Well, welcome to my entry in the "My Writing Process" blog tour. This is verging on the scary for me. I have to decide if I actually have a writing process in the first place. I'm never entirely sure if I have anything remotely resembling something which could be called an actual 'PROCESS' as such.
But here I am, suckered in. I mean, joining in. I have to thank the wonderful Connie J. Jasperson, amazing author and owner of Life in the Realm of Fantasy, http://conniejjasperson.wordpress.com for roping me in. I mean, inviting me to take part. Connie has been a friend of mine for a number of years now, so I couldn't really say no.
So, here goes:
1) What am I working on?
That's easy. Lots of things.
Firstly, and for some most importantly, there's the sequel to Sin. I say 'most importantly' as I do know of a few people who will breath a huge sigh of relief when they get their hands on Mortal Sin. Sin, himself, will probably be relieved too!
Next, I have Puddlebrain (working title). This story follows the adventures of the youngest of three witches, all of whom have lost their powers. Something is stealing all of the villagers and only Puddlebrain can stop it. The book is very different from Sin and is aimed at a much younger audience.
I am also working on Darker Places, the follow up to my paranormal/horror collection Dark Places (soon to be an audiobook). I keep coming up with ideas that simply must be turned into stories or poems, and both Sin and Puddlebrain end up sitting around twiddling their thumbs. Sorry guys!
2) How does my work differ from others of its genre?
Hmmm. I think because it's personal. Sin, especially, is a very great part of me. He's my 'dark half' of course and writing him is very therapeutic.
Dark Places is very similar. The poems were written when I, myself, was in a dark place. The stories visit various ideas and ideals I wonder about or have travelled to personally.
That's to to say other authors' writing isn't personal. I'm sure, in most cases, it certainly is. But, with mine, I seem to wander the darker halls of my mind and open doors I, perhaps, wouldn't otherwise.
With the children's books, they show I've never grown up. And don't wanna, nernerner.
3) Why do I write what I do?
I just do. I don't control it. I simply write what comes. The darkness isn't a conscious effort. It weaves into my writing of its own accord.
4) How does my writing process work?
Ah, there's that 'process' thing again. I'm not sure how to answer it. I just write.
When I get chance.
I don't get much time to write. With a full time job and full time family, I squeeze writing into my lunch break - when I don't have a blog post to do or a phone call to make, of course.
When I do write, I just do, as I said in the previous question. In most cases, I begin a story or blog post with the initial sentence - a 'starter'. This can be prompted by something I'm watching on television, as in the case of The Coming, a short story I wrote recently, inspired by an episode of The Blacklist. The starter can come from something someone has said, or someone has purposefully given me.
I take that sentence, and I run with it. Or my fingers do. I could produce one of Sin's blog posts, a poem or a story. I don't always know.
I have thought, many times, of trying to plan something out. Have the idea, work out the characters, the main plot points and locations, etc. I haven't actually managed to try it yet. When I do get those brief chances to write, I generally don't think about outlining. I get into the zone of following the story and Finding out where it's going to lead me.
I will try it, though. As an experiment.
Mostly, though, I sit and I write and I see where it goes. I enjoy that. It's a voyage of discovery.
My three volunteers to lay out their writhing… erm… writing hearts next week are:
Zoe Adams
Zoe Adams was born in Grimsby, in 1992. The youngest of three children, she has a BA (Hons) degree in Professional Writing at university.
Zoe has a huge interest in reading and writing about the paranormal and the supernatural. Of course, this can range from witches and demons, to vampires and werewolves. Yet, she is not afraid to try other genres!
With her alternative mind, who knows what she will write next?
Lisa Vandiver
I have been in love with the art of storytelling since childhood, and found my very first piece published in our small town newspaper at the age of seven. The subject was Santa Claus.I was involved with the arts in school, church, and college. While in college I wrote my first play, and during acting classes I came up with my first novel idea, Where She Belongs. Since that time I have written a second novel, Josie's Thorn, as well as a book of poems and short stories, Out of my Head. My poem, My Life Song was published in eFiction magazine in 2011, and I have finished my first screenplay, which is now in the editing stage. I am working on numerous projects for summer 2014.
I love to meet new people, so please feel free to drop by Facebook or Twitter to say "Hi".
Scarlett Flame
Although born in Salford, I was raised in the Manchester area and still consider myself a Lancashire lass.
I am a qualified paediatric nurse and have a Bsc(Hons) and a PgDip (masters level qualification) among other qualifications. Yet I choose to write, and hope to make this my full time occupation.
Although I have always loved to read and write, I only recently began to write seriously. My first blog post was published in February 2013 and since then I have gone from strength to strength. This has resulted in my being voted as Blogger of the Year 2014
My blogs aren't all erotica, far from it. On my blog posts you are just as likely to read about gigs I have attended around Manchester, interviews, book reviews and much more. There is something for everyone on my blogs.
