning - or organises things - like house hunting and dinner parties. Cassie gets asked to do a job that doesn't appear on her usual list, which lands her on the Italian Riviera with an extremely hot guy. I'm sure real life concierge services don't have that happening too often, but hey - I'm a writer - I invent things.

The book is a novella and the current WIP. It's been a WIP for quite a while as it's a manuscript that I'd completed and put away when I didn't find it a good home. I've been rewriting and revising it and it's finally almost finished. It's just getting its final polish. Once that's done it will be going off to Choc-lit. If the Choc-lit tasting panel gives it the thumbs up, I hope it will be out as an e-book novella some time later this year. As it's something I did a while ago, it's a bit different from what I'm writing now. It's more of a rom/com, although it does have a crime in it and a mystery. It was fun to write and I still thought it was fun when I found it in the drawer and re-read it, and I've enjoyed revising it, putting in all the things I've learned about writing in the meantime. Fingers crossed the panel will like it too. In the meantime, I'm still waiting for the gas man.

Hang on, is that the door bell ...

Do what you love?

It's still January - just - so there is plenty of advice still knocking around about sticking to your New Year resolutions. And heaps of uplifting encouragement about work/life balance and doing what you love. I'm lucky, I have the choice of how I spend my time - mostly. Even so, the kitchen floor does not wash itself, the rubbish won't bag itself into Recycling and Other and the refrigerator persists in becoming empty and requiring refilling, particularly when I have been at home, working and eating things. 

Time to sit in the garden
 would be nice too
but not in this weather.

All this excitement aside, I have a different problem -I think it might be classed as a life/life one. How do you balance doing two things you love? Six months before I was offered my first book contract I had one of those now or never moments and signed on to study for my PhD - something that had been on the Bucket List, for decades. It's hard work, but I love it. Then, of course, my writing career finally happened and now I am a published author. And that's the balance. I have research and all that entails for my studies, but I also have all these stories buzzing around in my head. In my head is fine, but getting them out, writing them down, going through the process of edits and publication. Hah!

But I really love them both. So - I have to find a way of making time to do both. I'm working on it. I know what I need. I need a plan ...

Not quite blue ...

Actually I seem to have two moons here. I blame the camera. 

Apparently a blue moon is when there are two full moons in a month. It's not supposed to happen often, hence the expression 'Once in a blue moon.' January 2014 doesn't have a blue moon, but it does have two new moons.

 (I think March does too.)

The new moon is supposed to be a good time to make a start on things. So we get two chances to start over for the opening of 2014.

Sunset.
If you look closely, you might just spot the evening star.

I'm making a note of the stars, seasons and traditional festivals at the moment for a work that is not yet in progress but is hanging about in  my brain and generally making a nuisance of itself. I'm also making notes on the weather, and there is certainly a bit of that about lately. Part of the 'research' is taking pictures, so I'll remember what the moon, stars and sky looked like.


Today I thought I'd share a couple.

Drive my car?

I don't drive. I know how to drive. I've had lessons, just never passed my test. As I am ludicrously short sighted, this may be A Good Thing. Writing books, as I do, my characters occasionally need to use an automobile to make a journey from A to B. I know enough to get them there and I understand that a sat nav is now involved, rather than an old style map, and my delightful editors help out if the need arises. But don't ask me anything more about what my characters might be driving. It's got five wheels and it makes a noise. What more do I need to know?

Except ... for the WIP I decided that as the hero is seriously rich, he ought to have a Posh Car. Of course I've looked on the Internet for a few ideas. (What would we do without  it?)

But then I got to thinking - do I really need to see them in the flesh, as it were? So next I looked up local luxury car dealers.  I think a field trip is in the offing. Be afraid,  dear dealers, be very afraid. A writer of romantic suspense is about to descend on you.

I hope not to be apprehended as a suspicious character, hanging around luxury car dealerships in the Cardiff area. But if I am, all of you can vouch for me.

You know what to say.

It's research.