Tess Quinn

Today, we have author Becca Simone joining us to talk about her writing career. Thank you for joining me today for my Writers on Writing series, Becca! Let’s get started.



What is your brainstorming process for a new book?



Now, to your question. It depends if I’m brainstorming a short story/novella or a full novel. For a short work, which is what I write as Becca Simone, I usually start with a premise. Then I figure out what types of characters would work with that premise. After I have my characters—I may just know their names and professions at this point—I figure out their GMC’s (goal, motivation and conflict). Then I write the first draft as quickly as I can. If anyone ever read one of my first drafts, they’d think I was a horrible writer. They’re just awful. Here are a few sentences from my WIP first draft so you can appreciate just how simplistic they are. “He walked up to the railing. The wind blew through his hair. The air was cold, but his temper was hot.” Basically, all I’m trying to do in the first draft is get the idea out of my head and onto the computer screen. I write down the basic actions, some emotions, some dialogue. That’s it. Really, really bad. It’s kind of stream-of-consciousness writing. Once I get to the end, I’ll know who the characters are and will go back to page one and rewrite completely. My first drafts are more like a glorified outline than a true first draft. All telling, very little showing. Then, to borrow from the brilliant Cherry Adair, I start “layering.” I layer in the setting, the emotion, the action, etc. until I have a readable first draft. Then I go back and do it again and again and again until it’s ready for my CPs to read.



Can you explain your typical work week day?



Basically, I just fit in writing whenever and wherever I can. I used to need at least two uninterrupted and quiet hours to write. Now that my kids are older and my husband works out of the house, I’ve learned to write with constant activity going on around me. When I’m in the middle of a steamy love scene though, I’d prefer to be alone. I should clarify that to say, “when I’m in the middle of WRITING a steamy love scene, I’d prefer to be alone.” LOL.



Tell us about when you made the decision to write.



I’ve wanted to be a writer since I read my first romance at age 11. Before that, I wanted to be Nancy Drew—that obviously didn’t work out, but maybe someday I’ll write a mystery… But back to your question. From the moment I read my first romance, a Harlequin, I knew that’s what I wanted to do. I loved how I felt while I was reading it and when it was done. I was really shy at the time, and loved imagining myself as the heroines in these books. As I got older, and was still pretty shy and not dating, I would imagine and write down detailed stories about the popular boys in my class being interested in me. My fantasies (rated PG at the time), had a beginning, middle and end. And they always starred ME as the heroine.  I set aside my writing aspirations until after the birth of my firstborn. By then, I had all these stories in my head, starring fictional heroines this time, that just had to get out.



What suggestions do you have for aspiring writers?



Write every day, whether you feel like it or not, whether your brain is working or not, whether the words are flowing or not. Sometimes, when forcing myself to write, I’ll type, “This is dumb, this is dumb, my characters are stupid, they’re not doing anything interesting, I have no idea what dumb thing they’re going to do next…” Then all of a sudden, it’ll hit me what comes next in the story. Sometimes, it’ll take just a paragraph or two of drivel, but I’ve been known to write 3-4 pages of total crap before my muse comes out of hiding.



My second piece of advice to aspiring writers: read voraciously. Read books you wouldn’t expect to enjoy. Read non-fiction. Read anything and everything you can get your hands on. But mostly, read in the genre you want to write in.



Last but not least, never give up. I wrote on and off for almost 15 years before I sold anything. It would have been so easy to give up in year 14, but then I’d have never been able to call myself a published author. You never know when you’ll get your break. It could be tomorrow, so don’t quit today.



Tell us about what you’re working on right now and what we can expect from you in the near future.



I’m working on two short stories and a novella. (As you’ve probably gathered, I never work on just one story at once. It’s probably the Gemini in me.) The first one is Mel’s story—she’s a secondary character from MIDNIGHT TREAT. She’s a nurse and the hero is her patient whom she thinks is temporarily disabled from an accident. But as this is an erotic romance, he’s obviously not too disabled. LOL. I’m also working on a story that’s based on the night I met my husband, except that our first date didn’t involve wild, passionate sex on the hood of his sports car. That was our second date… My novella is a Cinderella story about a shy heroine who wants to go back to her class reunion a more confident woman, so she asks a complete stranger to teach her the wilder side of life. I’m a very slow writer, so I have no idea when these stories will be ready for submission. Soon, I hope.



Great interview, Becca! Thank you so much for your great answers and responses! For those of you who would like to purchase Becca’s work, please visit The Wild Rose Press Website for more information. Until next week, everyone!

Becca Simone’s short story, MIDNIGHT TREAT, released September 18, from The Wild Rose Press. It’s her first published work of fiction and she can’t be more excited. Just don’t tell her mom!

Today, we have author Lynn Romaine visiting us to answer a few questions about her writing life. Welcome Lynn! Let’s dive right into the questions…



Thank you for joining me today for my Writer’s on Writing series!



What is your brainstorming process for a new book?



It starts as a story I work on at night before I go to sleep. I run one scene for a week or two and then add another scene and pretty soon I have a plot for a book. I usually start writing the next one as I’m finishing up the current one, adding chapters whenever I want a break from the editing. The title has to come first or very early on, as well as the characters names. Without those two things, I can’t proceed very far into the story.



Can you explain your typical work week day?



I am very lucky to do creative financing – I work at home doing p.r.n. medical transcription which means I can work as much as I want. I usually work four hours in the afternoon and write at night. I never write in the morning – not in the mood and can’t imagine how I’d get in the mood. Rarely but once in a while I may get up in the middle of the night, especially if I need to write a sex scene.



Tell us about when you made the decision to write.



I always dreamed of writing fiction (I wrote academic essays) but thought I had no stories in me, which is very funny since I’ve been telling myself stories since I was five to comfort myself; I just never wrote them down until seven years ago. I was in a course about intimacy and we were supposed to write down something we never told anyone—mine was that I wrote stories in my head. The seminar participants suggested I write it down. Within four months I had a whole book. A month later, I had a book contract with a small press.



What suggestions do you have for aspiring writers?



Write-write-write – treat it as something one masters over thousands of hours rather than a gift – and keep writing. But only if you love it. Take risks and submit even if you think the writing is no good. And finally, join a critique book.



Tell us about what you’re working on right now and what we can expect from you in the near future.



My third book, Long Run Home, comes out on September 18, 2009 – in a week, with The Wild Rose Press. I am also in the midst of contract discussion of the rewritten 1st book (I’m much better now with so many more hours of writing), my 2nd book is being submitted for recontracting and my fourth book, Night Noise, is being edited and I’m in the midst of querying agents. Finally, the fifth book, The Reckoner, based in Canada, is in the early stages (about 80 pages). And then, of course, there is marketing to do on Long Run Home. I’m setting up 10 book signings around five states and getting my PR materials ready.







What a great interview. Thanks again for joining us, Lynn! For those of you who would like to purchase Lynn’s work, please visit The Wild Rose Press Website. Stay tuned until next week!

Lynn’s Bio: I started writing fiction later than most in that some friends encouraged me to write after I shared my secret world of making up continuing stories in my mind since I have a little child – to keep my mind busy when I was afraid. Hence, while I’ve written quite a bit of nonfiction, I’ve been writing fiction only for seven years. I live in Bloomington Indiana, have a master’s degree in information science and have created an organization, Red Pants for the World, to promote and support young girls in difficult circumstances (especially Afghanistan) living created lives and pursuing their dreams.

This week on Writers on Writing, we have the K.M. Daughters. Thank you for joining me today for my Wednesday Writer’s Write series!



What is your brainstorming process for a new book?



Aside from actually writing each book, brainstorming is the lengthiest process phase for us. And the most fun. We accomplish this first phase of book creation entirely through conversations while in motion; we walk and talk. One sister lives on the east coast and the other resides in the Midwest. We write while apart, but we always brainstorm in person, just about anywhere. Our first book plot emerged while taking early morning walks around the huge perimeter of a hotel parking lot at one RWA national conference. Another took shape on vacation in Orlando. The idea for our first inspirational romance captured our imaginations on a pilgrimage in Bosnia Herzegovina! Have sneakers will brainstorm.



Central characters’ development comprises the first ingredient in the mix. Who are our heroine and hero, what do they look like, what do they do, what have they experienced before the story action opens. We envision life histories and lengthy back-stories, family relationships, prior romantic entanglements, which may or may not merit mention in the novel. This process forms the elements of internal conflicts for each character and predicates the external conflicts between the hero and heroine as the story opens.



What happens next? That question is posed a lot as we brainstorm the story line, consider twists, turns and the events that shape and threaten the romance. Now we’re concerned with the couple as a whole as the action proceeds. What role do secondary characters play in influencing outcomes? Depending on the sub-genre, are there villains at work, criminals to apprehend and tangible or intangible threats?



Once satisfied that we have a story to tell, we create a scene/chapter outline – sitting, thankfully, in one place. Depending on the place we may be scribbling on paper or typing on a laptop. This last phase of the brainstorming process can proceed rapidly or painfully slowly as we commit our ideas to paper. With the written word glaring at us, we’re forced to scrutinize prior conceptual discussion and develop a concrete map to guide the writing itself. We function as pure “plotters” now to facilitate team writing. Because once we have our outline, we divide the chapters evenly between us on an alternating basis. Then writing begins and we happily operate as “pantsers”.



Can you explain your typical work week day?



Wow what a loaded question! Since K.M. Daughters equals two women, we juggle two separate schedules around to squeeze in beloved author time. Neither of us writes as a full-time career yet – a shared aspiration. Depending on which of us is “up” to write a chapter in our WIP, the other typically works on line edits for a finished project, proofreading, promo, etc. Kathie runs an appraisal management firm virtually, so whether she’s writing or working the day job, she works entirely in her home office weekdays. Pat heads several corporate relocation management firms, virtually from home, at a local headquarters office and occasionally flying somewhere or other. For both of us, have laptop will write. The ideal typical workday as K.M. Daughters includes early morning writing without distraction and 9 to 5 squeezing author time in, averaging two-three hours writing per day. Quitting time at the computer is 5PM CST, period. Evenings are reserved for family time and unfortunately involve fixing dinner. 



Tell us about when you made the decision to write.



Kathie decided to write her first novel when her two sons were pre-school age. Pat completed her first manuscript over ten years ago. We both dreamed about publishing them and submitted without success. Kathie came up with a book title about five years ago and shared it with Pat during a walk – we’ve always been consistent with this walking “thing”. Equally consistent with our talking “thing” we brainstormed the title into a rough book concept. It was so much fun, the light bulb blazed and, voila, K.M. Daughters. By the way, the next sentence from Kathie’s mouth after we agreed to write the book together suggested our pen name dedicated to our parents, Kay and Mickey.



What suggestions do you have for aspiring writers?



No matter the stumbling blocks you encounter, never, ever put the word “pipe” in front of your dream.



Tell us about what you’re working on right now and what we can expect from you in the near future.



We’re writing the fourth book in our Sullivan Boys romantic suspense series and loving every minute. “Spend sleepless nights with the Sullivan Boys” is our new slogan. We have a very rough concept for book five, the conclusion of the series. Book 3, Capturing Karma should be in galley form shortly and hopefully will release from The Wild Rose Press this year. We just released our inspirational romance sequel to Jewel Of The Adriatic, entitled Rose Of The Adriatic from White Rose Publishing and we’re thrilled with this book. Sr. Editor Nicola Martinez is our cover artist and she produced a stunning cover that heightens how personally special this book is to us. This sequel may be the end of the “Adriatic” inspirational stories…or not. We have a title in mind for a third inspirational romance set in the fictional village of Valselo along the Adriatic for possible brainstorming.



What fabulous answers and advice. Thank you, guys! For those of you who want to purchase books by the K.M. Sisters, their novel ‘Rose of the Adriatic’ is available from White Rose Publishing. You can find more information, contests, recipes, and book lists on the KM Daughters’ website.



Thanks for stopping by, everyone! Check out ‘Writers on Writing’ right here next week!