Shifters, Dragons & Witches, Oh My #WritingProcess Blog Tour #amwriting

Hey, I was tagged by my friend, A. S. Fenichel to participate in this Writing Process Blog Hop. Each author answers questions about their work in progress and how they write. I thought this would be a great idea as I get a lot of questions about what I’m working on. I tagged Harlie Williams and Helena Harker. Check out their blogs for their posts on April 7, 2014. Without further ado, on to the questions.

What am I working on?

Right now I’m slowly working on four projects. I‘m writing a paranormal erotic romance featuring a shifter detective protecting a curvy witch even though, in their town, supernaturals don’t mix with each other. Ever.

I have another futuristic erotic romance in the works featuring a powerful dragon shifter. This one has been reworked three times with the same two main characters. I know they want to be together forever. I hope I got it right this time.

My goal every year is to enter a short story contest. I never make it as my work always starts to run long. This year I’m determined and the story is a third of the way finished and all planned.

Finally, for you fans of Enslaved in Desire and Battling Rapture, Guntar just told me he’s ready for his story. This one might take a while. I’ve met his lady love and she is extremely complicated. The story won’t unfold into an erotic romance so I’m still in the concept stage.

How does my work differ from others of its genre?

I literally have no idea. Right now, I’m writing sci-fi erotic romance, paranormal erotic romance and urban fantasy (under another name).  My characters are usually interracial (or interspecies *wink *wink). My leading ladies are for the most part, African-American. I hope that what I write is unique to me.

Why do I write what I do?

I read everything as a child and teen. At a certain age, I noticed my tastes running toward fantasy, and science fiction. I read and watched a ton of science fiction. In my late teens I discovered romance novels and a love affair was born. It just made sense to combine them all.

How does my writing process work?

I started out as someone who marinated over an idea, made a few notes, then began to write. This was joyful and creative, but I felt I could spend less time on revisions if I knew everything up front. Edits and revisions are my arch enemies and I hate them beyond reason. My teenager can tell you how I monologue against them before she’d tell me, “You can do it, Mom.”

So I researched how to become a plotter. Why did I do that? I had my shifter story blocked out to within an inch of its life. And I couldn’t write it. My mind felt, well, done with it. It was now boring because I knew everything. I suffered a gripping case of writer’s block for months.

Then I began to write by a small word count, forcing myself to push out a certain number of words each day. I even began to write an urban fantasy for my alter ego. I flipped back and forth between three stories. It got easier when I automatically changed a plot point in the shifter story. Suddenly I wasn’t tied to my outlines and timelines. I could use it as a guide. I learned a major lesson with that one.

I do keep information from intersecting stories in a notebook so that I can flip back to them when I am unsure of something. When I create a new animal I may sketch it out.

And that is my crazy process.

Thanks for stopping by. Feel free to comment or ask questions in the comments section. Here is a little more about the fabulous authors I’ve tagged. Check out their posts to find out what they are working on and how they write.

Harlie Williams is a reader of everything and a writer of romance. The story must have a HEA or she will put it down. A HFN can apply but it must make sense. She grew up in Dallas, TX and now lives in East Texas with her hero and their son.

 

Helena Harker is a teacher by day, writer by night, a daydreamer who loves to escape to other worlds. Her fiction is populated by strong men, passionate women and lots of paranormal creatures. In her free time she enjoys photography and curling up with a good book.