What I Do and Why I Write

Nicki Elson, an amazing and talented writer, my pub sister, and a very sweet gal, tagged me to answer the following four writerly questions. She's the lovely lady in the photo above. Nicki recently sold her latest novel to Swoon Romance, and it has the potential to be a two book deal, so be sure to hop over to her blog and congratulate her and to see her answers to these same questions.
And now please allow me to interview myself…
What am I working on?
I’ve been playing around with an edgy contemporary YA novel that is very different from anything I’ve written thus far. There are no witches or demons or faeries. Hell, there’s nothing paranormal in this one. That makes this new territory for me. I haven’t decided on a title, yet. I do know this one will be told in alternating points-of-view. I met Nikki—my seventeen-year-old protagonist—three or four years ago and I know the metaphorical demons she’s dealing with. I just recently met Sebastian. He was kind enough to pop into my thoughts to let me know what had been missing in Nikki’s story. Him. And well I’m still getting to know Bash—that’s what his friends call him—I’m excited about the book and I’m hoping to get in a good writing flow so that I can get the first draft done by the end of summer. Since I have approximately 6,000 words written to date, that might prove to be an ambitious goal.
How does my writing differ from others of its genre? 

Apparently, I have an unique writing style that draws readers into the story and keeps them turning the pages. Katie O’Sullivan called it breezy. I’m thrilled readers enjoy it.Another thing that makes my writing differ from others of its genre is that I don’t have love triangles. I do have romance. I’m a sucker for a good kissing scene, and I love to write them. But you won’t find my protagonist torn between two guys throughout two-thirds of the book.
Why do I write what I do?

I write paranormal novels because the unknown fascinates me. The possibility that there can be people who possess powers intrigues me. I enjoy reading up on different myths and lore and then putting my own twist on them to come up with unique characters and worlds. And I love being able to share my stories with readers.
How does my writing process work?
It starts with a snippet of a scene that invades my thoughts and stays with me. For Embrace it was a girl running through the halls at school. For Challenging Destiny is was a teen boy sitting in a parked car staring at a cold white building as he figured out how to rescue someone inside. I’ll keep seeing the scene until I ask myself who is this person and what the heck is he or she doing. The scene grows. I meet their friends. Usually, by the time I sit down to write the book, I have a good idea of what’s going to happen. I push my way through the first draft to get the story on paper. Once I’m in a good writing flow, I share chapters with my critique partners. Usually, these are the pages that need the most work. During my second pass, I add the detail needed to bring the scenes alive. My third and fourth passes are for flow and then grammar. Then I send my baby to my trusted readers; make additional tweaks based on their feedback. Whew! This is a long process, but we are almost there. One last read through and I’m ready to send it to my agent or editor. To keep myself from checking my inbox every few hours for a reply, I repeat the process.

Now I get to tag four writers to answer these same questions and give us insight into what they do and why they do it.  
Kym Brunner is not only a talented writer; she’s a good friend, one of my amazing critique partners, and a fellow DDYA member. She also has TWO novels coming out this summer.

Carol Oates is celebrating the release of Shades of Avalon, the second book in her Shades series. Carol's not only my pub sister, she's a fellow DDYA member, and the author of several books for teens and adults. 
My pub sister, Feather Stone, whose book, The Guardian's Wildchild, is getting great reviews.

Katie O'Sullivan, fellow DDYA memeber and my agency sister. Katie's celebrating the release of two books this year: Blood of a Mermaid, book to in her YA series, and My Kind of Crazy, I great NA romance.