The Blog Tour
Thanks to Indy Quillen of Mediafastlanes for inviting me to participate in this new writing experience. Indy is responsible for my superfine website as well as my current knowledge of social media including FaceBook, Linked-In, Twitter and Pinterest. “Pre-” Indy I was truly a novice in this arena.
WHAT AM I CURRENTLY WORKING ON
I am currently in the middle of final-editing my fourth book, PURE LIES, about the Salem Witch trials. I am happy to report that this unpublished work has made it through the first two rounds of Amazon’s Breakthrough Novel Awards. The first two rounds included a 300-word pitch and the first three chapters of the manuscript. The third round is the entire manuscript, and yes, you read correctly, I sent it in before it was completely edited. Shame on me. But, honestly, I had no hope of winning. Still, to get this far is encouraging. Plus, if I don’t make it through the third round, I can say: “Well, it wasn’t edited.” Ha.
HOW DOES MY WORK DIFFER FROM OTHERS OF ITS GENRE?
My books are not formulaic. I take a period in history that I find fascinating. I create a mystery surrounding real people and events. Then I solve it today with modern technology – usually digital photography. Other books go back and forth from past to present, but I think my blending of history and technology make them unique.
HOW DOES MY WRITING PROCESS WORK?
I have no formula. There are other responsibilities in my life that I must make time for, so I don’t write at a particular time each day. Sometimes I write in the morning, sometimes at night. In fact, I might even skip a day. Yikes. And, as all writers know, there are those times when I’m writing, I’m not writing. My mind is wandering, I get up to get coffee or the mail; I switch from writing my book to social media and socialize; I return to my outline, do a new outline, re-do a character sketch, check my history or forensic facts. Often, I take a walk, play the piano or go to yoga to re-energize.
Then there are those days when my fingers race across the keyboard and page after page magically appears. Those days are truly rewarding.
And, finally, I rewrite and I rewrite and I rewrite.
Et voilà! Three books that have received great reviews and publicity.
UP NEXT: My friend, author Lynn Hooghiemstra will be posting during the week of June 23. Her blogs are very insightful, the last of which deals with the battle between Hachette and Amazon, a topic urgent to all writers today. http://elynnh.blogspot.com/2014/06/the-high-ground.html
Her novella, “Tales from the Fountain Pen,” is a delightful story that I urge you to read.
I’m also tagging Alex Roque, “writer by night.” She’s working on several interesting writing projects. One is an urban fantasy romance series with the first book titled “Wings of the Fallen.” And with Alex’s interest in Greek mythology, she’s working on a novel called “The Olympian” about the journey of an ancient Olympian. For more, check her website at http://alexroque.org