I’ve been nominated by Terry Tyler for the Writing Process Blog Tour – thank you Terry!
Here is her post Terry Tyler’s Blog
Terry has written seven novels, her latest, which has only recently been released and is already receiving great reviews is Kings & Queens. She has also written a great collection of short stories, Nine Lives, as well as writing for The UK Arts Directory, about self-publishing.
I have to answer four questions about what, why and how I write, then link to the blogger that tagged me, and tag two or three more authors in turn.
So here goes:-
1. What am I working on now?
I’m working on a first edit of my second novel in The Grayson Trilogy. It’s called ‘Before the Dawn’ and follows ‘A Single Step’ which was published in January. I completed the first draft a while ago but have been distracted by trying to market the first in the trilogy, something I’ve never done and that, like many indie authors find difficult.
I’m currently trying to get the manuscript into a good enough state to give to a few chosen readers to run through to see if it works – then no doubt there will be a rewrite…
2. How does my work differ from others in its genre?
I’ve had some difficulty in knowing where to place my books and ended up with romance suspense which seems to me somewhat of a clunky title. There is definitely romance running through my books but I don’t believe my story suits the naked flesh approach of the popular romance front cover so I have gone with something completely different – I guess more along the lines of the suspense theme. The cover does tend to stand out in the thumbnails of others in the genre and I’m not sure if that is a good thing or not. It will either turn off those looking for romance novels or maybe be chosen because it is something a bit different – who knows? I just went with what felt right for my characters – I think they would be horrified to find themselves plastered across the front of a book!
See – not exactly hearts and flowers is it?
3. Why do I write what I do?
I write what I do because I have no choice to do otherwise. This story was the one that came to me although as I am new to this I’m starting to wonder why a trilogy? What was I thinking? However when I initially thought it all out the story naturally divided into three so here we are…
4. How does my writing process work?
I’m not sure I have a ‘process’ yet – it’s all too new. My first book was written in a fury of passion and insomnia. Filled with terror in case the story evaporated out of my head as quickly as it had appeared I wrote at a ridiculous pace. I’d wake in the early hours with a scene churning through my mind desperate to get it down the first chance I got, writing it in chunks, and then once it was down I spent a lot of, calmer, time piecing it together smoothing it out, editing, rewriting and revisiting. I checked it over and over and over…unable to let it go.
One thing I do know is that I do not get distracted when it comes to writing. I have very little time available in which to do it and if I’ve managed to carve out two hours then every moment of that is spent writing. The second book has been a more ‘settled’ experience, which is good because I’m sure it’s more professional and it has meant that the rest of my life has been much less chaotic but bad because it hasn’t been as much fun! More confident that I’m capable of getting the story down now I’ve written it in a more controlled linear fashion. I do any research I need as I write and as explained above I’m currently editing and will spend a lot of time doing that, going over the manuscript many, many times before I’m ready to share. That said I’ve missed the adrenaline rush of the crazy time I had writing the first one as well as the weight loss it involved…!
Thanks for reading and I hope you find something of interest in this.
I am tagging:-
Diane’s blog is at Diane Mannion Writing Services
Diane Mannion is an author as well as a freelance copywriter, proofreader and editor and you can find out more about the range of services that her business offers at Diane Mannion Writing Services. Her first parenting book was “Kids’ Clubs and Organizations” and she followed this with her second “Great Places for Kids’ Parties (UK)”, both books are available from Amazon.
EJ Lamprey’s Blog is at Quite Contrary
EJ Lamprey is working on her fifth whodunit after releasing ‘Seven Eight Play It Straight’ in April – all the whodunits are set in Scotland, near Edinburgh, and are light-hearted fiendishly-plotted challenges to armchair detectives everywhere. She has a secret passion for SF and one day will invent a charismatic mystery-solving alien. One day.
Kevin’s blog is at Kevin O. McLaughlin
When not practicing hobbies which include constructing medieval armor and swinging swords at his friends, Kevin McLaughlin can usually be found in his home near Boston, Massachusetts. Kevin’s award-winning short fiction is now available in digital form at all major ebook retailers. His debut novel, “By Darkness Revealed” is an urban fantasy available in ebook and print, as is the sequel “Ashes Ascendant” His latest effort, the STARSHIP series, is on-going.
‘A Single Step’ Links
Georgia
Currently reading ‘Doppelganger’ by Geoffrey D West
Lovely to read more about you, and thanks so much for the bit about me at the beginning!
I know JUST what you mean about the cover thing – with the exception, perhaps, of Kings and Queens, my books don’t look like romantic suspense, either, and I, too, don’t really feel that I fit in that genre, which seems to be mostly books with half naked men on the front! I prefer ‘contemporary women’s fiction’ but wonder if that is too wide. I’ve read that for books about relationships, book buyers are more drawn to covers with people on the covers, which is why I decided on the cover for K & Q but, as you say, it has to work as a thumbnail, too. Anyway – I’m glad you did this! xx
Thanks Terry, I think because the titles of this trilogy come from quotes or proverbs I feel better using those as my guide for the covers though the one I’m planning for ‘Before the Dawn’ is looking a bit black! Really pleased I did this, thanks for the nomination! xx
Thanks for sharing that with us Georgia and for tagging me. It’s good to find out how other writers go about the writing process. I definitely identify with what you say about having to get the ideas down quickly before they vanish. My ideas tend to come when I’m relaxed which is usually in the middle of the night – bedside notebook strongly recommended. 🙂
Thanks Diane. I agree with you on the ideas coming whilst you’re relaxed. My initial idea came whilst on holiday but I tend to find work all consuming and worried that as soon as I was back at it the idea would evaporate! Fortunately I’ve overcome that fear now. I look forward to reading your post in due course and finding out more about you!
Here is the link to the follow on post from EJ Lamprey for the Writing Process Blog Tour
[…] A big thank you to Georgia Rose for nominating me for the Writing Process Blog Tour in which readers can find out a little about my work and how I go about it. The Writing Process Blog Tour also gives you the opportunity to find out what other authors are working on and how their writing process works. You can view Georgia’s blog post here. […]