Tess Quinn

Today, we have author Crystal-Rain Love joining us to talk about her writing life. Thank you for stopping by, Crystal-Rain! Let’s get started…



What is your brainstorming process for a new book?



Generally, I’ll see a scene in my head and the whole story just grows from there. The hero & heroine usually come to me fully fleshed out, although sometimes I’ll struggle to find the “perfect” name for one or both of them. I’m definitely a pantser. I’ll pretty much know the beginning and the end, but everything in between is a mystery until it’s typed up.



Can you explain your typical work week day?



Unfortunately I have not yet reached the point where I can support myself by writing full time so I have a day job. I work 10-hour days four days a week. On workdays, I get up early and get the kids off to school, try to answer email, blog, etc. and put in about twenty minutes or so writing time before I’m off to work. I get home late and tend to write until about one or two in the morning before trying to catch somewhere between 4-6 hours of sleep. On days off, I get the kids to school, come back home and SLEEP!!! LOL! I get so little sleep. I just write like a maniac whenever I can squash in the time.



Tell us about when you made the decision to write.



As with most authors, I’ve always loved to write. As a kid, my only real talent was writing. I devoured books and was a daydreamer from day one so writing came easy. I wrote poems, journals, songs, stories, you name it. I always knew I’d be a writer professionally, but I didn’t really sit down and write a full book until I was pregnant with my youngest child. It was just the right time for me. I’d experienced enough “life” to write about it and having my third child motivated me to take it seriously. I wanted something more than a day job that took me away from my kids.



What suggestions do you have for aspiring writers?



Read a lot, write even more. Get a tough skin because you are going to get some criticism. Don’t ignore that criticism. Learning from criticism is what will make you a stronger writer. Every time you get a rejection, remember that even the biggest authors got them too.



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



Right now I’m working on the fourth installment of my Blood Revelation series, a paranormal series coming out from Imajinn Books. The first in the series is scheduled to release on December 31st of this year.



I also recently signed a contract with The Wild Rose Press for Guardian Cowboy, a story I wrote for the Wayback, Texas series. I haven’t received word of a release date yet, but I’m very excited to be a part of the Wayback series.



More information about my books can be found on my website, www.crystalrainlove.com, or my blog: www.crystalrainlove.blogspot.com.



Congrats on your new contract and we can’t wait to hear more about your addition to the Wayback series! Thank you again for joining us and for those readers who want to know more about Crystal-Rain’s books, check out the links above to her blog and website. Stay tuned for our next rendition of Writers on Writing!

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 28th, 2010 at 12:49 pm and is filed under Blog. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.