What the hell I’ve been doing lately. (AKA the Writing Process Blog Hop)
Thanks to my friend Jessica Russell, who was one of my very first writing partners for tagging me in the Writing Process Hop. She helped make Blood Vine richer with fabulous suggestions for deepening the characterization of Zoey, and I’ve learned so much from her. Her debut novel The Dressmaker’s Duke blew me away with its sensual, beautiful descriptions and lovable characters. And soon you can read it too!
I met Jess in an RWA forum where she posted a blurb for a book about a duke who repaired watches. Sending her an email to say I loved it turned out to be one of the best decisions in my writing career. You can hear about her latest WIP here:
http://jessrussellromance.com/
What am I working on?
I’m working on three things at once, a historical paranormal romance set in San Francisco, which I’ve been working on for a long, long time. It’s cool to have characters and critique partners pushing and demanding I make a book better and better. Thank the Goddess (the one in the book), I think it’s very nearly done! And I still owe my Blood Vine series readers a Pedro and Lucas short story which is outlined, but this other books has refused to let me go. I am thinking of calling that story “Blood Eternal,” and of drinking a lot of port while I write it, because I want it to be decadent, spicy, and very, very sweet!
Once that’s finished, I will start revisions on a contemporary romance starring two Episcopal priests—one of my writing friends called it “The Secret Lives of Priests” although I was thinking more “Sex in the City goes to Seminary,” for the series. That’s been fun to write, and I’ve worked with some new critique partners on the book, which has provided a chance to grow as a writer. I still have some major work to do on it before it’s done but I am very excited about that book!
How does my work differ from others of its genre?
This is an interesting question. I think my work is full of a bit more gray area and ambivalence than much of the romance genre. I like a character to be complicated, flawed, and sometimes even temporarily unsympathetic. So, for example, my contemporary WIP about the priests starts of with the premise that the otherwise very likable heroine told a harmless lie that had major, unexpected consequences. Most of my readers weren’t troubled, but one dear one was. And so now I have to consider whether I can make the heroine’s choice more sympathetic by going deeper into her experience, leave it as it is, or whether I should alter the premise of the book. This sort of gray area creativity is hard work, although it’s also hard work to write characters that are unique, interesting, and which fall easily into the heroic conventions of the genre.
If I found that easy, I might try it!
Why do I write what I do?
Very plainly, I write what interests me, about characters that interest me. I don’t start with a virtue or a theme, but just one idea and see where it takes me. I’ve tried to write issue-based, or thematic stories, but the characters and the worlds always take me in other directions. For me, themes emerge rather than inspire.
I also think my writing is infused with my world view, even though the worlds are sometimes paranormal. Wherever I find humor, meaning, and pleasure in real life—I take my readers to those places, those moments.
A few weeks (or was it months?) ago there was a kerfluffle on the Internet about that writer telling J.K. Rowling to stop publishing and give others a chance, and the primary question her essay left me with was this: Why would anyone want to read a book written by this this author, given what her essay has shown us about how she sees the world? (That is, as a place of scarce success, dog-eat-dog writers, and where adults shouldn’t read Harry Potter, although she never had.)
Sometimes I get blue, or stressed, but for the most part, I am completely in love with the universe and find nearly all of God’s creatures profoundly sympathetic, even the bad guys. If you want to live for a while in the head of someone who feels that way, you might like my books.
How does your writing process work?
It’s messy and manic and pretty compulsive, to be honest. I’m not much of a plotter, and prefer to learn things about my world and characters by writing, not planning. I’ve learned I can really only think about my writing by writing, not via spreadsheets or lists, although I like spreadsheets in other parts of my life 
My process in a nutshell: I draft, I do a quick revision, I ask for initial feedback, I revise, I ask for more feedback, I revise again. I also make use of text-to-speech for help editing my work. Listening to what I’ve written engages another part of my brain and allows me to multitask, which is unfortunately very necessary in my busy life as a mom of toddler twins, full-time priest, wife and writer.
I am most happy writing a new story, and right now I am a little nuts because I haven’t put any new words on the page for weeks as I polish this WIP!
Look out Pedro and Lucas!
And now, I’m tagging my friend Marlene Relja now to tell us about her writing process:
http://marlenerelja.com/marlenes-musings/
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