So…I forgot I was supposed to answer a few questions and tag some people for a blog hop. I got a wee bit carried away with other things this week. I’m probably going to have seven years of bad luck or die a horrible, painful death as a result of breaking the chain.
Oh, well. I’ve lived a good life so far.
Anyway, I figured I would just answer the questions anyway, since today is my weekly “ask the author” post. You’ll get just a little about the inner workings of my creative brain.
What am I working on?
Currently, I have:
- One novel in revision/beta
- One novel in outline
- One short story out to beta readers
- One short story in revision
- Two short stories in progress
I’m not sure that’s enough, though!
The novel in revision is the one I’ve been posting snippets of for the last several months on Wednesdays. Like all my stories, it’s (very) loosely based on a classic fairy tale—this time, Puss in Boots (which, really, is an awful story; hopefully, I’ve redeemed it).
The four short stories are for November’s book launch. Each week, one of them will be available here for free and for purchase after the week is up. I was playing around with genres—everything from my usual (humor with a dash of angst) to YA to romantica. Yes, folks, you read it here first: I’m actually writing a genuinely smutty story.
How does my work differ from others in the genre?
Because I wrote it? I mean, honestly, what differentiates us is our “voice.” I do try not to be samey. My work tends toward light and humorous with a dose of social justice and a bit of angst thrown in for “realism.” One thing that perhaps makes me a bit different is that I love to write gender-fluid and gender non-conforming people, and I often write at least one of my characters as bisexual. I’m over us being invisible, especially in fiction! It’s probably why I don’t tend to write (or enjoy reading) coming out stories—so full of bi erasure or bi tropes that it’s no longer fun to read. Of course, I just had to write a coming out short story, right? So I obviously break even my own rules.
Why do I write what I do?
Believe it or not, I didn’t set out to write gay romance. That was nearly accidental. My first NaNoWriMo novel was YA, and my second was from a woman’s POV and technically qualifies as bi romance. I always planned to write romantic stories in some form, but not specifically about men. I discovered that I love writing from a man’s POV, though, and when I started writing my upcoming novel, I intentionally chose to make the main character a man. He was actually supposed to fall in love with the main female character. I even wrote it that way when I started! I eventually figured out she was already in love…with someone else. And there was no possible way her personality and my male MC’s would ever mesh—not even remotely. Not only that, he was already crushing hard on one of my (at the time) very minor characters. So I gave his love a bigger part, and the rest is history. But seriously—sexy men falling in love with each other? Yep. That’s a lot of fun to write. Sexy women falling in love with each other is good, too. Hm…
How does my writing process work?
You can’t be serious. Hahahaha! Well, it looks a lot like me sitting down at my computer and going, “What shall I write?” And then I start typing things. Words appear on the screen. Now and again, they actually make sense, so I turn that into a story. Meanwhile, I work out the details with my kids and my spouse during meals. Our recent conversations have all involved video games and how to translate them into (hopefully very funny and entertaining) live-action versions of their favorites. The kids want me to do Mario Kart, Minecraft (wth? ha!), and Dance Dance Revolution. Spouse wants me to do Oregon Trail (died of dysentery). As you can tell, they’re very helpful!
One of my weird quirks is that I rarely write in a straight line (argh…no pun intended). I don’t write from Chapter 1 to Chapter 20 in a direct path. I almost always write the first and last chapters right away, then I go back to the beginning for a bit…then fill in some of the middle…you get the idea. At some point, I’m ready to write in sequence again. My method almost always results in having to rework or reject scenes from later points that don’t fit the story anymore, but I don’t mind. I’m not writing mystery or thriller, so it works for me.
And there you have it! If you have anything you want to ask, feel free to post it here in the comments, or you can click the link at the right and like my Facebook page. Questions can be posted there, too.
One novel in outline – How detailed of an outline do you use? When in the writing process do you find it the most useful – in the creation of it or do you refer to it later? Do you refer to it when you write out of sequence? And does your writing tend to mostly follow your outline or have a mind of its own?
Great questions! I will save them and answer them in the next Q&A.
I never follow an outline, I write as it comes to me & later come up w/ an outline. I used to compose everything on paper until I went back to school in ’95 & had to learn how to compose on the computer. I still like to write things out in a notebook but have to admit the computer is nice when correcting or changing things.:)
I’m only outlining this time because I’m not actually writing it yet. I’m participating in NaNoWriMo, and the rules are technically that you can’t have started writing. So I haven’t—just the outline. Also, this one is going to take a lot of work/research, since I’m not an avid gamer.
Sounds more like a research paper than a book. Guess you’ll have to research your subject thoroughly, make notes & references, build an outline then write the book following your outline. I had to do that when writing papers for my Criminal Justice degree. Good luck
Yeah. I’m no stranger to research for a novel—my first one required a lot of digging to understand how the educational system works, and the one in revision involved researching everything from specific medical conditions to money laundering to state inheritance laws. This time, I think my research should be more fun. I actually get to play video games with my family. 🙂
I had to do a lot of digging for research on the Arizona Rangers for Spanish Fireball , there’s not much out there since they were only in existence for 9 or 10 yrs. For this next one I had to find mtl on U.S. Marshals in early AZ. Turns out after about 1910 they weren’t very active in the South West.
I really enjoy reading your post’s. I’ve written several short stories, have one novel completed but not published & working on another. Both of my novels are westerns set in early 29th century or late 19th century. I’m not sure how to go about getting published, can’t afford self publishing. Any ideas from you would be greatly appreciated. Plus I’d like to read some of your works.
Thanks
Bill J
My journey to publishing was a little random! I wasn’t even going to publish anything. But I happen to know a few published authors, mostly with small independent publishers. I think self-publishing is right for some people, but it wasn’t for me—I know I’m a far better writer now than I was six months ago when my publisher received my first draft. But that’s me; I need that outside influence, unlike some authors. And yes, self-publishing can be expensive!
While I’m not usually one to read historical fiction, I admit I like westerns. What sort of story? Like Clint Eastwood-style westerns? Mysteries? Family-owned ranch feud with neighbors drama? It’s a wide genre. 🙂
In November, I’ll have a story a week available for free download. 🙂
Well, My first story is hard to categorize. It’s a western in that it takes place in turn of the 20th Century AZ & every one is on horseback. What it is the story of a small town Marshal in southern AZ who with the help of his AZ Ranger buddy are on the trail of a female bandit who along w/ her gang held up the local mine payroll stage. In the process they uncover a plot by the governor to secede the state & build a private army to make the state his own private empire. There’s some graphic sex scenes & there’s some romance & personal tragedy involved the end is a bit of a tear jerker.
Well, now that sounds like an intriguing story!
It has lot’s of twists & turns but the ending got to me even though I wrote it. When I was proof reading it for the billionth time today when I read the ending I had tears in my eyes.
I’m so glad I’m not the only person who has strong emotional reactions to things I’ve written! That’s a good sign—if we can make ourselves feel something, then readers are sure to be invested.
Thanks for the comments