Writing Process Blog Hop – Tag, I’m it!

I’m not much for playing games unless they involve cards on my computer. But that said, a girl DOES like to have fun. And some game play is informative fun for a good cause, in this case, a chance to promote one’s craft and one’s friends. The Writing Process Blog Hop is passed from writer to writer like a chain letter (oh, don’t get me started on those!) only no bad luck will befall you if you don’t respond within the allotted time. It’s all good. Maris Soule “tagged” me in her blog last week, passing me the baton for today’s post on four questions regarding how we writer’s write. In turn, my job is to pass this task on to three more authors who will post next week, and so on, and so on.


Here’s a bit about Maris Soule, who wrote the first series contemporary romance I ever read. The fact that I came back for more and even started writing my own says it all.

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Maris majored in art in college, but her love of books led her to writing, and her love of happy endings led her to romances. She authored 25 contemporary series romances, including the give-away book for the (then) new Harlequin Temptation line before switching to suspense (with a touch of romance).

Although she grew up in California, a red-head with blue eyes talked her into moving to Michigan (for just two years). Way too many years later, she’s still living in Michigan with the same man, not too many miles away from their two grown children and young granddaughters. (But she does sneak down to Florida for the winter.) Maris is a two-time RITA finalist and a two-time winner of the Write Touch Readers’ Award. Many of her books are still available as paperbacks, hard covers, e-books, and audio.

For more information about Maris and her books, check out her website at: www.MarisSoule.com. Maris also invites you to join her on Facebook and Twitter!

Now it’s my turn to play the WRITING PROCESS:

1. What am I working on?

As always, about a dozen different things on three different levels: past, present and future! I’m a Gemini and there’s that ADD thing. I’ve gotten rights back to dozens of past titles and four of them will be reissued this year by the fabulous BelleBooks! These contemporary romances were originally written under my pseudonym Dana Ransom and I’m currently giving them a 2014 update. Look for LOVE’S OWN REWARD (May, 2014), TOTALLY YOURS (July, 2014) LIFETIME INVESTMENT (September, 2014) and new title, FROM THIS DAY FORWARD (November, 2014)!

At the moment, I have a YA paranormal series proposal out and about making the rounds and am working on Book 9 in my “By Moonlight” dark paranormal shape-shifter series. REMEMBERED BY MOONLIGHT returns to the original hero and heroine, Max Savoie and Charlotte Caissie. Fans will be happy to learn I’m past the 70,000 word mark!

Future plans include finding good homes for my lengthy backlist of Dana Ransom historicals and the first three books of my “Midnight” vampire romance series, and exploring new ventures with sassy contemporaries and edge of your seat suspense.

2. How does my work differ from others of its genre?

In my “By Moonlight” paranormal series, the requisite hunky Alpha shifter and butt-kicking NOPD detective heroine broke a big romance rule by appearing as the main couple in the first four books of the series, then continued to be strong supporting characters in the next four with their story arc steadily advancing to my current WIP which picks them up again. Though repeating H/Hs is common practice in Urban Fantasy, it just wasn’t done in paranormals. And then there’s suspense. All my books whether contemporary, historical or paranormal contain an element of intrigue. I love a twisting, compelling plotline that keeps readers guessing.

3. Why do I write what I do?

I write because I can’t NOT write. I LOVE to plot stories and have done so since my oldest sister and I used to try to guess the endings first in whatever we were reading or writing. I’ve always contended that a good writer can write anything – it’s all just a matter of focus. And I have written, over the past twenty-five years, just about everything from regencies to horror screenplays. I love to research and I never want to write the same book twice so I’m always looking for ways to expand my reach and keep things fresh. Those who know me know that repetition in words or plotlines is my biggest pet peeve. That’s why I enjoy throwing seemingly dissimilar things together like paranormal elements into crime dramas or suspense into historical settings. There’s a story behind every character just waiting to be born.

4. How does my writing process work?

Flexibility keeps me going. From having two kids to working full time, I’ve always had to be prepared to change my method of writing in order to stay productive. I started out writing scenes on the backs of receipts while running a cash register which evolved to scrawling chapters out by hand in a spiral notebooks (my first 6 books!) while the boys played outside. I fought writing on computer for years, though now I can’t remember why. I’ve always called myself a rigid plotter ruled by the lengthy outline, but when I started writing my “By Moonlight” books, they ran away with me in a full pantser frenzy of words. The only certainty in writing is change. My only hard and fast rule is getting it done. Page one to page end. Write it all then revise it. And don’t make excuses or apologies.

Well, enough about me. Here are the authors following me next Monday on March 10:

Rue Allyn

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Author of historical, contemporary, and erotic romances, Rue Allyn fell in love with happily ever after the day she heard her first story. She is deliriously married to her sweetheart of many years and loves to hear from readers about their favorite books and real life adventures. Learn more about Rue at http://RueAllyn.com

Elizabeth Alsobrooks

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Now that her children have flown from the nest, Elizabeth lives with her two new babies (AKA Maltese) at the foot of the beautiful Catalina Mountain Range in Oro Valley, AZ. 

She loves to hike the mountain trails, ride her bike, sit on her patio sipping coffee and reading or brainstorming plots and enjoying the grandeur of her breathtaking mountain views.

Elizabeth calls herself a pantser on steroids. The first book of her Illuminati series flowed like a psychic muse channeled it from her fingertips to the keyboard. She wrote 120,000 words in 45 days. "After the first couple of chapters, the characters took over. They knew what they wanted and what they were willing to do to get it."

Her love of mythology and ancient literature and history were the backbone for her series, and the Sigma Force series by James Rollins inspired the fast-paced adventures (He recently told her at a literacy fundraiser that he found that flattering, as no one had ever told him he was inspiring before!).

A friend compared Elizabeth's series to what it would be like if Ford and Jolie stepped through the Stargate, tried to kill each other, and ended up falling into a love as seemingly hopeless as Romeo and Juliet. Elizabeth claims she pictured a blond "The Rock" as the hero when she was writing, but that Jolie, with lavender eyes, would fit her heroine just fine.

I know, I know, there were supposed to be three not two, but I’m an English major, I don’t do math! Or make excuses or apologies.

Back to Chapter Nineteen . . .