“My Writing Process” Blog Tour

This is a blog post relay, which the lovely and talented Peggy Wirgau (whom I know from the wonderful Great LakesACFW Chapter) invited me to join.

Question #1:  What am I working on now?

I am working on finishing and polishing up my third book, The Captive Imposter, which is part of my first contracted series, The Everstone Chronicles from Whitaker House Books. It’s an inspirational historical romantic suspense written from the first person point of view of Estella Everstone, a minor character from books one and two of the series. 
 

{Click the photo to read about the books on Goodreads}
[The Hesitant Heiress will be available August 1, 2014]

I also have a first person POV Contemporary Romance in the works (without a name beyond Annabel), but I’ve kind of put it on hold—partly because EVERYTHING was put on hold last summer when I became pregnant and had an impossible time trying to write anything. I received the book contract from Whitaker House about half way through my pregnancy… fortunately with the first two books of the series already finished... which is also why they are all coming out only three months apart (August, November and February).

My son was born in March, and I’m still trying to figure out this whole “writing with a baby” thing. However, my mom will be helping out two days a week soon, and that’s all I’ll need—giant blocks of interrupted time—to get the words cranked out.

Question #2:  How does my work differ from others of its genre?

My series is written strictly from the first person POV of my heroines. Book two and three each have a new heroine which the reader has already met in the first book. I wrote the books like this wanting the reader to get to know the situations the heroine is thrust into from her point of view only. I also want the reader to get to know the other characters for themselves instead of being told what is going on from the other character’s perspective. I had to write the books much differently than the third person/multi-POV majority of books which are released in the Christian book industry, but I hope everyone who reads them falls in love with them as much as I have while writing them.

Question #3:  Why do I write what I do?

I wrote the books the way I did—from first person POV—because some of my favorite classics (Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier, and Christy by Catherine Marshall) have been written this way. I love producing the blatant inner-struggles and complex emotions of my heroines from first person perspective. I also love so-intricately guiding the reader through the process of my heroines falling hopelessly in love with their heroes. My goal in writing the way I do is that the readers will become my heroine for the time it takes to read the book. I also LOVE history—especially the Gilded Age (New England in the 1890s), in which my series takes place. Writing a historical is just what came out when I first thought about these characters… all the way back in college.   

Question #4:  How does my writing process work?

I have Attention Deficit Disorder—have had it my entire life to the point that I had to do the third grade twice and still got lousy grades in everything but writing and drawing. I didn’t know about the ADD until I was seventeen and then ended up graduating high school with some pretty awesome grades… for once in my life… which was also the only way I ever got into college. 

So, the answer to Question #4 is: I don’t really know. I can never seem to do the same thing twice the same way… and that goes for writing books too. So far, I’ve done it so differently each time, I can’t say I have “a way” of doing it. I can say that I plot the books out ahead of time first though. But for the most part, I simply collect a bunch of characters, plot situations and conflicts… and somehow they all find their order and become a finished manuscript. In the midst of it all, I really can’t see how it happens either—I just keep plugging away, and eventually it’s finished.. of course, first and foremost, by the grace of God.

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The three writer-friends I’ve invited to join this tour are:

Susan Tuttle [my amazing crit-partner!] is a homeschooling mom of three who is crazy about coffee, dark chocolate, and words—both reading and writing them. Combine that love of words with her passion for leading women to a life-changing encounter with Christ, and you’ll find her crafting Inspirational Contemporary Romance stories laced with humor, love, and healing transformations. When not cheering on her Ironman hubby, chasing the family dog, or tackling complex math problems to teach her kids (yes, even the third grader), you can catch Susan at her blog, Steps. Susan is represented by Linda S. Glaz of Hartline Literary Agency. Website: www.susanltuttle.com

Tari Faris has been writing fiction for more than eight years. A member of ACFW and My Book Therapy, she is a 2012 Genesis semi-finalist and a 2012 Frasier bronze medalist. She also won the 2012 April’s writer challenge through My Book Therapy. In 2004, she received a Master of Divinity from Asbury Theological Seminary, and while she was there, met the love of her life. They have been married for eleven wonderful years and have three sweet children. Although she lives in the Phoenix area now, Tari lived twenty-five years in a small town in Michigan. Tari is represented by Wendy Lawton of Books and Such Literary Agency. Website: www.tarifaris.com. 

 

Kristy Cambron has been fascinated with the WWII Era since hearing her grandfather's stories of his experiences as a B-17 co-pilot in the war. She came across the lost art of Auschwitz while studying for her undergraduate degree in Art History and knew this was a story she wanted to tell one day. She writes WWII and Regency Era Christian fiction titles, which placed first in the 2013 NTRWA Great Expectations & 2012 FCRW Beacon contests. She was also a 2013 Laurie Finalist.  

Her debut novel, The Butterfly and the Violin, Book One in the 'A Hidden Masterpiece' series on the prisoner camp art of Auschwitz, will release from Thomas Nelson Publishers in July 2014. She's a proud Hoosier, living in Indiana with her husband and three football-loving sons, where she can probably be bribed with a coconut mocha and a good Christian fiction read. Website: www.kristycambron.com.