My Writing Process: A Blog Tour
The lovely Sam Mariano invited me to take part in this blog tour! Whee!
"So, what is The Writing Process Blog Tour? Each author who is invited to participate in the blog tour answers four questions about their writing process. The author then introduces three other authors. The idea is to help readers discover other authors that they may not have known about otherwise."
What am I working on?
I just finished Bound to Accept, which is slated to be released this Thursday. I'm currently working on its sequel, Bound to Be Satisfied (as well as Rebound, a fun little novella from the male MC's POV), and Crowned by Fire, book #3 in my Shadow Thane series.
How does my book differ from others in its genre?
I do my best to avoid stereotypes. Maybe not ALL stereotypes, but certainly the most prevalent and annoying ones. I try to minimize slut-shaming, include characters of a variety of ethnicities and sexualities, and basically write as true-to-life as possible. I don't always succeed, but I think I'm improving with every book I write thanks to feedback from my amazing reviewers.
Why do I write what I write?
My friends say it's my dark side screaming to get out.
How does my writing process work?
Lots of agonizing and frustration. I'm a perfectionist, and sometimes I won't be able to write for weeks--even months--because the self-hatred is so strong. "Why bother writing?" I ask myself. "You suck at writing, and you will always suck at writing, so go fuck yourself, you sucky suckton."
When I inevitably come crawling back to the keyboard (because I am a masochist, in addition to a perfectionist), I try to tell the story the best way I know how: getting it all out, even if it doesn't make sense. My first draft is like a very detailed outline. Then I rewrite each chapter 3-4 times individually before putting it all together and rewriting the whole story 3-4 times as a whole.
I can easily sit down and write for twelve hours straight if nobody interrupts me. Sometimes I forget to eat, drink, or sleep, and I've made myself sick from this in the past. Writing isn't so much a hobby for me as it is an all-consuming obsession. I don't think I could ever be happy if I wasn't writing something, anything. I need it like I need oxygen. If I could do this professionally, it would be a dream come true.
"So, what is The Writing Process Blog Tour? Each author who is invited to participate in the blog tour answers four questions about their writing process. The author then introduces three other authors. The idea is to help readers discover other authors that they may not have known about otherwise."
What am I working on?
I just finished Bound to Accept, which is slated to be released this Thursday. I'm currently working on its sequel, Bound to Be Satisfied (as well as Rebound, a fun little novella from the male MC's POV), and Crowned by Fire, book #3 in my Shadow Thane series.
How does my book differ from others in its genre?
I do my best to avoid stereotypes. Maybe not ALL stereotypes, but certainly the most prevalent and annoying ones. I try to minimize slut-shaming, include characters of a variety of ethnicities and sexualities, and basically write as true-to-life as possible. I don't always succeed, but I think I'm improving with every book I write thanks to feedback from my amazing reviewers.
Why do I write what I write?
My friends say it's my dark side screaming to get out.
How does my writing process work?
Lots of agonizing and frustration. I'm a perfectionist, and sometimes I won't be able to write for weeks--even months--because the self-hatred is so strong. "Why bother writing?" I ask myself. "You suck at writing, and you will always suck at writing, so go fuck yourself, you sucky suckton."
When I inevitably come crawling back to the keyboard (because I am a masochist, in addition to a perfectionist), I try to tell the story the best way I know how: getting it all out, even if it doesn't make sense. My first draft is like a very detailed outline. Then I rewrite each chapter 3-4 times individually before putting it all together and rewriting the whole story 3-4 times as a whole.
I can easily sit down and write for twelve hours straight if nobody interrupts me. Sometimes I forget to eat, drink, or sleep, and I've made myself sick from this in the past. Writing isn't so much a hobby for me as it is an all-consuming obsession. I don't think I could ever be happy if I wasn't writing something, anything. I need it like I need oxygen. If I could do this professionally, it would be a dream come true.
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<3That's very sweet of you, Heather. I think you're pretty great too. (I still have your books on my reader--going to start the vamp one pretty soon because...vampires! :D)
I try to think of it this way: if you think you're a good writer, you're pretty much admitting to yourself that you *think* you have few/no flaws to fix. If you hate everything you write, you will constantly be striving for improvement.
(Also, I have a theory that bad reviews don't bother people who hate their own books as much as they do people who love their books--chiefly because, well, you're pretty much telling the writer what they already know: that their book sucks! LOL)
Heather wrote: ""Why bother writing?" I ask myself. "You suck at writing, and you will always suck at writing, so go fuck yourself, you sucky suckton."OMG, I can relate to this so much. *hugs*
P.S. I think you'..."
I agree with Heather, relating to that comment... Super valid!
The hardest part of writing is learning to stop telling yourself "go fuck yourself," and learning to let others do it for you instead. :)
Yeah, that makes sense. Sometimes I think I'm good, and other times I think I'm horrible. I'm like that with pretty much every aspect of myself. I don't know if that makes me a narcissist or what. *shrugs*P.S. My other two books ... they're both vampire books! XD
OK, well I have DARK-ADAPTED EYE and the new one waiting for me. :D
And yeah, sometimes I like what I write. It depends. I used to delete my work in fits of frustration as a teen and I really regret doing that because, man, I must have trashed about a million words of raw story that I would have liked to have reworked now. :|
Yeah, some of the ideas/thoughts I had as a teenager really impress me now! But some ... do not.I love/hate reworking. I get so involved in reworking parts of a book it takes me FOREVER to reach the end.
Cloak and Dagger and the Horrorscape tril were both written when I was a teen. They took a lot of revising to publish them now. I think they're better than they were, but I do honestly believe that they lack the maturity of my later works.
Nenia wrote: "Cloak and Dagger and the Horrorscape tril were both written when I was a teen. They took a lot of revising to publish them now. I think they're better than they were, but I do honestly believe that..."I think that can be said of basically any writer. I know my first book, even edited, is not the same as the stuff I write now. We evolve as writers, so obviously the product will change.
The other thing is, finding the balance and not editing so much that you drain the flavor out of your story. I've seen that before, too, and it's a bummer. Overediting is a thing! (Although I think during editing, probably everyone despises their story, lol.)
OMG, I can relate to this so much. *hugs*
P.S. I think you're a pretty great writer, and I'm really looking forward to BOUND TO ACCEPT. :)