Questions from my readers...

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One of the coolest things about awaiting your book release is the realization that someday soon you will have "readers" which translates loosely to "fans!" People who like the junk that floats around in my head. People who want to play with the made-up characters in my mind. That is so freaking cool!!

So, today I am answering questions from my readers.

Technically, I only have one reader. My editor extraordinaire. But my prospective readers have left questions on my facebook and I thought I would take some time to answer them.

And they READ my facebook, so maybe I'm not jumping the gun by calling them 'my readers.'

So, here goes:

What "told" you to write?! When you wrote your book, did it just flow freely or did you have to ponder about it often?! When and where did the idea come from?!? :) ~Stephanie

 

Well, since IN TOO DEEP is loosely based on my own experience with an abusive boyfriend, I guess the structure or the skeleton of the story has been with my for about 20 years. But because it is fiction, there were many parts I had to ponder or work out over a couple days. Some of the fictional pieces came completely out of nowhere and some of them were formed when I'd text my BFFs, "Hey, I need a ..... for when she .....! Tell me how you picture that happening."

 

What was your writing process from the beginning? When you knew you had an idea for a story how did you go about getting the story told? ~Jennie

 

I wrote about five chapters of IN TOO DEEP then walked away for a while to make sense of where the story was going. When I went back to it and jumped in where I left off I realized it wasn't a story I wanted sitting in a file cabinet for years before I finished it. So, I set myself strict goals and wrote at least 1,000 words without editing - just stream of consciousness writing. After I hit 50,000 words, the story wasn't finished but I went back in and edited. When that was done, I wrote the ending.

 

 Since your book is written from a personal experience, is there anything you would change about what happened? ~Myah

 

It's been fun making up scenes and conversations that I wish I would have had the nerve to entertain when I was fighting through my own heartache. I put Gracie in some similar situations to my own and in some cases I wrote into the story what I wish I had the nerve to do or say in the heat of the moment. But, much of the story is fiction so in a way, sometimes I feel like I did re-write history.

 

Do you have a particular time of day or place in or out of your home when/where you're most productive at writing? What gets your juices flowing? ~Denise

My most productive writing time is as soon as the last of my kids are on the bus. I grab my coffee and something to eat and sit at the kitchen table by our patio doors and start there. I have a beautiful studio my husband created for me a couple years ago but in the morning, when the house is quiet and I don't have to hide to get some private writing time, that's when I like to be at the table. Sometimes I start writing and the next thing I know my big kids are getting off the bus. That's when I know the scenes I wrote were good ones! :)

Thanks for your questions!
I love answering them! Feel free to leave questions on my facebook author page and I will periodically do Q&A style posts!

Peace.