20% of Twice Tempted, writing processes, events, and more

Since you've been waiting - and waiting! - for the 20% of Twice Tempted to be posted, before I get to anything else, here it is. Hope you enjoy it!

Now, a brief recap of last weekend. I'm talking about the Southwest Florida Reading Festival, of course. What a lovely event! First, the volunteers and staff were so on top of things that I didn't even have a chance to get lost - and those of you who know me, know what a momentous statement that is. On Saturday, they had a staff member grab me almost as soon as I exited my car and they escorted me to the Hospitality area, then to my panel, and then to the signing. You could barely go ten feet without a helpful SWFR staffer asking if you needed anything. Major kudos to them for such a well-organized event!

I only have two photos from the event that aren't too blurry to be posted. We left NC in a hurry and I didn't take my camera, so my sister shot these from her cell phone. Here's one of the back of my head while signing books and the other is the readers waiting for their books to be signed by me or Kim:



Friday night was the dinner at the Ft Myers Royal Palm Yacht Club, where festival attendees and presenters could mingle, eat, and drink while watching a lovely West Coast sunset. My sister came with me since hubby was back at the East Coast hotel keeping our dogs from misbehaving, and we had such a fun time. Then the next day was the "Vampires, Witches and Demons, oh my!" panel with Kim Harrison. We had a great crowd where people asked lots of questions, which is my favorite type of panel, and although this wasn't my first panel with Kim, now I know that she and I approach writing in the exact opposite way. She writes detailed outlines for each book, even pre-writing the dialogue, and has sticky notes for scene order in chapters, character story boards, and more. I write in the "organic" way, which means when I start a book, I know the first scene, a couple major scenes in the middle, and how it will end, but everything in between comes to me as I write. I do have character story boards, but they're all in my head instead of neatly written out.  In fact, before I started writing Halfway to the Grave, I came across a writer who told me that sticky-note plotting, character boards, and complete outlines were absolutely necessary if I wanted to write a book. It scared me away from trying for years because I am not that organized with anything so I figured writing must not be for me.

Then, after I had that vivid dream that introduced me to Cat and Bones, I figured what the hell - I'd just sit down and write my way and see if I could finish a book. Not only did I finish that book, I finished three more before I even tried to get published.

The moral of this "Who's writing the right way?" story that both Kim and I stressed at the panel: All of us. Do your best writing when you extensively outline and create character boards, plot notes, and more? Then do it. Not the organized type and plotting everything in advance makes you bored with a story before you've even written it? Good news: You, too, can become a published author because the only "right" way is the way that gets you to complete the best book you can. Now, if you find that one method isn't working, then by all means, try the other (and since Kim is waaaay ahead on her deadlines, I might try a little more organization to see if it helps me to get ahead, too :)).



But enough about writing processes. Let's get to more events and appearances. This weekend, I'll be at the Virginia Festival of Books in Charlottesville, VA. I'm very excited to say that for this event (as they did with the SWFR Festival) my publisher is releasing Twice Tempted early, so if you're in the area, you can get it before it's officially out next Tuesday. Here's where you can find me this weekend:

Virginia Festival of Books

March 22nd 10:00am

Panel.  Falling Headphones Over Heels: New York Times bestselling author Jeaniene Frost and audiobook narrators Shannon Parks, Elizabeth Wiley and Anne Flosnik discuss how actors prepare for a project, the research involved, and what it’s like to read steamy scenes aloud.

March 23rd 2:00pm

Panel. Strange Brew: Paranormal authors “spell” out their secrets. Pamela Palmer (A Blood Seduction), Kim Harrison (Into The Woods), Jeaniene Frost (Once Burned), and Vicki Pettersson (The Taken) discuss do’s and don’ts of writing paranormal genre fiction. Location: CitySpace–Charlottesville Community Design Center.

Charlottesville, VA

 

Hosted by Fountain Book Store.

March 24th, 2:00 pm

Supernatural Sunday Spectacular with Kim Harrison, Vicki Pettersson, Pamela Palmer, and Jeaniene Frost.

Event location: Sam Miller’s restaurant

1212 East Cary Street

Richmond, Va 23219

 

Oh, and if you're not local to this event or the others on my schedule this month, I'm having a live Twitter chat with my audiobook narrator, Tavia Gilbert, on March 29th at 1pm Eastern time. Got a question/comment? Then please come out that day! You can find me on Twitter here and Tavia is here.

Okay, have to run now! Must say goodbye to family, pack, and get in one more good Italian meal while I'm in South Florida. I love my home in the NC mountains, but the Italian food there is not quite the same :).