Tag, You're it! Blog Hop

**

**

So, I was just sittin' here chillin'... translation: having a momentary creative block... when I was tagged by the awesome Nancy S. Thompson, author of The Mistaken. This debut novel is currently sitting pretty at the #20 slot in the Vigilante Justice category on Amazon! So, go check her out! You won't be sorry!

So, this is the Tag, You're it! Blog Hop
(btw, I love these kinds of things so feel free to tag me anytime!)

This is an easy one, just answer 4 questions then tag 3 others.

1.What are you working on right now?

 

I have just finished the sequel to IN TOO DEEP which is called ON SOLID GROUND and will be out in less than a month (21 days to be exact). So, I have started my next novel which is a stand alone romance, at this moment it is titled SHIFT but who knows if that will stick. We will see.

 This new novel is proving to be a bit more difficult to plot than either of the others but I am so excited about it. I have yet to officially write a blurb, that usually comes much later - I'm only 26 pages in. And considering On Solid Ground was 400+ pages, I've got a while to think about that blurb. Basically, there's a college-age girl on a mission to fulfill a request of her that her mother left in her will. That request has her driving cross country from Chesapeake City, Maryland to San Fransisco, California....and that's all I'm going to say about it right now.


2. How does it differ from other work in its genre?

Well, since I am not that far in to the plotting of SHIFT, I will speak about IN TOO DEEP and ON SOLID GROUND since they are complete. I took on a tough subject as a means to get people talking about it since it rarely gets any attention. EMOTIONAL ABUSE. I've received "thank yous" from many women who loved the main character, Gracie, because they shared a common thread with her...someone they loved belittled them so systematically and underhandedly they didn't see what was happening until it was too late. And in some cases, years later, are still trying to come to terms with the fact they are a survivor of abuse.

Basically, IN TOO DEEP chronicles Gracie's relationship with bad boy Noah. And ON SOLID GROUND follows her through the necessary steps toward healing. Of course, there's a beautiful love story and two HOTT book boyfriends to keep you from finding the nearest Noah and punching him in the junk. There are thousands of women out there who are definitely TEAM GRACIE!


3. Why do you write?

This is such a funny question for me to answer because I was the student who did what she could to BS her way through all the term papers and projects that had a minimum page number. I was always in panic mode when a teacher would assign a 10+ page paper. Because I went to high school and college in the Stone Ages...you know, the late 80's, early 90's...I didn't have the option of making my font a smidge larger to fill more pages. Typewriters have ONE size letters. ONE.

I was an art major and spent 4 years after college teaching middle school and high school art. It was my dream job and I still keep in touch with my favorite students (who are now 30-something & married with children). But when two of my three children came along one right after the other, I hung up my smock and took on the role of stay-at-home mom. Those two are 15 and 16 now and we have an 8 year old and I'm still at home...momming.

If you ask me, "What are you thinking about right this minute?" you will get an earful. My husband has stopped asking because the descriptions he gets are so far from what his imagination is capable of it freaks him out. He no longer uses that question on long quiet car rides.

I wrote and illustrated children's books for 7 years. Submitting and collecting close to 200 rejection letters. (I do, however illustrate for an emergent reader company.) Everyone has always said I should write a book to use the whacked out imagination that wasn't getting used to its potential writing about talking otters and kids who painted rocks. I have adult ADHD so I never thought a novel was possible for me to focus on. And my mind would go back to those 10 page papers and the anxiety that went with them and I thought there was NO WAY IN HELL I could do that.

Well, I did and it's the best thing I've ever done. The stories and characters that have truly inhabited my brain for the last 43 years now have a place to go and when one story is out it makes room for the next! I love to write and no longer panic when I'm given a word count or page number minimum.


4. How does your writing process work.

HA! This is funny because technically, I don 't have an intricate process of outlines and sticky notes or anything methodical like that. Here's my process: I sit down. I write.

It truly is just that for me. I just write and don't stop until it's done. It just comes and I document what is going on in my mind. Sometimes it is happening in my mind at a faster speed than what my fingers can type. Sometimes I stop typing to quickly take notes of the part of the story my brain has already told. Now, at some point I will hand draw a calendar of the story's timeline and go back and fill it in so that if I refer to something I can timestamp it appropriately.

I wrote two full novels in less  than a year - my brain never shuts off. I will never be able to write all that's in my head in my lifetime.

Cool!
That was fun! Thanks, Nancy!!

Now, I have to tag 3 people...let's see...I'm gonna have to pick...

Rachel Brookes
Rebecca Shea
Stephanie Elliot

Go to it girls! Have fun!

PS...I'm not proofreading this...I wrote too much and I think my editor is probably busy! :)