We’re not scared. With a pen in our hand and post-its too ….

Something slightly different on my blog this week. I was very excited to be invited to join my fellow Write Romantic, Rachael Thomas, on to join The Blog Tour. Her debut novel, A Deal Before the Alter (HMB), will be available later this year and I can’t wait to read it and follow her journey as she fulfils her dreams. Find out more about Rachael at http://rachael-thomas.blogspot.co.uk/

So, what I have to do is answer a series of questions and nominate three other writers to do the same. We’ll start with the three questions:

My Writing Process

What am I working on?

I am about one third of the way through my third novel, ‘Discovering David’. It’s the final book in a trilogy. Book 1, ‘Searching for Steven’ went through the RNA’s New Writers Scheme in 2012 and 2013 and is now out there fluttering its eyelashes and hoping to secure a publishing deal. Book 2, ‘Getting Over Gary’ was submitted to the NWS 5 weeks ago and I’m anxiously awaiting the verdict. Book 3 has been planned but I’m in the first stage writing process. The trilogy follows Sarah and her two friends Elise and Clare and explores the core theme of love but also the theme of friendship and how this can shift over time and circumstances. Book 1 is essentially Sarah’s story, book 2 is Elise’s and book 3 is Clare’s. However, each picks up where the other leaves off and becomes multi point-of-view to do that.

How does my story differ from others of its genre?

Most novels in my genre (romantic comedy) are one-offs. There are exceptions but the majority are stand-alone so I feel a trilogy is fairly unique. I also have further books in a series planned in that they will be set in the same place (fictional North Yorkshire seaside town Whitsborough Bay) but feature different characters … although the original cast may have cameo appearances!

‘Searching for Steven’ was also inspired by a real-life event which I think makes it pretty special too.

Why do I write?

I couldn’t not write. I have so many ideas and have always loved putting pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard). My favourite tasks at work are always ones that require writing. I think it’s just part of me.

How does my writing process work?

My writing time is typically on an evening after my 7-year-old daughter has gone to bed and lunch breaks at work although 45 mins isn’t long to eat and write! ‘Searching for Steven’ was a massive learning process. I knew roughly what the story was, I knew the characters but I had no plan of how to get from start to end. Result? Ten years of work! I wasn’t going to put myself through that again. Book 2 was completely different. I planned out every chapter (about an A5 page per chapter), chartered it on a weekly planner to ensure I’d captured the days of the week, months and seasons correctly, and then wrote. Helped by doing NaNoWriMo in November last year, I completed book 2 in 7 months. Slightly different to the 10 years for book 1!

I’m hoping that April will see good news about Steven. Please!!!!

Next week, the following authors will be participating.

Helen Phifer, a fellow member of The Write Romantics and member of the RNA. Helen’s brilliant debut novel, ‘The Ghost House’ was published by Carina in October 2013 and her second novel, ‘The Secrets of the Shadows’ is out next week (and I can’t wait to read it). Visit Helen’s blog at: http://helenphifer.wordpress.com/

Alex Weston, also a fellow Write Romantic and NWS member will be tackling the blog tour on her Facebook page (thanks Alex) at https://www.facebook.com/alexwestonwrites?fref=ts

Sharon Booth, fellow NWS member (who, like Alex, kindly let me beta read her debut novel) will talk about her experiences at http://sharonbooth23.wordpress.com/

 

Thanks for reading!