Here are some little known facts about my approach to writing and my quirks:

1. I can't read any books--not anything while I'm writing because I'm afraid I'll pick up the last author's voice I've read.
2. I'm an insomniac and write best between midnight and 4 am.
3. When I have an emotional scene in a book I'll often listen to music repeatedly. For instance, when writing the love scene in TORN I had Mandy Moore's "17" playing in the background for two straight days--even though the lyrics have nothing in common with the scene, the tune moved me emotionally.
4. I print everything I write. I never use handwriting.
5. I carry a pencil and paper with me EVERYWHERE I go when I'm in the middle of a book--even to the movie theater or a restaurant. I'll scribble notes in the dark if I have to and then decode them later.
6. I have to write everything out in pencil first (I never use pens) before I type the text into the computer.
7. I write in Hello Kitty notebooks.
8. My writing is usually character driven, meaning when a character starts talking to me I write out that scene--I have no idea at the time of where or if it will actually appear in the book. Hence cutting back my novel TORN from 1100 pages to 404!
9. I have a friend who is my first reader and everything--each scene or chapter--passes through him first for approval or changes.
10. I mostly write in bed.
11. I keep my computer printed writing drafts in schoolbook binders with numbered tabs separating chapters.
12. I never have an outline; the story just comes together in pieces.
13. I prefer to have a lot of scented candles on when I write. I'm probably Partylite's biggest customer!


Amber :)