My Writing Process - Blog Hop

I was tagged on the Writing Process blog hop by Maris Soule. Here is a bit about Maris, one of my Mid-Michigan Romance Writers of America chapter-mates.

Maris Soule was born and raised in California. She was working on a masters in art history when she met a red-head with blue eyes who talked her into moving to Michigan–for just a couple of years. She’s still married to that man and still lives in Michigan (though she migrates to Florida in the winter).

Maris has had 25 romances published by Harlequin, Silhouette, and Bantam (she’s a 2 time RITA finalists) and 2 mysteries published by Five Star. (Her P.J. Benson mysteries or “Crows” series.) In addition to writing mysteries, Maris has been putting some of her early romances out as e-books, and she recently signed a contract with Robert Hale Ltd. for a suspense about a woman in her 70s with a deadly past.

Every Wednesday Maris writes a blog that generally deals with writing.

You can find Maris here:
Website | Blog |  Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads



And Now For My Part...

What am I working on?
I'm actually working on a couple of things. Worth The Price, book 5 in the Worth series. Plus, I'm also working on a New Adult trilogy, starting with In Too Deep. The trilogy will tell the story of three college freshman roommates and their various romances. I love the late/post-teen angst of these stories. I'm hoping to have both out this summer.

How does my work differ from others of its genre?
I've been told my characters are a bit more real-to-life than some contemporary romances. I don't know if that's true, but I tend to write more beta males than the typical alpha males we've come to see (and love!) in our romances. (Petey Ryan withstanding!)

Why do I write what I do?
Plain and simple...I'm a sucker for a happily-ever-after ending.

How does my writing process work?
As far as writing time, it varies. I try to write in the morning before heading to the day job. I can only do that for a while before I start getting really crabby, so then it shifts to evenings. The good news is, as of April 7, I'll be writing full time, so the early mornings and late nights of writing may even out a little bit.

And, as to process, I lean to the plotter side of writing. I do a very rough outline, but it's not in stone, and really only hits the character arc points. How to get those characters to those growth points...well, that's the stuff that makes me crabby at 5:30 a.m.